Baker breaks own mile mark; aims higher

Tyler Baker has taken ownership of all of Poteau’s track and field distance-running school records, and the senior is working on trimming his times in those events as the postseason nears.

Baker set a new school record in the mile run at the Van Buren (Ark.) Pointer Relays on Friday, winning the race in 4:30.05, beating Noah Brothers of Rogers (Ark.) by 3.7 seconds.

“That was a nice change of pace, to have people to stay with me for the first couple of laps,” he said.

Baker was battling a significant wind.

“It was a little bit windy. I tried to stay back for the first couple of laps and make my move later in the race, which is what I had to do with all that wind,” he said.

He also won the twomile run in 10:03.43 that day.

While he did not run the 800 that day, Baker said running the mile faster than 4:30 after having run the 800 at a meet can be difficult.

“But I was close at Tahlequah. I ran sub-two [minutes] in the 800, and I ran 4:31 in the mile,” he said. “At Van Buren, the 4:30 felt smooth. I can definitely get under the 4:30 mark.”

Poteau’s last meet before the postseason will be Thursday, the Warner Twilight Classic.

For this postseason, Baker has set a goal to win all three distance events, the 800-meter run, the mile and the two-mile at state. The regional meet will be April 27, with Poteau’s regional assignment yet to be announced. The state meet at Catoosa will be May 9. His goal times are 4:20 in the mile, 9:20 in the two-mile and as close as possible to 1:50 in the 800.

“I’m ranked in the top three in all of my events, and I haven’t been able to race against any of my people that are close to me in the ranking because they’re all in Oklahoma City and far away,” he said. “Once I get to state, I’ll be on top. I’ll have the competition to push me. I’ve just been running by myself.”

Poteau has focused its distance runners more on mileage than speed thus far in training. In the preseason, Baker ran 65-70 miles per week. As the team shifts its focus toward speed, he is running 55-60 miles per week.

Baker believes the twomile will be his best event this year, even though he has not done it at as many meets as the mile and the 800.