Michaela Rose Just Solo'd A 2:50 1K!


AAU Junior Olympic national champion Michaela Rose is back at it and just opened her indoor season with a 1:13.89 500m dash and a 2:50.97 1K.

Those two times rank VA No. 16 (500m) and VA No. 8 (1K) all-time.

She ran that 500m at the Father Diamond Invite up at George Mason this past weekend and the 1K at Boo Williams on Tuesday. She finished second to a college aged runner in the 500 and won the 1K by over 30 seconds. 

Michaela, who chose to be homeschooled, unfortunately is unable to race in VHSL sanctioned meets. That means this 800m national champion and 400m hurdles national runner-up must go to all-comers and small private school meets to even run on an indoor track.

She does not let that deter herself, though. 


Rose is a athlete, student, and most importantly, person whose foundation is very in line with her faith. That faith is partly what led to her electing to be homeschooled with her family which is equally rooted in faith and its interaction with every facet of life. Her and all her siblings, many of whom are also track stars, are very active with their church. 

Her faith also leads her on the track where after every race she is quick to say her success comes from a higher power. She and her family also show their faith thru their track club, titled F.I.A. or Faith In Action Ministries. 

For those unfamiliar with the area she is from, Suffolk, where there are numerous powerhouse programs where she could have run. Just a few miles from her house is Nansemond River and Western Branch. She could have easily ended up at one of these schools and anchored more national record relays than we could every imagine. That was not her only focus though. 

Michaela is truly a balanced athlete with school, athletics, family, and her own faith all being important parts of her life. Not to say she couldn't find that balance at one of the many good schools in her area but for her the right choice was to be homeschooled. 

It is a shame that such a great athlete has to choose between being in a competitive athletic environment, i.e. running against VHSL competition, or being comfortable in her own learning environment. That is the choice Michaela had to make to be homeschooled but look at her now, she won't let anyone stop her. 

Michaela will have a big AAU race against high school competition in just under two weeks when she will face off with Kayla Davis, Athing Mu, and others in the 500m dash at the AAU VA Showcase. 


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