Catoctin's Brody Buffington gets a pair of seconds as No. 1 attraction at nationals

Mar. 14—After proving he was quite possibly the fastest high school sprinter in the country over the weekend in Boston, Issam Asinga of Montverde, Florida, was asked in an interview how he is able to run so fast.

Asinga, who won the 60-meter dash and the 200 dash at the New Balance Nationals Indoor, responded, "Any time you have Brody [Buffington] in the race, you have to."

And so continued the measurable impact Buffington, a senior at Catoctin High School, has made on the national track and field scene over the last five weeks.

At New Balance, while running personal-best times but finishing second to Asinga in both the 60 and 200 dashes, Buffington was the star of the show, according to his coach Dave Lillard.

The buzz around him continued to be palpable, more than a month after a controversial disqualification put him on the national radar, as total strangers were eager to approach him, and some even asked if he would pose for pictures.

Meanwhile, Asigna went about his business in relative obscurity, even after his victories.

"He was the talk of the town," Lillard said of Buffington. "You could hear it. People were saying, 'There's Brody. There's Brody.'"

Buffington has done nothing to court this type of attention other than run stunningly fast times that rank among the fastest in the nation. His personality is pretty low key, and he is not one to boast about his own accomplishments.

He never imagined that video of his disqualification for celebrating prematurely in the 300-meter dash at the Class 1A West regional meet in Hagerstown would be viewed millions of times on social media and prompt calls of support from numerous Olympians.

But such is now the celebrity-like space that Buffington now operates in at these meets, unintentionally shoving other deserving athletes, like teammate Furious Trammel, out of the limelight.

Trammel was fourth in the Rising Stars 400 dash at New Balance in 49.09 seconds after running a 48.56 during the prelims.

"That put him at No. 1 in 1A and No. 3 [overall] in Maryland," Lillard said of Trammel in the 400. "That's a big deal."

Yet the focus on Buffington only figures to intensify as he prepares to compete for Catoctin during the outdoor track and field season this spring, when more jaw-dropping times and distances in the 100-meter dash, 200 dash and long jump could come.

"He's not going to self-promote," Lillard said. "It's funny when you watch him at these meets. They are making all of these announcements [before a race]. Other guys are bouncing around, shaking [out] their hands. Brody is just looking down. You can tell what he's thinking: 'Let's just run.'"

When the gun does go off, Buffington has been about as good as there is nationally in the sprints during this indoor season.

The only runners to beat him in an event final are Asinga, both at New Balance and the Millrose Games on Feb. 11 in the 60 and 300 dashes, and fellow Montverde, Florida, native Zyaire Nuriddin in the 300 dash at Millrose.

At New Balance, Buffington lowered his personal-best time in the 60 dash to 6.64 seconds, beating the 6.66 he ran to finish second at Millrose.

And then he surprised himself by going under 21 seconds in the 200 at New Balance with a second-place time of 20.71. The 200 is not run during the indoor season in Maryland.

For perspective, the Maryland high school state record in the 200 dash is 20.90 seconds, run by Oakland Mills' Judson Lincoln last spring at the state outdoor meet. That time was run on a flat track, while Buffington had the benefit of running his on a banked surface and didn't have to worry as much about running out of his lane.

"I was super excited," Buffington said about his 200 time. "It was just the competition. That and the adrenaline."

The race only raised his own expectations for the upcoming outdoor season. His target times, for now, are in the low 20-second range in the 200 and 10.2 seconds in the 100 dash, which would blow away the current state record of 10.42.

"That's the plan," Buffington said.

Lillard is blown away by all of this, just like everyone else.

"It's freakin' amazing," he said. "He is still getting better. These times are dropping. I mean, 20.71 in the 200, it's phenomenal."

The person who seems the least impressed and tries not to get caught up in it all is Buffington himself. He's appreciative of all the attention that his success has brought. But he doesn't need it.

"He is just being Brody," Lillard said. "People pick up on that."

Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek