While many adolescents stumble through an awkward journey in mind and body, West Seattle’s Madeleine Meyers takes growing up in stride.

“Maddie,” as she is known, is Washington State’s fastest 14 year-old girl in two track events, the mile and two-mile runs. Those races are sometimes called the 1600 and 3200 meter races as one mile equals 1608 meters. The 9th grader, who attends Northwest School, ran the 1600 in 5:06 and 3200 in 11:02 at a recent meet and has been shaving seconds off with each race.

Track and field statistics for students across the nation are posted on www.athletic.net where it is easy to monitor a rival in another state running ahead of, or behind a speed demon like Meyers.

Her biggest problem may be finding someone to race who can keep up with her.

“If I see someone in front of me who I am lapping I pretend I am racing someone who is ahead of me and tell myself I want to catch her,” said Meyers, with a modest grin that revealed her braces after a recent practice at the West Seattle Stadium.

Her high school on Capital Hill has no stadium and her team often utilizes this track. She wore a T-shirt she got for participating in the Nike-sponsored Border Clash races that wind through Nike’s 180 acres of corporate campus terrain outside Portland.

“I would definitely like to be in the 2012 Olympics in London,” she added with wonder. “I’ll be a senior by then.”

“She would need to run the mile in the 4:40’s to be competitive in the Olympics,” said Marley Spooner, her coach. Spooner coaches distance track at Northwest, from 800 meters to two miles.

“Maddie definitely has it in her,” she said. “It’s finding people in her age group to train with that’s the problem. It’s really hard to train when there is no one in front of you (on the track.) The only way to get better is to compete with others better than you. I give her time goals she goes after, like trying to break the 5-minute mile.”

Spooner emphasized that Meyers’ times are especially noteworthy as the Northwest School is a 1A school with a fraction of the enrollment as a 4A school, and that most of the fastest mile-runners come out of California and the south where they can train outside all year.

“Maddie has a great work ethic and attitude toward her teammates,” continued Spooner. “Our team is supportive. Everyone wants the team to do well. She cheers for teammates, and congratulates them when they better their times.”

Spooner said a 14 year-old girl “usually” gets faster as she matures and is coached well, and tends to peak between ages 17-19.

“The two-mile race is not exactly more tiring than the one mile race,” said Meyers. “I pace myself and I am not thinking about anything else but the race.”