DyeStat.com – News – Mia Brahe-Pedersen Studying All The Ways She Can Get Even Faster In 2023

Oregon Sprint Champion Has John Parks And 2012 Olympian Ryan Bailey In Her Corner As She Approaches Nike Indoor Nationals And The Upcoming Outdoor Season

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

LAKE OSWEGO — The first time Ryan Bailey watched Mia Brahe-Pedersen sprint, in a low-key dual meet two years ago, he took mental notes of all the correctable flaws.

The freshman from Lake Oswego ran 11.94 in the 100 meters that day. A so-so race by her standards at that time. She had already run faster.

Bailey studied her mechanics as she flew down the track, then turned to his own former coach and mentor, John Parks.

“I went down a list of things she was doing terribly,” Bailey said. “But, she was ridiculously fast. Oh my God, she’s doing that running like this. I was freaking out a little bit.”

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By then, Parks had already seen Brahe-Pedersen and was more than a little intrigued by her talent.

Within a few months, Parks and Bailey were working with Brahe-Pedersen sporadically. As she began to implement the information they were giving her, her times dropped.

In 2022, as a sophomore, Brahe-Pedersen broke Oregon’s 54-year-old state record in the 100 meters when she ran a wind-legal 11.25 at the USATF U20 Championships. She also ran wind-aided 11.09 twice.

She also ran 22.95 in the 200 meters in the semifinals of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, a performance that put her 20th on the all-time high school list.

On Jan. 27, Parks was hired to be the head track and field coach at Lake Oswego High.

And Bailey, whom Parks found aimlessly strolling the hallways of McKay High in Salem, Ore. in 2005 before setting a course to fourth place in the 2012 Olympic Games, became the sprints coach.

One of Bailey’s highlights was running the anchor leg on a U.S. 4×100 relay that beat Jamaica and Usain Bolt at the 2015 World Relays. 

Not long after taking those jobs, Parks and Bailey were in New Mexico with Brahe-Pedersen when she broke the national high school record in the 200 meters at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational. She ran nearly stride for stride with Oregon’s Jadyn Mays, an NCAA qualifier, on the way to 22.89 seconds.

In the immediate aftermath, Brahe-Pedersen felt the sting of disappointment. She had lost the race. And she had stumbled in her third step out of the blocks. 

Only when she saw the time did she allow the self-criticism to fade. Even she can’t argue with a national record. 

This week,…