Catoctin's Brody Buffington -- owner of nation's fastest 55 dash -- is using restraint to maximize speed
Jan. 18—Brody Buffington is being purposely and carefully restrained this season.
It's not that easy considering the Catoctin High School senior is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound package of fast-twitch muscle fibers with long legs to aid his stride and is capable of winning just about any event he enters.
But holding him back is necessary if Buffington is going to maximize his performance during this indoor track and field season, which picks up in earnest this Friday with the Frederick County Public School championship meet at Hagerstown Community College.
The freshly minted owner of the top time in the nation this indoor season, Buffington is scheduled to run the 55-meter dash during the championship season. He's also expected to run the 300 dash for the second time competitively this season, as well as a leg for the Cougars' 4x200 relay team.
But, leading into a national meet in March, he will be running to win, not for a time, and he won't be over-extending himself in a quest to set more records.
"When you have somebody like that, you don't want to run the hell out of him," Catoctin's Dave Lillard, a longtime track and field coach in Frederick County, said.
"A lot of coaches would and let him rack up as many points and wins and he could. But it's a big mistake. ... When somebody is going out that hard, with that much explosiveness, it would be foolish to always run him as much as you can."
Buffington had to learn to dial back the hard way, and that there will always be another race to run.
Last spring, while still able to produce eye-popping times, jumps and state championships, Buffington's body broke down.
"Last year, I was lifting too many weights and doing too much," he said. "This year, all I care about is rehab and recovery."
In May, Buffington dealt with a litany of ailments as he led the Catoctin boys to their first state outdoor team championship.
He won the 100-meter dash in a Class 1A record time of 10.6 seconds, the 200 dash in a school-record time of 21.54 seconds and the long jump with a giant leap of 21 feet, 7 1/2 inches, all the while dealing with shin splits, a pinched nerve in his back and bad pollen allergies.
To ensure he is in top form for the meet he is prioritizing the most this season, the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston on March 10-12, he has pared down his meet schedule and fine-tuned his training regimen and diet.
Rigorous practice days are followed by much lighter ones.
"It's just common sense," Lillard said.
In this careful orchestration of a season, last Saturday's Montgomery Invitational at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex, site of the state meet in Landover, was nearly a disaster for Buffington.
Yet, as he has a knack for doing, he turned it into a spectacular triumph.
As the gun went off in the 55 dash final, Buffington slipped out of his blocks, causing them to slide backwards a few feet. He tumbled onto the track.
The race continued. Every participant expended the energy and effort required. Buffington nearly overcame his mishap at the start to win it.
But it all wound up being for naught. The starter meant to stop the race after Buffington tumbled to the track, potentially interfering with other runners. But the starter's pistol malfunctioned and did not fire a second time, which would have indicated a false start.
Perturbed by the circumstance and now somewhat fatigued by the first sprint, everyone was forced to run the race again.
Buffington crossed the finish line in a personal-best 6.25 seconds, which is the best time in the nation this season, according to milesplit.com.
"It was pretty crazy," he said.
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