Washingtonville graduate Samantha Mynio turns walking into a new passion
Samantha Mynio walked her way into the discovery of a lifetime.
Nursing an injury during her junior season at Washingtonville High School, coach Mike White asked Mynio to take up racewalking during her recovery. She took to it well but not to any extent that would open eyes.
A return to health, solid training and a greater appreciation for the unique event had a transformative effect this past school year. In her first competition of the indoor season Mynio shaved nearly two minutes off her previous best to open her senior campaign. She placed second at the Class A meet and Section 9 indoor state qualifier and put up an outstanding effort at states, placing fourth and establishing a new best of 7 minutes, 5.09 seconds at 1,500 meters.
Making huge steps with greater distance following indoor season, Mynio won a premier invitational at 3,000 meters, took second at Penn Relays at 5,000 meters and won the Loucks Games at 1,600 meters. She qualified for last week’s U.S. Under-20 championships in Oregon but at an extraordinary length of 10,000 meters – a 25-lap endurance contest vs. four laps at the high school level.
Walking smarter with pace to conserve energy, White said Mynio executed the race plan perfectly – she worked her way from eighth position (out of 10 walkers) after one lap and finished fifth at 52 minutes, six seconds.
“It was very exciting, to say the least,’’ said Mynio. “I definitely did not expect to be able to compete at that level, let alone get fifth place and All-American.’’
“She had to pace herself differently in this race and not have the 5K mindset but have the 10K mindset, which is very smart for her age,’’ White said. “We actually spent a lot of time on doing (time) splits (during training) and making sure that we didn’t go too fast. The problem is sometimes … you go out too fast and you end up dying halfway through the race.’’
Mynio has not limited herself to racewalking, sticking with a running schedule that has included competing in 3.1-mile races in cross country plus the metric mile and 2-mile and steeplechase during indoor and outdoor track season – she says the running keeps her in shape for her walking gig.
Mynio is no doubt a quick learner. A distance runner, Mynio injured herself during her junior year and White, as a means to keep his team captain active, asked her to give racewalking a try.
Said White: “Most kids would be like, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ but she was like, ‘I will do whatever I can to help this team, and it’s going to help me get back in shape to run later.’’’
Mynio did not put up strong times as a rookie but following the fall 2022 cross country season she enthusiastically jumped back into racewalking and the improvements were noticeable. Mynio said she spent a lot of time studying racewalking techniques from online videos and put her studies to good use.
Mynio is headed for Messiah University in Pennsylvania where she will compete on the track and cross country teams and study athletic training. Racewalking is not an official NCAA sport so she will have to find events and compete as an independent. She is already dreaming of making a USA team and competing at the Olympics.
“I feel like I’ve progressed this much in my training in a short amount of time,’’ she said. “Just imagine if I stick with it, which I plan on doing, and how much father I can make it, with big jumps and improvements that I can definitely make.’’
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Racewalker Samantha Mynio posts strong finish at U.S. U-20 Nationals
