High School Senior Mint Henk of Braintree Wins New England Cross Country Championship

High School Senior Mint Henk of Braintree Wins New England Cross Country Championship

Braintree’s superlative high school runner Mint Henk won the New England cross country championship Saturday in Warwick, R.I.

At the same time, he knocked 21 seconds off the Vermont 5K record.

According to Henk, though, he was running "scared" when he couldn’t shake New Hampshire runner Tony Truax over the last half-mile.

That statement has to be taken in context, however. He beat Truax by nine seconds, which is a healthy margin. But most of Henk’s winning margins have been by 50 seconds or so, meaning that the second place runner isn’t even in sight when he crosses the finish line.

Henk’s time of 15 minutes and 11.5 seconds shattered his own Vermont record of 15:32, which he had set earlier this year. Before he came along, the Vermont record had been 15:46. In effect, Henk, who grew up at the Green Mountain Stock Farm and along Thayer Brook Road in Braintree, has knocked more than 35 seconds off the state record, an almost unbelievable achievement.

Henk is accompanied at all his big races by mom Barbara Carter and stepfather Steve Zind. Even though he’s attended U-32 because of coach Mark Chaplin’s running program, he said, "I still think of myself as a Braintree kid."

Henk, who came in second at the New England championships last year, told The Herald he found it was "tough" being favored to win, knowing that everybody would be keying on him. He also was concerned about Truax, whom he had never raced.

He said he moved to the leadership group after about a half mile, and then for a mile and a half, he and Truax matched paces, side by side.

"I knew he was my main competition, but I didn’t know his strategy," Henk said. He didn’t know, for instance, what kind of a "kick" Truax would be able to put on at the end.

With about a half-mile to go, Henk said, he began to "push the pace" and slowly moved into the lead. But Truax never fell far back.

"I was pretty worried going into the final stretch," he admitted."

According to the Times Argus, Henk’s time is the 28th best 5K run in high school competition in the nation this year. The fastest time in the country this year is 14:45, Henk said.

On to the Bronx

Henk’s next challenge is the Northeastern Regional championship in Van Cortland Park in the Bronx Nov. 24, a race in which he placed sixth last year. He must score in the top eight to move on to the national championships, held in Florida on Dec. 8.

The U-32 senior was disappointed in his race at the nationals last year and thinks some of the problem was the heat and humidity. He plans, therefore, to do much of his training dressed in heavy clothing.

Henk is already getting calls and letters from colleges but is waiting before making visits to them. Finding "a good running school" will be important, but he pointed out that many of these schools, such as Stanford, have high academic credentials as well.

By M. D. Drysdale