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Cross country profile

MV's Swier taker first place overall at Baron Invitational

By Jacob Reed

Posted Sept. 16, 2002

Junior Troy Swier complimented his record-breaking performance at the Sept. 6 West Hills Wolf Pack Invitational with another first place record showing at the Sept. 13 Baron Invitational at Rohr Park. With a remarkable 4:30 first mile, Swier went on to finish 3.1 miles in 15:04 – eclipsing the previous course record set in 1998 by 20 seconds. The first place time was the talk of the event and for the second time put the Mariner distance runner in the spotlight. 

When asked about his performance, Swier was as surprised as anyone and claimed that he  had no idea how fast his time was. His modesty continued when he set the goals for the season. His first priority is to stay healthy and then perhaps be able to compete at the state finals. He has already exceeded his personal expectations as he didn’t plan on being this successful this early in the season. 

Colleges such as UCLA are already sending the junior letters as he enters the 2002 season. With a 3.7 GPA, Swier will have no problem getting into college and continuing cross country. 

Swier admits a lot of the inspiration to run in the first place came from his family. Both his father and brother, Blake Swier, were established competitors in the sport. Blake Swier graduated in 2000 and set his share of Mar Vista records before leaving. Troy claims that sibling competition pushed him to be a better athlete and to eventually beat his brother’s records.

The Mar Vista standout looks forward to competing the rest of the year but is aware of his own competitive mortality. “That’s why we run races,” Swier said. “If we knew who was going to win, there wouldn’t be any point in racing”.

Such a humble outlook can only mean he still has unfinished business with this season, and his preemptive success will not impede those goals in any way.