By STEPHEN MAZZONE
A little more than a month after his sterling fourth-place performance at the Foot Locker Nationals, Mead (Wash.) High sophomore Andrew Gardner is preparing for his next race – an invitation-only appearance at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle on Feb. 27.
Gardner will be among the elite field of sub-9:10 runners in the two-mile run at the indoor meet. After that, it’s the outdoor track season for the 15-year-old Ethiopian native.
“I am not expecting anything great (at Brooks), but I am really excited about running some fast times (this year),” Gardner said. “I don’t have expectations of running any certain times. We’ll see what happens at Brooks and we’ll build from there.”
Based on his rapid progression as one of the top high school harriers in the country in 16 short months, one would have to assume that all signs are positive for good fortunes to follow for Gardner as the outdoor track season approaches.
From a freshman year that saw him run a time of 9:01 for 3,200 meters at the state meet - third on the all-time list for ninth-graders - to his top finish in San Diego this past December, Gardner has displayed the ability to excel once his feet are in motion.
How he landed in the states to become one of the nation’s best, however, is a fascinating story in itself.
The 5-foot-10, 140-pound runner is one of 12 children of Steve and Michelle Gardner. He is among nine that were adopted from various different countries by the Spokane family.
“We have one from China, one from India, one from Russia and six of us from Ethiopia,” the young Gardner said. “My little brother plays soccer and he’s really good. But it’s really weird, we have six from Ethiopia and I’m the only one doing running.”
For Gardner, the environment at his new homestead was an eye-opener.
“I really didn’t know what was happening when I got on the airplane to come here. I had no idea what I was doing,” he recalled. “For nine years of my life there was no running water or an inside bathroom. I was shocked when I could actually flick a light switch on. We had candles for light. It’s just so different and amazing. It’s just so much better seeing the different opportunities that I have now.”
In terms of furthering his education and athletic career at the collegiate level, those opportunities have opened up greatly for Gardner in the short time that he’s been at Mead.
And surprisingly, at first he wasn’t even interested in long distance running despite his natural ability.
“I started running cross country in eighth grade, but before that I did track, short races in elementary school,” he said. “I actually didn’t want to run cross country (in high school). Running wasn’t my favorite thing. I made a deal with my mother and said if I don’t letter in cross country can I play football. She said okay. I ran my first cross-country race and ran 16:30 (for five kilometers) and my coach said I lettered so I just stayed with it.”
After a solid cross-country season his frosh campaign where he finished eighth at the state championship, Gardner put himself on the national map during the outdoor track championships last spring when he finished second to multiple state titlist Shane Moskowitz of Central Kitsap for 3,200 meters with an outstanding 9:01.4 clocking to Moskowitz’s 8:59.27.
“At the states, the only reason I ran so fast is I stayed right on Shane’s heels,” said Gardner, who entered the race with a not-too-shabby 9:05 best. “He beat me the last 200 meters. I was with him the whole race.”
Gardner endured a splendid cross-country season this past fall, beginning with a nearly nine-second victory at the Mountain West Classic in Montana on Sept. 18, where he ran 15:05.87 for three miles. The Mead standout also won a close race at the Big 9 4A Regionals, running the fast 3-mile layout at Walla Walla Park in 14:43.77. He was only a few strides ahead of Lewis and Clark’s Kenji Bierig (second, 14:45.11) and Walla Walla’s Aaron Nelson (third, 14:48.23).
The trio would battle again in the WIAA Region 4A State Championship on Nov. 6 with Bierig taking the overall crown with a 15:09 for the five-kilometer course and Gardner finishing almost five seconds in front of Nelson for second at 15:26.1.
One of the primary reasons that Gardner fell short in his pursuit of Bierig at the states is he developed some pain in his leg prior to the race. It was discovered by a chiropractor that one of his legs was an inch shorter than the other, and that caused an imbalance in his hip movement.
“He did x-rays and found out what was wrong,” he said. “I actually have heel supports built into my shoes now.”
The leg ailment forced Gardner to take a couple of weeks off before competing in the Foot Locker West Regionals where he placed second at Mt. Sac Stadium in Walnut, Calif., running 15:35 for the 5K layout.
“I really didn’t know what I would have (after the layoff),” Gardner said. “I just let everybody go and around a mile and a half into the race I was maybe 20th. After that, I really pushed myself.”
At the Foot Locker Nationals a week later in San Diego, Gardner again let his competition dictate the early pace. He was in dead last after the first mile, but gradually started picking off his competition the final two miles.
“I panicked a little after the first mile, but I knew I still had two miles left,” he said. “My goal was just to place up there and see what I can do. I really didn’t know I was in fourth until there was a mile to go and my coach was yelling it to me.”
Gardner had some added incentive to excel at Foot Locker. A few days before the competition, he made a friendly wager with his dad that if he finished among the top 10 he would have to get his ear pierced. Just before Christmas, his dad backed up his words and had it done.
“It was just one of those things,” Gardner said. “I hate losing. Losing a bet to my dad, I was going to let myself down.”
Gardner hasn’t seen his biological parents since they gave him up for adoption because they were too poor to care for him. He’s not even sure if they are dead or alive.
Gardner hopes his talented feet will earn him a scholarship to a Division I college. Once his education is finished, he plans to go back to his homeland.
“I am hoping to make a difference here and maybe build a career out of it,” he said. “I am planning to be a nurse and going back there to work in clinics and with the doctors there. That would be nice going back there.”
