Salem’s cross country star re-writing school’s record book with every race

Austin Mercado’s incredible long-distance running journey started in a grassy field just east of Miller Elementary School in Canton.

“When I was in third grade at Miller, they had a program called STRIDE and we would run around on the field next to the school,” Mercado recalled. “Honestly, it wasn’t a lot of fun for me, but my friends were doing it, so I joined.

“In middle school at Discovery, I ran cross country, but again, I only did it because me friends were doing it. I really wasn’t into running and racing every day.”

Mercado’s mindset gradually changed before his freshman year at Salem High School.

“One of my sibling’s friends ran for Salem and we got a chance to see their meets and I realized I like the competition,” he said.

What a difference a few years make

Fast forward to this fall — Mercado’s senior year at Salem — and it’s easy to see how much he loves distance running.

In October, Mercado broke his own Salem record of 15 minutes, 6 seconds, when he broke the tape in 15:04 at the Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard Invitational at Dexter Hudson Mills Park.

Last weekend, Mercado became just the second Salem cross-country runner to be crowned an MHSAA Division 1 Regional champion.

“Since I began coaching Austin, he has been an extremely coachable athlete,” said Salem boys cross country coach John Goodridge. “He is a very quiet athlete who leads by his actions and not his words whether that is in training or racing.

“He has put in the necessary training to progress to where he is now one of the top cross country runners in the State.”

Gradual climb to greatness

Mercado’s greatness didn’t come over night.

In eighth grade, he placed 17th at the PCCS Middle School XC championships.

Once at Salem, his personal-best times dropped consistently, going from 18:19 in ninth grade, to 16:19 as a sophomore and 15:39 as a junior.

This season, he has galloped into unchartered territory, posting times that are faster than the thousands of Rock distance runners who have come before him.

“Over time, I began trusting my coach more,” Mercado said. “Not only did I improve physically, but mentally, too. I started to push myself harder and running more difficult workouts.”

Picking up speed as the race goes on

Mercado said his race strategy doesn’t include running to the head of the pack right away, “unless I’m like 30 seconds faster than the next runner. The second mile, I start to press and over the third mile, I go hard and hope I can hang on.”

Mercado’s time of 15:04 is now third-best in Plymouth-Canton Educational Park history.

“My goal going forward is to break 15 minutes and see where that takes me at the state meet,” he said.

The hard-working Rock runs in all kinds of conditions throughout the year.

Running in all kinds of weather

“I run pretty much every day,” he said. “When I run outdoors in the winter — I’ve trained when the temperature was below zero — I have to layer up. I’ve also run in weather where the rain is coming sideways at my face. The bigger the challenge, the more it’s going to help you down the road.”

Mercado is far from the lone star in the Salem cross country galaxy. The team has been ranked as high as seventh in Division 1 — and the Rocks set a new Salem record for the fastest scoring five-man time (79:56.9), breaking the old record of 80:22.3 set in 2020.

The history-making doesn’t stop there. For the first time in school history, three Rocks broke the 16-minute barrier in the same race with Jack Hanner clocking in at 15:52, Sam Batt finishing in 15:56 and, of course, Mercado.

The moral of Mercado’s story: If at first you don’t love something, keep at it. Passion for a difficult endeavor often takes patience