- April 26, 2024
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Running in his first-ever indoor track event, Buddy Taylor Middle School seventh grader Douglas Seth recorded the fastest 3,000-meter middle school time in the nation this year and 13th fastest all-time on Feb. 10 at the Florida High School/Middle School Indoor Championships at the Alachua Sports and Events Center in Gainesville.
Seth, who runs for the Imagine School At Town Center team, ran a 9:33.40 — the fastest middle-school time in Florida history — defeating second-place Dominic Johnson of St. Johns (9:58.15) by almost 25 seconds.
Seth also won the mile run at the Florida Indoor Championships with a time 4:55.50. Reed Hagen of Fort Myers finished a distant second at 5:04.46. Seth’s mile time is the fastest in Florida and the eighth fastest in the nation this year and the fourth-fastest in the state record book.
In an interview with flrunners.com after the race, Seth was told that he put himself on the national map with the top 3,000-meter time in the country. He replied, “I hope not. I want to surprise people.”
His track coach, Mike Pane, said Seth “has a strong work ethic and is committed to getting better on and off the track.”
Seth said his goal is to try to improve on his personal record each week.
“It’s not about competition, I usually focus more about (myself) than others,” he said.
But he said he was aware of Johnson trailing him.
“Dominic has a lot of really good kicks and catches a lot runners off guard with it,” Seth said. “So I was making sure he stayed the same distance (behind me) the whole race.”
Seth noted that the outdoor season will be harder because not all of the runners compete in indoor meets.
Seth now has two state championships to go with his runner-up finish at the Florida Middle School Cross Country Championships in October.
