Edwards excited to be an All-American

In the final laps of the 5,000 meters at the Division II Indoor National Championships in New Mexico, there were 13 runners battling for spots three through 15 in the race.

The top two finishers had pulled away, but every other spot was up for grabs, and many of the runners made an early push to try for that third spot.

As one runner after another tried to make their push to take third, Brenae Edwards waited. She stayed with her plan, saving herself for one last kick toward the finish.

Mansfield coach Mike Rohl, and all the other coaches around, knew that the race was shaping up perfectly for Edwards to take home the third-place finish, the only person who didn't realize exactly what place she was shooting for was Edwards.

"I don't really remember the last two laps," Edwards said. "It was a very physical race, I just had to concentrate on the race. It's the toughest race I've ever been in.

"With a mile to go I saw some of them take off. I think with a lap-and-a-half left, I knew I had to go, and with a lap left they tell me I was in fifth place."

Watching the race in those final meters, Rohl new that Edwards was in position to take third.

"With 200 meters to go I pretty much had a real good idea," Rohl said. "The other girls had made their move and Brenae had not. The other coaches knew it to. They knew it was setting up for her.

"She timed her kick just right," Rohl said. "It's important to have a good finishing kick. Brenae had a good kick coming out of high school, but it's just gotten so much better here."

For Edwards, the finish caps off an indoor season that saw her become the school's first women's indoor All-American.

"I can't say I expected this, I was hoping for it, but I didn't expect to be All-American," Edwards said. "I had no idea how the race was going to go. I was in the middle of it right from the beginning. I felt good, so I was able to stay there."

One of the challenges for Edwards at Nationals was the altitude in New Mexico, and that was a concern for all the runners at the start.

"We were nervous about the altitude, no one wanted to go out too fast and end up paying for it," Edwards said.

But, those concerns over the altitude did little to calm the nerves of running in the biggest race of her career.

"I was really, really nervous for the race still," she said. "I'm nervous for every race, but this race more than any I have been in before."

As big of a deal as it is for Edwards to be an All-American, the biggest thing for her might have been just getting a chance to run in New Mexico after just missing nationals during the cross country season.

"Being an All-American is phenomenal," she said. "But, just making it to nationals in the first place is maybe even better. Cross country was a shock in itself. To drop that much time was amazing, and then I just missed nationals. Coming into this, my goal was to make it to nationals."

Rohl knows that Edwards has worked hard throughout her career to achieve this success.

"I think Brenae getting All-American rewards all the hard work by a lot of people the last three years," he said. "She has really buckled down. She eats right, she lives her life right. And, having her here now, instead of being a senior, so we have two years with her like this, I think that really helps the other kids."

Edwards hopes that some of the younger athletes on the team can look at her and strive to get themselves to nationals, because she would like to make another trip soon, this time with some teammates.

"I would hope they look up to me," she said. "I'm a good student and I work hard. I hope they can look at me and say they want to take running really serious.

"I don't want to wait until next year, I hope this outdoor season to go to nationals and have a lot of my teammates with me."

One of those teammates, Clarissa Cummings, is a big part of the reason why Edwards believes she was able to have the success she did this year.

"The team has been really supportive of me," Edwards said. "They all kept encouraging me, letting me know I was just as good as these kids and I could do this. Thank God I had Clarissa on the team. She really kept me going.

"I talked to her before the race and she reminded me, you are seeded fifth. You can do it; you can compete with these girls."

During the season there was a time Edwards struggled, and it was Cummings who helped turn her around.

"Brenae had a kind of down time in the middle of the season," Rohl said. "She kind of got in a downward spiral and it was a test for me as a coach to try and get her out of it.

"Usually when someone gets into a downward spiral they don't come out for about six months. We made some changes with her, some changes with her routine and her diet. Clarissa is a fifth-year senior and she really helped Brenae psychologically and emotionally.

"There is no way I could have helped Brenae get out of that downward spiral without Clarissa's help."

The type of mentor Cummings has been for Edwards is something the junior All-American can be for other runners.

"I really look up to her and I hope others look up to me the same way," Edwards said.

For Edwards, the past few days have been fun and a whole new experience.

"It's been nice. My family is still calling me about it," Edward said. "My aunt keeps calling me, because my sister keeps reminding her that I was third in the nation. I think she is more excited about it than I am."

And now that she is back from nationals, Edwards has just one thing she wants to do now.

"I'm looking forward to the first 5K of the outdoor season," she said. "Some people like to have some time off to recover; I don't want to take any time off at all. I want to get going again."

And as she gets going in the outdoor season Edwards will hope to continue to show people that Mansfield has developed some great distance runners over the years.

"With Chris Cummings and Charity Learn, we have had some good runners go through here," Edwards said. "I came in running a 19:15.5 in the FK and now I run a 17, it should hopefully open some eyes for our program and what we have been able to accomplish."

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters