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Biladeau keeps foes at distance

Jesuit freshman blends in until he starts running.

By SCOTT PURKS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 19, 2002

TAMPA -- There is this kid at Jesuit, Andy Biladeau, who looks and acts like a lot of 14-year-olds walking the halls.

A skinny, wide-eyed, happy person who does not -- could not -- stand out in a crowd.

But put Biladeau on a track, and look out.

To get an idea of how much he does stand above, consider last week's Nike Indoor Classic in Landover, Md.

Biladeau, who never had run indoors or in front of thousands of fans, competed in the freshman mile against some of the nation's best.

Biladeau battled Ohio's Jeff See to a photo finish. It took officials more than 5 minutes to determine See had won by a shoulder in 4 minutes, 22.62 seconds, or one-hundredth of a second ahead of Biladeau.

Both performances broke the national indoor-record mile time for a freshman, which was 4:23.9 set in 1975. Biladeau's time topped the Jesuit mark of 4:23.4 established in 1975 by Tom Larkin.

When the result went up and the announcement went out that the times were a record, Jesuit coach Mike Boza said Biladeau's reaction was a bit surprising.

"He was angry that he hadn't won," Boza said. "He knew that he had broken a national record, but he hadn't really thought about what that was.

"A little while after it was over, Andy asked, "Do you think Alan Webb (who last year became the first prep athlete in more than three decades to break the 4-minute mile barrier) ran this fast as a freshman?'

"And we said, "No Andy, that's the point. No freshmen have ever run faster -- ever,' " Boza said.

When asked about it, Biladeau answered matter-of-factly.

"Honestly, the time wasn't a big surprise to me," Biladeau said. "I felt like I deserved to be there, and I felt prepared. I knew what kind of workouts I had been running, and that gave me a lot of confidence."

But none of this, Boza said, has given Biladeau a big ego.

"You would think something like that would go to a kid's head," Boza said. "But not Andy. He's just the same old Andy."

Which means he wants his team to win more than anything. At meets, you will find Biladeau scurrying around the infield during his teammates' races, cheering.

"When I'm running, I don't hear anything except for Coach and Andy," said Jesuit senior Colin Strickland, the squad's No. 1 runner before Biladeau transferred last fall from Berkeley Prep. "For some reason, I just hear those two and nothing else."

Strickland, who could be put off by Biladeau taking the top position, has welcomed the new freshman like a little brother.

"If he was (a jerk), that could really break the team up," Strickland said. "But he's come in and been great. We all like him. He's made us want to run faster."

So what's next?

Biladeau said, "I want the team to win the state meet. That's the truth. I want to see the team win the state meet more than I want to win (an individual) state title. I think we might have the team to do it."

Team aside, Biladeau appears to have the potential of taking every county record, which after this season probably will belong to three-time defending state cross country champion Rolf Steier of Berkeley Prep.

Steier, who placed fifth at the Nike Indoor Classic in the open two-mile race in a personal-best 9:06.42, posted a 4:24.75 mile time as a freshman.

"Who knows?" Boza said. "We could see some spectacular things out of Andy in the next few years. I'd say he certainly has the right attitude about it.

"He loves it. Simple as that."

HAYES MEET: Tampa Baptist's Garrett Johnson won the shot put and discus events in Jacksonville's Bob Hayes Invitational with throws of 58-9 and 183-9, respectively.

Both performances are the best in the state this season, according to flrunners.com. Johnson's discus throw won the Hayes meet by more than 26 feet.

King's Raymond Neal placed second in the 100 meters in 10.63 seconds.

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