BOSTON — The strategy was as straightforward as you can get: Run as fast as you can.

"I guess I’m kind of unconventional in that respect," Westerly High School coach Ryan Palmer said of the advice he gives his runners. "But to me, running is feeling. You have to run how you feel. If you feel great, go with it."

It’s an approach that has produced some impressive performances for Andrew Springer this indoor season, and it nearly resulted in a victory for the Bulldogs senior in the Reebok Boys’ Junior Mile at the 14th annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games Saturday night at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center.

This time, it turned out to be not quite enough, though. Although he ran a personal best and further lowered the Rhode Island record that he had already shattered this year, Springer had to settle for second place, as he was nipped at the line by Mac Fleet, a runner out of San Diego.

The senior from University City High School hit the tape in 4 minutes, 9.06 seconds, followed by Springer in 4:09.16.

"I always try to just run my best time every race, and I did that," Springer said moments afterward. "So I’m happy with what I did. Nothing to be ashamed of. I ran hard."

Springer entered the race holding the fastest mile time run by a high school boy in the United States this season. He achieved that distinction at last month’s Yale Invitational, where he clocked a winning time of 4:10.61, which also bettered the previous state mark of 4:13.01 set by St. Raphael’s Neal Butler in 1989.

Still, Springer says he didn’t know what to expect given the collection of talented runners he was going up against at the prestigious event, which was part of the USA Track and Field Visa Championship Series. Among the field of 12 was Brett Johnson, of Ocean City, N.J., the top miler in the nation last year who finished second (4:19.61) at last month’s Millrose boys’ high school mile. Trevor Dunbar, a senior at Kodiak High School out of Alaska, was runner-up at the 2008 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, while Reed Connor, a senior at Woodlands (Texas) High School, had won the 2008 Nike Cross Nationals.

Although Fleet had a disappointing track season last year, largely because of health issues, and finished last here last winter, the Californian previously ran a personal best of 4:08.09 for the mile as a sophomore.

"I didn’t really know what to expect going in," Springer said. "I mean, there’s a lot of competition. I was just going to try to run my race."

Competing before a packed house at the Reggie Lewis track, which is on the Roxbury Community College campus, Springer says he went out a little slower than he had planned, covering the first 800 meters in 2:08.8. He managed to pull into the lead, though, and was still in front as the pack entered the final lap.

Fleet surged ahead at that point, but Springer regained the lead with 100 meters to go.

Fleet wasn’t ready to concede, however, and caught Springer at the finish line.

"I was hoping to go out a little faster the first 400," Springer said. "It was a little slow. But after, like, 600 meters, I took over the lead and was trying to just hold it to the finish. But I just came up a little short."

Saturday night’s performance is one of a number of solid outings Springer has had this winter. The defending indoor 1,000- and 1,500-meter state champion has also run the fastest 3,000-meter time in the United Statesthis season, winning that event at the Brown Invitational in 8:27.21. A week later, he successfully defended his mile title at the Dartmouth Relays with a time of 4:16.73.

Although Springer has steadily progressed throughout his career, he has taken his running to a new level over the past year or so. Westerly’s Palmer attributes that to the fact that Springer trained more intensely last summer and then opted to run cross country rather than play soccer last fall.

"Previously, during the summer, Andrew didn’t run a lot, but last summer, he was putting in 40 to 45 miles a week. And I think it was a huge decision on his part to come out for cross country," Palmer said of Springer, who set a course-record time of 15:14.05 en route to winning the individual cross-country state championship at Ponaganset in November. "This was the first time he put in a full year of running, so he came into indoor track with a gigantic base, which he had never done before. You can just see more spring in his step. I just think that base definitely gave him a bigger advantage than he had in the past."

Springer will be back at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center Sunday to try and help Westerly secure a couple of medals at the McIntyre Relays. He will run a leg of the Bulldogs’ distance medley relay and 4x800-meter relay teams.