Brandon Nya's Weekend Was Ridiculous, And Here's Why


* Brandon Nya had an excellent weekend at The VA Showcase

Photo Credit: Dan Loughlin/NC Runners

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Brandon Nya's performance over a three-day stretch this past week earned more than just his fair share of respect. 

Maybe we should start calling the Bowie (MD) High School senior the 'Iron Man' now, too. 

One day after securing two individual wins at 300 and 500 meters and contributing to his program's win in the 4x200 at the Prince George's County Indoor Track and Field Championships in Landover, Maryland, on Thursday, Nya and Co. travelled 200 miles and nearly five hours southwest to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he proceeded to drop a career best and US No. 3 in the 300m, a career best and US No. 4 in the 200m, and two-more complementary legs on his team's 4x200 and 4x400 relays -- both top 50 performances nationally -- at The VA Showcase. 

That's seven races in three days. 


On his debut on a banked track, this man was unbeatable.

After an exhaustive travel schedule, this man was indefatigable. 

Nya went 33.75 seconds in the final section of the 300m Invitational -- though not in the AAU race -- on Friday on Liberty University's banked track, an adjustment from Prince George's flat oval, and also offered stellar effort of 21.48 seconds in the 200m. He won both of his heats. 

"We have to give him credit for what he's had to do the last 24 hours," MileSplit editor Brandon Miles said after Nya's last race on Friday. "And one thing that's really interesting to note with him: Last year as a junior, his best time was 35.71 in the 300m. He was 13th fastest in Maryland. He was 144th fastest in the country. Talk about a transformation in one year." 

Indeed, Nya's improvement year-over-year in the 300m -- and the 200m -- was nearly two seconds. He ran 23.08 seconds in the 200m over the 2018-2019 indoor season. 

"He's No. 1 in the country for the time being," Miles added, noting that this race was before the AAU program that later broke that time.

"Granted, it might be for 30 minutes. But he's No. 1 in the country. That's awesome." 

"You know what?" I replied in response. "As a senior boy, you're motivated by a lot of different things. We don't really know what his internal motivation is, but we know he's driven to succeed based on those facts alone." 


Nya also led off his team's 4x200, which finished with a US No. 5 time of 1:28.81, and led off Bowie's 4x400 relay, which proceeded to produce a US No. 29 effort of 3:27.07. 

By the end of the 300m on Friday -- which came after his first 200m around 1 p.m. and his opener in the 4x400, which began at approximately 4:40 p.m. -- he was exhausted and fell to the ground of the track. 

"Man, he's going to sleep like a baby tonight," Miles added.

"It's most definitely different than a flat track," Nya said of his experience. "When you're coming downhill, you can feel the air. It's like your floating, basically." 


datedistancetimeeventperformancevideo
Jan. 17200m21.48The VA ShowcaseUS No. 4
Jan. 17300m33.75The VA ShowcaseUS No. 3
Jan. 16300m34.56Prince George Indoor ChampsUS No. 15
Jan. 16500m1:06.24Prince George Indoor ChampsUS No. 28
Jan. 184x2001:28.81Lead-Off -- VA ShowcaseUS No. 5
Jan. 164x2001:30.10Lead-Off -- Prince GeorgeUS No. 13
Jan. 174x4003:27.07Lead-Off -- VA ShowcaseUS No. 29



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