Not many things in a track athlete's life top winning a medal in arguably the most prestigious track stadium in the world.
Unless it's accomplishing that feat with a good friend - which is exactly what Aledo High School sophomores Anderson Smith and Thomas “Trey” Warner III did this past summer. They were half of the four legs that comprised the national runner-up 4x800-meter relay at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics at the legendary Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
The two were running in the 15-16 age group for AP (Athletic Performance) Ranch based out of Fort Worth. Their time, running with teammates Gianni Fragoso and Julias Salcido (not Aledo students) was eight minutes, 21.58 seconds, over 16 seconds faster than their time that won the Region 12 championships earlier in the summer.
"It's really cool to run with a close friend. It feels like a group accomplishment rather than doing it by myself, it gives me a feeling of teamwork," Warner said.
As a result of their performance, the quartet was named All-Americans.
"Getting All American with Trey was great and was a very cool experience," said Smith, who also qualified individually in the 800-meter run.
For Smith, it was his second consecutive year to qualify for nationals. With different teammates his relay finished eighth in 2022.
"I felt great after winning a silver medal at my age, and I cant wait to go for gold next year," he said.
Their distance coach with AP Ranch, Ashleigh Price, called Smith and Warner a "Dynamic Duo."
"They put so much work into our summer track season and it paid off in a big, national level way. They were dedicated to the process," she said. "Trey was challenged this season with longer and harder workouts and never backed down. He stepped on the line and gave 100 percent every workout.
"Anderson actually went on a family vacation to Africa and even did workouts on his own while he was gone. They had an end goal in mind and did everything they needed to do to get there."
Smith competes in cross country and track, while Warner focuses on track. Last track season Warner was first in district at the junior varsity level in the 800 and Smith was second. They each ran in one varsity meet at Aledo, with Warner taking sixth and Smith eighth.
Smith also won JV district in the 1600 and 3200. He ran in one varsity meet in each of those events as well, taking eighth at Haltom and ninth at Northwest.
In the 2022 cross country season he was seventh at district and advanced to regionals for the Bearcats.
"It helps a lot with my high school career because all the training I put into getting All-American will be used during my high school season," Smith said of his Junior Olympics performance.
Neither comes from a competitive running family. Smith's mother runs for fun and recreation, he said, and Warner's dad was a basketball player.
Smith said he would love to run competitively in college, while Warner is also open to the idea should he receive a running scholarship, something he said his trip to Oregon might help with.
"This gives me exposure to opportunities across the nation like potential scholarships,," he said. "It's awesome to have the opportunity to compete and win at this level. I appreciate the coaches' help to get me there."
Price believes both could make an impact on a college team should they go that route. In the meantime, they is confident they have great things ahead of them in high school.
Plus, she said they are great to have as teammates.
"They both have team-oriented mindsets and showed up for each other and the others on the track team," she said. "They have a lot of fun and can be a hilarious handful to coach. They both had huge growth in their races and I have no doubt they will continue to get faster.
"Both these kids have unlimited potential and I’m honored to be a small part of helping develop that."
And both runners agree sharing this accomplishment was the experience of their athletic lives so far.
"Running with my friend was a great experience and I was glad I was able to run with him at Hayward stadium in Track Town USA," Smith said.
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