Great feet

When Melchizek Bryant reflects on his freshman year of track and field, there isn’t much worth talking about. "I was terrible," the Audenried High senior summed up.

The 16-year-old athlete always considered running secondary to basketball.

But cross-country took Bryant to Saturday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association AAA state championship, where he represented Audenried.

The athlete’s time (18:52) on the 3.5-mile Hershey course was almost three minutes behind the day’s top time (15:54), but he was still pleased with his performance.

"The race was faster than the races [in the Philadelphia Public League]," said Bryant, of 24th and Carpenter streets. "It took a lot out of me. I might not have come in first, but I thought I did my best."

After running a personal best in the mile (6:05), the athlete said he was so tired that he had to take a nap on the grass.

Since this is the first year that Audenried is offering cross-country, just Bryant’s appearance in the state championship was a major accomplishment. The runner qualified for the race by placing 11th in last month’s Public League (PIAA District XII) championship (18:15). The top 20 runners in each district qualified for the state tournament.

Bryant also made a strong showing at the Philadelphia Public League-Areas championship, where he placed second out of 75 athletes (18:45). He competed against runners from Bartram, West Philadelphia, the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and other city schools.

Audenried coach Marcus Hunter noticed early on that Bryant had major potential.

"He has that natural ability that can’t be taught, especially with long distance," the coach said.

Bryant made his mark as a distance runner last spring when he placed fifth in the mile at the Public League track championship. When cross-country season came around, he decided to give it a try.

"I did good last year with track in the mile," he said. "[Cross-country] is only 2 more miles, so I figured I would try it."

But Bryant quickly realized that those extra 2 miles can be very, very long.

After his first race, he suffered from stomach pains and numb legs. Only half-joking, he said that eating the school lunch might have had something to do with it.

Also, he was trying to run a cross-country race in his Air Jordans. While those sneaks might be perfect for dribbling a basketball up the hardwood floor and scoring lay-ups, running shoes are a better fit for a cross-country course. Hunter, a former high-school runner himself, had a pair of running shoes that he wore only once, which he passed on to Bryant.

The multi-sport athlete has changed shoes once more as he prepares for his true love — basketball. The 5-foot-11 shooting guard spent the majority of the 2003-04 season watching from the bench, but this year Bryant is ready to earn a starting role for his Warriors. He dedicated much of his summer vacation to improving his game, which included working with coach Marshall Taylor at Palumbo Recreation Center, 10th and Fitzwater streets.

Bryant realizes the irony that, so far, his second-favorite sport — running — has been the source of all of his athletic awards.

"That’s how life turns out sometimes," said Bryant, who hopes to attend one of the Penn State satellite campuses next fall.

He will leave Audenried with a secure record as the first cross-country runner to qualify for states.

"It’s nice to know I went down in history," Bryant said.