Photo by Sam Chandler.
Vestavia Hills High School junior James Sweeney, seen running at the JV Invite Jan. 10 at the Birmingham CrossPlex, has emerged as one of Alabama’s top distance runners.
James Sweeney knew it was time to go.
His legs were tightening, his lungs were burning, and there were only 400 meters remaining in the boys 1,600-meter race at this midseason indoor track meet.
The top four runners already had begun to separate themselves, and Sweeney was trying to make up ground.
The clock was ticking.
“I just turned it on and hoped for the best,” he recalled.
As he pushed through the discomfort, the gap between him and the front-running contingent started to shrink.
He latched onto the pack with around 200 meters go. His move paid off.
When Sweeney crossed the finish line half a minute later, the neon blue scoreboard displayed his time.
It read: 4 minutes, 25.72 seconds.
The marquee race, in which he set an 11-second indoor personal best, is representative of Sweeney’s recent metamorphosis into one of Alabama’s top high school distance runners.
In only a matter of months, he has transformed from one of the state’s emerging elite into one of its elite. Period.
“I don’t know if I would have exactly imagined coming this far,” said Sweeney, a Vestavia Hills High School junior. “This is pretty crazy how I’ve improved so quickly and jumped times as much as I have.”
There are a number of possible explanations for Sweeney’s newfound success.
Perhaps the most logical one is his ramped-up training regimen. Under the guidance of longtime Vestavia assistant coach Tom Jennings, Sweeney has increased his overall mileage and the intensity of his workouts.
At his peak, he’s been running 55 to 60 miles per week while completing rigorous interval sessions aimed at sharpening his speed and endurance.
“He’s a hard worker. Basically, that’s what it amounts to,” Jennings said. “He listens to instructions and tries to do what you say.”
Almost all of Sweeney’s runs are done alongside his training partner, sophomore Bryce Hutchinson, whose near-constant presence could also help explain Sweeney’s improvement.
The two help push each other in workouts and races, and Sweeney described their mutual bond as brotherly.
“We just feed off each other really well, and we race really well together,” Sweeney said.
Hutchinson is an elite runner in his own right. In the same race that Sweeney ran 4:25, Hutchinson ran 4:28. He said Sweeney’s close proximity on the track can be a boon to both of their performances.
“Even if you feel like you can’t do it, you always know you can because the other person’s always there with you,” Hutchinson said.
Or perhaps Sweeney’s rise can be attributed to a renewed perspective. In early August, Sweeney contracted a case of mononucleosis, which sidelined him for four weeks and delayed the start of his cross-country season.
The fact that he already had invested hours of sweat into what had been his best summer of training only accentuated the shock of the illness.
The overwhelming feeling of drowsiness hit him like a train on a Monday morning. The day before, he had completed a quality 13-mile long run.
“It kind of tore me up,” he said.
But it also gave Sweeney a different vantage point. Instead of lining up with his teammates to kick off the season, he walked and jogged around the course yelling words of encouragement to them.
“I was screaming at them,” he said, “but it was hard for me because I wanted to be out there running with them, too.”
Sweeney said he hasn’t taken any races for granted since he made his cross-country debut in mid-September. Every time he steps on the line, he said he gives it his all.
“God can kind of take it away like that, and it’s pretty crazy how He can also put you back in it as quick as He did for me,” Sweeney said. “He’s doing good work now, for sure.”
