This Coast star runner is catching up to Olympian Cory McGee. Where will she sprint next?
The moments came in bunches.
There was the Junior Olympics race in Florida where Brooklyn Biancamano finished in second on a national stage as an eighth grader.
There was the thrilling moment Biancamano helped bring Long Beach its first and only team track and field state title.
There was the heartbreak of defeat in the 1,600 meters race her junior year, an event Biancamano had won multiple times.
Then there was the moment she stepped onto the track of one of the elite running universities in the country and realized where she was heading next.
Biancamano is wrapping up a career full of highlights and humbling moments and will leave Long Beach as one of the most decorated high school athletes in Mississippi history.
She recently won her fourth cross country Gatorade Player of the Year award, giving her six total when including the two she’s won for track and field. She’s now tied with Olympian and Pass Christian graduate Cory McGee for the state record for total Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
The sixth and record-tying award was easily Biancamano’s favorite.
“Sometimes it doesn’t impact me as much as it probably should but this time, winning No. 6 was a lot different,” Biancamano told the Sun Herald. “Just matching Cory (McGee) and knowing everything that she’s achieved ... it’s a huge honor. It makes me so excited for what I might be capable of.”
Her mom is her track coach
Through all the moments, Biancamano has had a steady presence by her side in her mom and cross country coach Erin Biancamano.
Erin began working as an assistant focused on improving player fitness before she took over as head coach four years ago. Though she’s worked hand-in-hand with Brooklyn, she takes little credit for her accomplishments and relies on her assistants to balance the coaching.
“It’s very difficult to be a coach to your children,” Erin said. “I definitely rely on the rest of my coaching staff if there’s a really difficult workout. They do the yelling and the screaming and the motivating because when she hears my voice whenever she’s hurting from a hard workout, she has a hard time differentiating between mom and coach.”
Erin said that she’s been lucky to have been a part of Brooklyn’s journey, though, and looks back fondly on some of her daughter’s biggest moments.
Becoming a star athlete at Long Beach
Brooklyn does the same, but has a competitive spirit that takes over that has helped shape the athlete she’s become.
For example, finishing second at the Junior Olympics in the 4K race is a significant accomplishment. At the time, though, Biancamano wasn’t happy with the result.
“It was a big moment for me but at the same time, losing by one second, I was so upset,” Brooklyn said. “Anybody who loses by one second has to be upset. It was huge for me because it helped me grow a lot as an athlete. Especially being that young and being in that type of environment.”
That same fire ignited again four years later when she ran the 1,600 meter race. Brooklyn won the event in seventh grade and twice more after that. She was confident she’d win again.
“I came in second and that was really hard for me to accept that,” Brooklyn said. “I feel like losing that kicked me into being like ‘Ok, you’ve got to change your mindset, you need to get back on it’ and it really changed my training over the summer. My effort and my drive really jumpstarted back again. I think 30 minutes after losing in the mile I went and beat her in the 800 meter. It brought my drive back.
“Somebody that wins all the time, you have to lose to be able to tell yourself to work harder. If you win all the time it just becomes mundane. It makes it seem easy and your effort starts to fade.”
Challenging Cory McGee’s records
Around the rare losses, Brooklyn shattered local records and is chasing statewide records set by McGee. Brooklyn’s main event, the 5,000 meter run, is where she’s truly shined. She owns the school record with a 17:41.2 time, almost three full minutes faster than the previous record.
The personal best was set in 2020 and was the best time the state of Mississippi has seen since McGee’s 17:29.0 in 2007.
Brooklyn’s dominant streak through high school netted her and her school a total of 16 5A state championships, 11 in cross country and five in track and field.
None of the titles bigger to Brooklyn than the only team championship ring she and the Bearcats own in track and field.
“Winning state with my team is something I will never forget,” Brooklyn said. “I have the ring sitting on my shelf in my room where I can see it all the time... It was something that sticks with me.”
Brooklyn will leave Long Beach with enough accolades to fill a trophy case but she’s heading somewhere that will give her the chance to blossom into a world class athlete: the University of Arkansas.
She’ll be running for legendary coach Lance Harter who has 43 SEC Coach of the Year awards. The Razorbacks have won 10 consecutive SEC titles in cross country.
“I consider it such a blessing and huge opportunity,” Brooklyn said. “I remember the first time getting on the phone with (Coach Harter) my hands were shaking, I was so excited... To think that I had the opportunity to potentially join their program, my mind couldn’t even comprehend it.”
Erin is proud of her daughter but is also happy she will get different coaching at the next level after doing all she could for Brooklyn at Long Beach.
“I don’t know how much better I can help her get,” Erin said. “She needs to be with someone else. I only have a small amount of experience. I don’t really take any of the credit, I give her all of the credit. I’m just her personal support staff.
“I’m so excited to get her to another coach. Somebody more professional, somebody with more experience because I have no doubt there is another level of awesomeness that she is going to reach.”
