AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, April 11–13—Colin Sahlman proved to be the headliner on the men’s side of the action at the Brian Clay Invitational. Running the 1500 in the rain, the Northern Arizona soph and Washington’s Nathan Green, the NCAA defending champ, battled closely over the final lap before Sahlman pulled away on the stretch to record 3:33.96 and advance to No. 2 collegian all-time. Green moved to No. 5 with his 3:34.79, followed by Craig Engels (3:35.46), Fouad Messaoudi of Oklahoma State (3:36.08) and Sam Prakel (3:36.16).
Said Sahlman, whose time lowered Yared Nuguse’s American Collegiate Record (3:34.68 in 2021), “I gave it my all. I threw time out the window and was just competing for the win. It’s a big confidence boost… I know I can hold my own.”
Teammate Nico Young stayed out of the headlines by focusing on the 800, where he ran 1:48.00 to place 4th in his section. The fast section went to Mexico’s Jesús López in 1:45.14, with Nebraska–Kearney senior Wes Ferguson hitting 1:45.85 in 2nd.
Earlier in the meet, North Carolina’s Alex Phillip surprised the 10,000 field. Phillip, who was Div. III 10K champ last year before his transfer to Chapel Hill, took the race in 27:51.26, a PR by more than 40 seconds. He finished just ahead of Texas Tech frosh Ernest Cheruiyot (27:52.13).
“I’m just ecstatic,” said Phillip. “I knew where I wanted to be, what goals I had, and to come out here and do it means a lot.”
Also on Thursday, U.S. Olympian Benard Keter won the steeple in 8:24.86, his fastest opener ever. “This tells me I have fitness in my legs. I just need to get quicker,” he said.
Two 5000 sections were notable. In the fastest, Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau edged New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, 13:29–13:13.34, as 6 dipped under 13:20.
The next section saw a glorified training run of sorts with Abdihamid Nur topping training mate Luis Grijalva of Guatemala, 13:20.96–13:21.09. Said Grijalva, “Our goal was to get in a good effort with some college kids and kind of make it messy on purpose. That’s why we were running from lane 2 — we started from the back.”
“It was a good practice run,” said Nur, to which Grijalva responded, “Our season’s in August.”
CLAY INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
400: 1. ***Grant Buckmiller (WaSt) 46.09; 2. Dylan Gibson (SnUt) 46.15.
800: I–1. Jesús López’ (Mex) 1:45.14; 2. Wes Ferguson (NbK) 1:45.85; 3. Moad Zahafi’ (Mor) 1:46.27; 4. Noah Kibet’ (Ken) 1:46.28; 5. Kyle Langford’ (GB) 1:46.46; 6. Eduardo Ribeiro’ (Bra) 1:46.67; 7. Reece Sharman-Newell’ (GB) 1:46.98; 8. Sean Dolan (Vill) 1:47.11.
II–1. **Cole Lindhorst (Tx) 1:47.25; 2. *Camden Marshall (In) 1:47.53; 3. Abdullahi Hassan’ (Can) 1:47.96; 4. *Nico Young (NnAz) 1:48.00.
III–1. Collin Dylla (TS) 1:47.57; 2. *Matthew Erickson’ (Or-Can) 1:47.87.
1500: I–1. **Colin Sahlman (NnAz) 3:33.96 AmCR (old AmCR 3:34.68 Yared Nuguse [NDm] ’21 (2, 2 C);
2. **Nathan Green (Wa) 3:34.79 (5, 5 C);
3. Craig Engels (Nike) 3:35.46; 4. *Fouad Messaoudi’ (OkSt-Mor) 3:36.08; 5. Sam Prakel (adidas) 3:36.16; 6. *Liam Murphy (Vill) 3:36.48; 7. Festus Lagat’ (Ken) 3:36.68.
II–1. **Gary Martin (Va) 3:37.66; 2. *Abel Teffra (Gtn) 3:38.25; 3. Ezekiel Rop’ (IaSt-Ken) 3:38.28; 4. *Elliott Cook (Or) 3:38.55; 5. ***Parvej Khan’ (Fl-Ind) 3:38.76; 6. Mael Gouyette’ (Fra) 3:38.92; 7. Luis Grijalva’ (Gua) 3:39.01; 8. Theo Quax’ (NZ) 3:39.81.
III–1. *Wes Porter (Va) 3:39.54; 2. Cameron Proceviat’ (Can) 3:39.99
St: II–1. *Max Wehrli (UtSt) 8:36.30; 2. *Soheil Boufrizi’ (Wingate-Fra) 8:37.94.
III–1. Benard Keter (USAr) 8:24.86; 2. John Gay’ (Can) 8:25.20; 3. Abdelhakim Abouzouhir’ (EnKy-Mor) 8:25.37; 4. *Victor Kibiego’ (TxAM-Ken) 8:25.48; 5. **Rob McManus (MtSt) 8:29.58; 6. Carlos San Martin’ (Col) 8:29.79; 7. Levi Taylor (MtSt) 8:30.43; 8. Clement Duigou’ (Fra) 8:30.47; 9. Jackson Mestler (unat) 8:32.94; 10. **CJ Singleton (NDm) 8:33.60; 11. Cesar Daniel Gomez Ponce’ (Mex) 8:34.13; 12. Gable Sieperda (IaSt) 8:34.24; 13. Victor Shitsama’ (OkSt-Ken) 8:36.71.
5000: 1. ***Brian Musau’ (OkSt-Ken) 13:13.29; 2. ***Habtom Samuel’ (NM-Eri) 13:13.34; 3. *Romain Legendre’ (Adams-Fra) 13:16.53; 4. Bastien Augusto’ (Fra) 13:16.85; 5. Bob Liking (unat) 13:19.19; 6. Brian Barraza (RootsRP) 13:19.59; 7. Theo Quax’ (NZ) 13:23.51; 8. Casey Clinger (unat) 13:24.08; 9. *Victor Kiprop’ (Al-Ken) 13:24.44; 10. *Jesse Hamlin (Butler) 13:27.26; 11. ***Marco Langon (Vill) 13:28.44; 12. *Joey Nokes (BYU) 13:28.89; 13. Kirami Yego’ (Ar-Ken) 13:29.49; 14. Florian LePallec’ (Butler-Fra) 13:29.78; 15. Ryan Ford (ZapE) 13:30.68; 16. Chandler Gibbens (Ks) 13:33.13; 17. Simon Bedard’ (Fra) 13:34.17; 18. *Said Mechaal’ (IaSt-Spa) 13:34.65; 19. Sam Gilman (NBal) 13:35.73; 20. Cole Sprout (unat) 13:38.05.
II–1. Abdihamid Nur (Nike) 13:20.96; 2. Luis Grijalva’ (Gua) 13:21.09; 3. **Morgan Le Guen’ (Swi) 13:25.59; 4. Ben Perrin (MtSt) 13:30.73; 5. **Ben Shearer (Ar) 13:32.98; 6. Jean-Simon Desgagnes’ (Can) 13:33.38; 7. ***Vincent Chirchir’ (NM-Ken) 13:34.14; 8. *Simon Kelati (WnCo) 13:34.94.
10,000: I–1. Alex Phillip (NC) 27:51.26; 2. ***Ernest Cheruiyot’ (TxT-Ken) 27:52.13; 3. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot’ (Can) 27:54.66; 4. *William Amponsah’ (WTxAM-Gha) 28:00.09; 5. Alex Maier (OkSt) 28:17.15; 6. Aaron Las Heras’ (NnAz-Spa) 28:19.43; 7. Ryan Johnson (unat) 28:26.98; 8. **Ethan Coleman (NDm) 28:29.29; 9. *Sanele Masondo’ (IaSt-SA) 28:35.16; 10. John Tatter (unat) 28:35.34; 11. Dayton Brown (Adams) 28:35.64; 12. Devin Hart (Or) 28:36.10.
II–1. Afewerki Zeru (unat) 28:36.84; 2. *Harry Louradour’ (WTxAM-Fra) 28:37.09.
110H(-0.8): 1. **John Paredes’ (WaSt-Col) 13.68; 2. *Daylin Williams (PittSt) 13.68; 3. Joel Nyatusah (PittSt) 13.86.
400H: I–1. James Smith (AzF) 49.53; 2. Pablo Ibanez (unat) 50.03; 3. *Alessio Sommacal (CPP) 50.85.
III–1. *Daviciea McCartney (GCan) 50.60.
4 x 100: 1. Pittsburg State 39.96.
4 x 400: 1. Pittsburg State 3:06.36; 3. Washington State 3:06.56.
Field Events
HJ: I–1. Sarvesh Kushare’ (Ind) 7-2¼ (2.19).
II–1. *Jaivon Harrison (GVal) 7-2¼ (2.19); 2. **Brion Stephens (Louis) 7-2¼.
LJ: 1. Jermel Jones (Azusa) 26-3½ (8.01).
TJ: 1. *Yacouba Gnacko’ (AArt-Fra) 51-9¼ (15.78).Dec: Dec: I–1. Lucas Van Klaveren’ (UTA-Neth) 7785; 2. **Peyton Bair (MsSt) 7730; 3. Josh Farmer (UCI) 7703; 4. *Hunter Jones (PittSt) 7616.
II–1. *Max Daniels (UCI) 7435.
III–1. *Cole Wilson’ (HPt-Can) 7431.