For Brian Austin, running track is much more nerve-racking than running with a football.

A senior at North Allegheny High School, Austin played wide receiver and defensive back in football. He is also the WPIAL's defending 100-meter champion in Class AAA.

Although trying to avoid a hit by a linebacker or safety after catching a pass is a challenge, Austin said it doesn't compare to running the 100.

"In football, you get a second chance; in track you don't," he said. "One chance ... that's it."

Austin made the most of that chance last Friday at the Baldwin Invitational. He topped a speedy field that included Center High School's Chris Kimbrough and Aliquippa's Devin Polzot to win the 100 in 11 seconds.

He was pleased with his time and pointed out that he ran faster in the preliminaries at Baldwin than he did in the final.

"I ran a 10.95 in the preliminaries [at Baldwin] and last year I won the WPIALs with a 10.96, so I'm happy about that," Austin said. "Maybe I can improve that and get to 10.8. I'm shooting to get to 10.78 and maybe get a 10.6."

His winning time at the WPIAL championships last year was 10.92 and if he gets in the 10.6 range, he could challenge the WPIAL Class AAA record of 10.65 set by Montel Williamson of West Mifflin in 2005.

The point is, Austin is again peaking at the right time.

Austin had run decent times in the 100 this season, but nothing outstanding until Baldwin. Winning the race at the invitational makes him the favorite to repeat in the 100 at the WPIAL Class AAA championships a week from today also at Baldwin.

Again, Austin is focusing on the 100. He ran the 200-meter dash for the Tigers during the regular season and helped North Allegheny reach today's WPIAL Class AAA team finals in the process. But he is smart enough to know the 200 is not his race.

"I'd rather focus on the 100 and let other people take the 200," he said. "I'm all right in the 200. I'd place [at the WPIAL championships in the 200] but I wouldn't win. I'll let [Penn Hills'] Brandon Ifill do that."

What makes Austin tough to beat in the 100 is his start. He is a muscular, compact 5 feet 9 and gets out of the starting blocks in a hurry.

If somebody is going to beat him, they will have to catch him in the final 20 meters.

"Because my starts are good, people don't start to catch me until the 80-meter mark," said Austin, who also runs the second leg on the Tigers' 400-meter relay. "So, I've got to work on that, which I do with 110-meter dashes in practice."

In an effort to strengthen his finishes, Austin has taken to running 150- or 300-meter sprints in workouts.

"Last year, I took third here [Baldwin] with a time of 11.2," he said. "I ran 11.0 [Friday], so it's working."

He started the season by running an 11.66 and finishing sixth at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association championships April 4 at West Mifflin. But he was still packing extra weight from football and wasn't close to being in track shape.

"It's hard because I added 20 pounds for football and was trying to lose about 10 pounds," he said. "Trying to gain weight while keeping my speed is hard to do."

One of the fastest football players in the WPIAL, Austin caught 64 passes for 929 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed 10 times for another 71 yards. He will play football at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the fall and hopes to run track at Army next spring.

He has to report June 29 for basic training, so his getting into track shape isn't such a bad idea. And Austin isn't headed to Army's prep school; he'll enter West Point after basic.

He went after the WPIAL 100-meter dash title last year to show his speed to football recruiters and ended up placing third at the PIAA championships. This year, he's running more for pride.

"This year I didn't have that much to look forward to [in track]," he said. "But I enjoy track and I'd like to do it in college. Everybody tells me it's hard with the academics and spring football, but I think I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes."

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AROUND THE TRACK -- The North Allegheny boys will be going against Butler, Gateway and Hempfield in the Class AAA team final today at West Mifflin. In Class AA, Deer Lakes is in the boys' final against Riverside, Freeport and Mohawk. Shady Side Academy is in the girls' final against South Park, Freedom and Mohawk. ... Butler's Logan Renwick won the triple jump at Baldwin, North Allegheny's Halie Carter the girls' 400 and Shaler's Chelsea O'Hannon the high jump at Baldwin. ... At the Pine-Richland Invitational Friday, Hampton's Jordan Paskorz won the boys' shot put and Springdale's Alexa Sarsfield took the girls' 400. Hampton's Elaina Balouris won the 1,600, Deer Lakes' Jess Markovitch the 100-meter hurdles, Knoch's Regina Robb the 300 hurdles and teammate Allyson Cress the shot put, Highlands' Carly Deskins won the javelin and Pine-Richland's Jenna Colianne the pole vault.