Rose continues to find first

Published 10:20 pm Friday, March 4, 2016

Twelve-year-old Michaela Rose of Suffolk has made waves on the track from New York to Hampton over the past two weekends.

Michaela Rose of Suffolk takes the lead in the girls’ 13- and 14-year-old 400-meter dash at the seventh Boo Williams Sportsplex Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday in Hampton. Rose won the race with a time of 58.37 seconds. (Photo submitted by Marcia Rose)

Michaela Rose of Suffolk takes the lead in the girls’ 13- and 14-year-old 400-meter dash at the seventh Boo Williams Sportsplex Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday in Hampton. Rose won the race with a time of 58.37 seconds. (Photo submitted by Marcia Rose)

On Sunday, she competed in the girls’ 13- and 14-year-old age division at the seventh Boo Williams Sportsplex Indoor Track and Field Championships in Hampton, running away with three titles and a sixth-place finish in the long jump.

Representing the Faith In Action Ambassadors, a team based out of her church, Rose won the 400-meter dash with at time of 58.37 seconds, which was an indoor personal record for her.

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She won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:23.48, and she took first in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:04.25.

Rose proved to be a tough critic of herself despite her success.

“I was happy about the 400, but in the 8(00) and the 15(00), I didn’t do that well,” she said. “My times, they were horrible, not good enough, didn’t hit my goals for that meet.”

Rose’s mother, Marcia Rose, enjoyed the winning, but she said, “I’m more impressed with that fact that (Michaela) was able to compose herself and do all these events back-to-back.”

The long jump, 400 and 1,500 occurred consecutively, while she was able to rest before the 800.

Marcia Rose expressed gratitude at her daughter’s willingness to try whatever events her coach tells her to do.

“She’s really an obedient athlete,” she said.

In the long jump, Michaela Rose leapt 15 feet.

“I was satisfied with it because even though I wanted to go into the 16s, I still got close at least to my (personal record),” she said.

Her personal record is 15 feet and four inches.

On Feb. 20, she was in New York, competing in the prestigious New York Road Runners Millrose Games.

Rose made the cut to compete in the youth division there thanks to Anwar Blakely, a coach on the F.I.A. Ambassadors team who is from New York but lives in Virginia.

“He basically talked to the (Millrose Games) organizers and told them about her,” Marcia Rose said.

He let them know about her Michaela Rose’s performance at last year’s USA Track and Field Junior Olympic Games in Florida, where she won the 800 in the 11- and 12-year-olds division with a time of 2:15.

Rose competed in the 800 at the Millrose Games and won with a time of 2:18.

“It felt good at the time,” she said. “While I was running, all I heard was screaming and everything. It felt professional.”

Some of that screaming was her mom, who was excited but nervous.

“She got out really fast, faster than I was used to seeing her,” Marcia Rose said, noting her daughter was the first one around the curve.

Afraid Michaela was going too fast, the elder Rose said she turned around and covered her face.

“I’m so glad that she doesn’t take my nervousness upon her,” Marcia Rose said. “But she just looked so composed.”

On the third lap, a girl passed Michaela, but she regained the lead in the last 100 meters. The other girl made a final push, but it was too late.

“It was a very exciting race,” Marcia Rose said.