- April 25, 2024
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Liam Conville was always into running, but it was never that serious. In fact, if it wasn’t for Cameron Allen and David Drumm, two of the top runners in recent Matanzas history, Conville might not even be running in high school.
But thanks to them — and luckily for Matanzas — Conville is running. And he’s running fast.
Conville, now a junior on Matanzas’ track-and-field and cross-country teams, broke Allen’s school record in the 1,500 meters March 8, at the seventh-annual Spruce Creek Invitational trakc-and-field meet.
Conville crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 19 seconds — two seconds ahead of Allen’s 4:21 mark. The record was good enough for a second-place finish, 19 seconds behind first-place finisher Keneth Pineiro, of DeLand.
Typically, meets have the 1,600 meters (one mile) and 3,200 meters (two miles), but Spruce Creek has traditionally held the 1,500.
It’s the only meet on Matanzas’ schedule that has the 1,500 meters, and last week was the first time Conville has ever competed in the event.
Conville said he normally runs the 1,600 and 3,200. But walking up to the starting line on Saturday, he knew he’d have a good chance to break the record.
“(Coaches) Danny Weed and Anthony Sullivan pretty much coached me through a strategy of going out and being smart,” Conville said. “There was a bit of wind on one side of the track, and so they wanted me to take advantage of that.”
About midway through the race — near the 800-meter mark — Weed and Sullivan told Conville that if he was going to go for the record, he had to make a move.
Conville, who had been pacing with his training partner, David Perez, left to chase down the record. He hit it by two seconds.
Conville said the support from his coaches, Perez and his entire team pushed him around that track. He said Flagler Palm Coast runners, who were also participating at the Spruce Creek meet, were running in the infield to push him, too.
“We have a big deal of caring for each other at Matanzas,” Conville said, “so pretty much every athlete on our team was there cheering for me. That’s really what carried me through.”
Next up in Conville’s crosshairs is Drumm’s 4:33 time in the 1,600 meters. Conville’s best time is 4:37, and so he’s been working on base work and strength training to shave off four seconds of his mile — at least.
Drumm and Allen were Conville’s mentors. They still are. Now, he’s hoping to mow them down in Matanzas’ record books.
One down, one to go.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Conville said of the 1,500 record. “I have the most respect for David and Cameron. They got me into running and excited about it, so to be able to go out and compete at the level they did and hit those times ... ”
Drummonds shatters pole vault record
Conville’s record wasn’t the only one that has been broken this season.
Savannah Drummonds broke Matanzas’ girls pole vault record two weeks ago at a meet at Clay High School. She reached 10 feet, breaking the previous record of 8 feet.
At the Spruce Creek Invitational, Drummonds took second place, at 9 feet, 6 inches. Although she was tied with the first-place finisher, she came in second because she had more scratches.
