Mt SAC Cross Country Invitational 2013

Tal Braude backs up his hype men with a huge win at Mt. SAC (14:27 #4 all-time)

Tal Braude backs up his hype men with a huge win at Mt. SAC (14:27 #4 all-time)

Oct 26, 2013 by FloTrack Staff
Tal Braude backs up his hype men with a huge win at Mt. SAC (14:27 #4 all-time)
The relatively unknown Tal Braude took the biggest win of his running career with his 14:27 win in the Boy’s Individual Sweepstakes at the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational. The senior from Torrey Pines has passed Ryan Hall (14:28 in 2000) and Mo Trafeh (14:28 from 2003) on the all-time Mt. SAC list and now sits in the fourth spot.

Who is this guy?



We did a little research and came up with the following. Last spring, Braude set personal bests at both 1600m (4:15.12) and 3200m (9:05.26). This fall he had only run one race, which was a ninth place finish at the Stanford XC Invitational in 15:29. That race was won by Blake Haney, who was in Braude’s race at Mt. SAC.

If the number one prep in the country was going to lose, it was going to take something special. Even though he told Flotrack that was running on tired legs, it still took a big effort to take the overall win.

Though we received a few messages about the Boy’s Individual Sweepstakes at Mt. SAC, we thought we’d point out two in particular.

Props to Trent Newquist and Joseph Grovers, who have Braude to thank for backing up their hype.



Here's how the race panned out. Braude stayed with the lead pack and intelligently bided his time before moving to the front. Right around the Reservoir, Braude seized the lead with a big move that may have shocked the field. Villa Park’s Garrett Corrocran, who was our adidas Boost Performance of the Week, was one of the only few to try and cover the move. Though it seemed as if Corocran was gaining ground on Braude in the Gauntlet, Braude would hold on for the big win.

This definitely makes the California State XC Championships even more interesting. Prior to Mt. SAC, Rich Gonzalez at PreCalTrack.com had Braude ranked 22nd in the state. He just took down the top two (Haney and Corcoran) and ran faster than sophomore Austin Tamagno, who’s ranked third.

Should we believe the hype? We’ll find out soon.