Track and field | Saint Stephen's Andrew Csubak leaves baseball to make leap to state contention as runner

BRADENTON -- Andrew Csubak's long afternoon on the day of the Manatee Hurricane Invitational last year was a bit of an outlier even if it wasn't totally unusual.

The runner's day began in Sarasota, where he was fulfilling his role as a utility player for Saint Stephen's baseball team in a 4 p.m. game against Cardinal Mooney. When the game ended, he hustled back to Bradenton to join his other spring team.

Csubak made it to the track at Manatee High School in time for the 800- and 1600-meter runs. He didn't finish higher than 11th in either.

"Doing two things didn't let me focus on either," Csubak said. "I didn't get training in. This year I could consistently run."

Now a junior, Csubak is a full-time runner in the spring for the Falcons. He decided to give up baseball in the summer following his sophomore season after seeing his late-season progress on the track and now he's preparing for the Class 1A championship for the first time.

Csubak is one of three

SSES athletes competing in multiple events at the 1A championship, which begins Friday at IMG Academy Stadium, and the runner had the most impressive individual showing for the Falcons at the Class 1A-Region 3 meet last week to qualify for the event. Csubak led off Saint Stephen's region-champion 3200 relay and helped its 1,600 relay finish second. Individually, he finished second in the 800 run. He will compete for a state championship in the 800 on Friday when running events begin at 3 p.m. On Saturday, he will team with Henry Howell, Angus Chatham and Luke Valadie in the 3,200 at 10 a.m., and finish the meet as part of Saint Stephen's 1600 relay during the running schedule, which begins at 2 p.m.

Csubak's leap into state title contention wasn't obvious even when the Falcons went to Out-of-Door Academy for the Class 1A-District 7 championship. Csubak qualified for the region meet in three events, but only finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:04.12. It was about a second slower than his personal record even as he shattered his personal best in the 1600. He felt a breakthrough even though he came up short of a district championship.

"It's worked out well for him," Saint Stephen's head coach A.J. Brown said. "It's hard to do two things at once."

A week later, Csubak ran the 800 in a personal-best 1:59.96 for another second-place finish and led off the 3200, which ran a 8:29.63. Csubak's late-season leap, he said, is just a product of the added work he's put in this season. Last year, as he split time with baseball, Csubak got on the track once a week, usually the day before a meet. While everyone else was taking an easy day before competition, Csubak was cramming in a week worth of preparation. He spent much of the season tired and unprepared. Chemistry on his relays was hard to form.

"Last year, I never would have thought that this was something I could possibly do," Csubak said of earning a state medal. "I just continued training and not stopping. Between both sports last year it was a lot of running and a lot of baseball."

Seven Saint Stephen's individuals or relay teams will make the trip across town to IMG Academy for the two-day meet. Jordon Murrell will run the 200 dash, the second leg of Saint Stephen's 400 relay and participate in the 1600 relay. Kaitlyn Siegel will be among the favorites in the high jump after winning a region championship and also compete in the triple jump. The 400 relay is rounded out by Letherio Jones, Demetrius Davis and Bobby Harrison. Csubak is joined by Jones, Murrell and Davis on the 1600 relay.

Out-of-Door Academy is the only other area school with a presence in the 1A meet. Saraiah Walkes will run both the 100 and 200 dashes, and Sofia Gardinier will run the 400 dash.

David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter @DBWilson2.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Track and field | Saint Stephen's Andrew Csubak leaves baseball to make leap to state contention as runner ."