Central Bucks East freshman Tyler Tomlinson clocks blistering mile time at national meet

Tyler Tomlinson wasn't sure how he would do when he competed in the recent New Balance National outdoor meet held at Franklin Field.

But he did know what he had to do.

"I was kind of surprised at how slow the pace was and that's not how I race," the Central Bucks East sophomore-to-be said.

"I had to try and increase the pace and I was able to get into the lead.

"The first 800 (meters) of the race was in 2:18 and if you take that times two, it's a 4:36. That shows how much everybody picked things up in the second half of the race."

Second-place finish in national meet for Central Bucks East runner

His strategy worked as Tomlinson ended up finishing second in the Freshmen Mile by covering the distance in four minutes, 22.45 seconds. Indiana's Calvin Seitz won the race in 4:20.85, setting a meet record in the process.

"Going into the race, I really wasn't expecting to place," Tomlinson said. "I was hoping to get a good time.

"I was hoping to get a good time and I was really happy. I hadn't raced in four weeks and wanted to see how I could do on the national level. It definitely exceeded my expectations."

The outcome also provided Tomlinson with a nice boost of confidence as he heads into his sophomore cross-country season.

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"Tyler has a great work ethic and the drive and passion you need to succeed," said East head cross-country and track and field head coach Todd Wiley.

"And not only with his running, but in the classroom, too. He wants to keep getting better and better. He has a great future ahead of him with how hard he works and the passion that he has."

Central Bucks East's Tyler Tomlinson had super freshman campaign

Tomlinson, who placed 23rd in the PIAA District One Class 3A cross-country championships and 55th in the PIAA meet last fall, should do just that.

"Last year, we just tried to put zero pressure on him," Wiley said.

"We just wanted to focus on him having a good freshman year and he was able to do that. We almost had to rein him back a little bit because we want him to peak at the right time when he's a junior and senior.

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"Tyler is going to have an enjoyable and successful high school career in cross-country and on the track and I'm looking forward to watching him progress."

More cross-country success on tap for Central Bucks East's Tomlinson?

Tomlinson, who runs the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meters during spring track season, is eager to take on his second cross-country campaign on the high school level.

"I'm excited for cross-country season to get here," Tomlinson said.

"I did pretty well as a freshman and want to keep improving and get better every year."

Another area sophomore-to-be, Pennridge's Jackson Warfel, placed fifth in the New Balance meet's two-mile run.

Drew Markol covers local sports forPhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.