Lake Oswego's Mia Brahe-Pedersen Is The U.S. Leader In The 100 and 200 After Doubling 11.34 and 23.23 At Hayward Field, Long Sought Oregon All-Time Bests Are Within Grasp

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- Mia. Brahe. Pedersen. Perhaps someday soon it will become a chant for "M-B-P."

The Lake Oswego OR sophomore sunned herself in the glories of Hayward Magic over two days at the Oregon Relays. 

Brahe-Pedersen's incredible 2022 performances rose to new heights Saturday when she flew with the baton to victory for the Lakers in the 4x100 relay and then came back to run a wind-legal 11.34 seconds in the 100 meters. That came after a 23.23-second race in the 200 meters Friday. 

Those performances take her to US#1 (wind-legal) in both events. The relay time, which was 46.58, was .05 off Oregon's all-time best. 

No Oregon high school girl in more than 50 years has been able to replicate the speed of 1968 Olympian Margaret Johnson-Bailes, a 2019 inductee into the National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame. 

But now two sprinters in the state, Brahe-Pedersen and Roosevelt's Lily Jones, are in her slipstream. 

Jones' fast start put her out ahead of Brahe-Pedersen over the first half of Saturday's 100. But the Lake Oswego sprinter's top end speed sling-shots her into the lead. Yet Jones, too, seemed to be pullled along. 

Jones ran a new personal best of 11.44, which is the third-fastest in state history. 

Johnson-Bailes' bests, set in Mexico City, are 11.30 and 22.95. Both were national high school records at the time, and so far out of reach for the girls in Oregon who came after that they almost seemed impossible. 

Brahe-Pedersen and Jones, who bump fists before the race starts and hold hands after, are enjoying the ride together as they explore their vast potential. 

They are the best duo in Oregon high school sports since Kevin Love and Kyle Singler came up together on basketball courts in Lake Oswego and Medford in the mid-2000s. 

"It means so much," Brahe-Pedersen said. "Honestly, I've been given the best opportunities this season. My coaches, my teammates, everyone is so supportive, even people I don't really know. They've been like, go for the record. You got this. It fuels me and it's amazing."

Jones, who had barely, scratched under 12 seconds by this time last season, committed to the University of Oregon last Wednesday. 

She, too, is on a trajectory to the record. 

"I knew that I was going to come out here and perform," Jones said. "I felt really, really good in the prelims and matched my PR (11.52), so I always run faster in finals."

Jones has clout. Portland Trail Blazers basketball player Damian Lillard follows her on Instagram. She was on a middle school track team with current Oregon star Micah Williams. 

Brahe-Pedersen has gotten some occasional advice from 2012 Olympian and Oregon native Ryan Bailey. 

They are seeing past the barriers that generations of previous Oregon girls couldn't imagine. 

"Mia and I love competing against each other. We definitely feed off each other," Jones said. "It could be either one of us on any given day (winning), but I'm so happy for her."

The upcoming weeks could be filled with even more excitement. 

"Where I'm at right now is a lot further along than I thought I was going to be at this point in my season," Brahe-Pedersen said. "But still, I've always had big goals for my 10th-grade season."

With more weeks to shapen, the state meet in May and any opportunities that follow could bring even faster times.

"I'm expecting a big PR at state, too," Jones said. "I'm definitely looking forward to what more I can do."