Kendall County MVA Athlete of the Week: Brad Wiggins, Oswego East, track, junior

WHY HE WAS SELECTED:

Oswego East junior Brad Wiggins won the 1,600-meter run and ran a leg on the Wolves' winning 3,200 relay and third-place 1,600 relay to help the Oswego East boys win Yorkville's Matt Wulf Invitational.

Wiggins talked to sports editor Joshua Welge about the meet, the season and more. This is an edited version of the transcript.

Welge: What did it mean to win the team title?

Wiggins: It was really good. We made team goals to get top five at every meet. It's good to have goals like that. Getting first as a team was nice, especially because we had another meet the next day [the Ottawa Invite] that we got top five in.

Welge: What do you like about the 1,600 distance?

Wiggins: I know I have the speed. I've always done the mile. I always did it in junior high. It's kind of the classic event in track, the four laps is perfect for me. Mentally, I'm thinking just take it one lap at a time. Every step to the finish line you want to keep running faster. It's not too long a distance. It's my favorite event.

Welge: How do you attack the race, strategy-wise?

Wiggins: For me, the second and third lap tend to be slower, I'm always trying to work on that. I usually try to get out pretty fast and try to settle in a little bit, but not to where I'm feeling comfortable. You never want to feel comfortable in a race. I try to get out the first lap in the low 60s [seconds] and then it's all about feel. I know I have a kick, but I try not to sit back. It's kind of like a threshold thing, expanding where I start my kick. If I'm trying to win it's going to be different every night.

Welge: Did your junior class always have a solid group of distance runners?

Wiggins: It's interesting in junior high, just when I was meeting other junior high runners, they were standing out and we ended up becoming close friends before high school. We knew we all were going to be going to the same high school and we knew we would be good.

Welge: What's your thoughts and goals for the rest of the season?

Wiggins: Pretty much staying healthy, doing the correct and proper recovery, that's always my No. 1 goal, getting ready for May and trying to get down to state. I know I have to drop some time but I believe that I can do it. Whether we do it in the [3,200 relay] or me in the mile, that would be an awesome goal for me. I'd like to run a sub 4:30 time in the mile.