Join us weekly as Buchholz Sr. and University of Florida commit, Riley Smith chronicles his weekly journey through the remainder of his HS career. Riley burst on the Florida distance scene last fall winning the 4A State XC Championship in 15:05.50. He followed that up with an outstanding Indoor season where he won the Milrose Games Mile in 4:05.5 and the NIN in 4:06.68. He ran a 4:04.65 mile at the Florida HS Challenge. His 4:04.65 is a Florida #3 All-Time Indoor or Outdoor Mile. Last weekend at the FSU Relays, in only the 2nd 3200 of his career, he ran an 8:39.71. It is the current US #1 3200 time and a FL #1 All-Time.
"Leading up to the FSU relays 3200 I was confident that I could run a PR even on a bad day. Patrick and I were both excited to push the pace and try to get under 8:40. The weather wasn't perfect at the meet but the game plan stayed the same and I truly believed that my recent workouts have proven that the 8:39 was possible. Looking back on the race, I believe it was a hard effort but I don't think it was the fastest time I'm capable of right now. The race played out how I expected it to and Patrick pushed the pace from laps 5-7 very hard and it helped get us back on track for what we had come to the race to do. I did not feel great during the race and was still trying to figure out how to measure my effort throughout the race, as it was only my second time running a 3200. I was actually surprised when I saw I finished under 8:40 because, in my head, I did not think the pace was fast enough but my last lap made up a couple of seconds and barely snuck me under the 8:40. The 58.11 last 400 is part of what makes me think I can run faster right now, in addition to some other factors. I feel super excited to be the 10th person in high school to ever do this, although, every time I hit a goal in my mind I have already created a new one and I'm never going to be fully content until I know there isn't anyone that can beat me. That's part of what drives me to work hard every week and stay on top of all the little things."
