BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, December 07 — Cross country training and racing tends to render athletes strong as steel with endurance for days. Subsequent adjustments to preparation, per the conventional wisdom, are required to reconnect to speed reserves and readjust to the high-velocity demands of track racing.
Even Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe mostly believed that until this year’s edition of the Colyear-Danville Invite on BU’s magic carpet of an oval. Entered in the 3000 — 7K shorter than the hill-and-dale distance over which the two placed 7th and 8th at NCAA Cross — the North Carolina teammates led two others under the Collegiate Record. And not just under the 7:36.42 standard set by then Northern Arizona soph Drew Bosley in ’23.
The two Tarheels ran way under the record, to clockings of 7:30.15 and 7:30.23. Viewed another way, that’s 30-flat running for 15 laps of an indoor oval. To be exact, Strand averaged 30.01 per circuit with Wolfe, his teammate who won the NCAA 5000 in June, under 30.02 per lap.
Running in the mix with the UNC pair until a couple laps remained, Arkansas’s Yaseen Abdalla (7:34.17) and Virginia’s Gary Martin (7:36.09) also rolled under the old CR.
“Neither of us had any idea what today could hold,” a jubilant Strand told a gaggle of media on the BU track’s infield, “so I was just gonna come out, race, try to win and, being both me and [Wolfe] together, whoever was going to beat the other was going to run really fast.”
Asked by LetsRun.com, Strand confessed the final time startled him. “I know the World Indoor standards came out today,” he said, “and in the 3K it’s 7:31. I was like, ‘Well, that’s ridiculous. I’m not running that.’ I thought realistically we were gonna run 7:34 or 7:35. I knew the Collegiate Record was in danger but when I looked at the clock and saw 7:30, I was kind of shocked.”
Paced by miling brothers Josh and Jaxon Hoey — who had raced to 3:52.61 and 3:55.92 times in their event earlier — after a sub-60 charge-out over the first 2 laps, the 3000 leaders locked into a schedule of 30-point circuits, nothing slower than 31.05 for Strand or Wolfe.
Paris Olympic marathoner Abdalla, in fact, led the racers behind the rabbits early on. In his wake ran Wolfe, Eastern Kentucky’s Justine Kipkoech (who did not last) and Strand. After the mile Martin moved up to catch the tail end of the lead group.
Josh Hoey paced past 1600 in 4:02.97 and stuck in for 2 more laps to hit 2K in 5:03.75 — on target for an even-pace 7:35.7. For a CR, the racers needed only to hold the tempo for 5 more go-rounds.
With 3 to go for the foursome, Martin tried to push up from 4th past Strand into 3rd. Half a lap later further along, Wolfe and Strand passed Abdalla and the UNC countdown clock went live.
From a step or two margin over Abdalla and Martin with 2 to go to, to some 4m with a lap left, the men in Carolina blue cut loose over the last lap. Parker led throughout the finishing flurry until Strand found one final furious dervish of a gear coming off the last turn and collared his friend and teammate just before the line.
The clock told the tale of a slamming finish for early December: 26.46, 54.45, 1:55.13 closing figures for Strand; 26.82, 54.76, 1:55.45 for Wolfe.
Holding 60-second 400 tempo for 15 indoor laps is “something that we haven’t necessarily prepared for coming off cross country,” Strand said. “You don’t do that during the season. So me and Parker did one workout together this Tuesday where we kinda touched sub-60 pace and, I mean, the goal was to come in here and really see what you could do.”
A year ago at this meet Harvard’s Graham Blanks unexpectedly lowered the 5000 CR to 13:03.78. Last February, Nico Young broke Blanks’ record taking the 5K standard sub-13:00 to 12:57.14 on this track.
Now, with a second straight NCAA harrier crown to his name, Blanks was back for another 25-lap tour. His target, though, was the World Indoor standard, 13:01.00. Racing in quality company and perpetually near the front, Blanks pulled away for good with 6 laps left and pushed solo toward the 2:34.4 final K he needed.
The Harvard senior, his rock-steady core a picture of strength at speed, closed out that last 5-lap segment in 2:33.31 for a 12:59.89 final time, the No. 2 all-time collegiate mark, both indoors and absolute, and just the second collegiate sub-13:00 after Young’s CR.
COLYEAR-DANVILLE MEN’S RESULTS
Boston, Massachusetts, December 07—
400: 1. ***Zander Cruzan (NnCo) 46.73.
800: 1. Jonah Hoey (adiF8) 1:48.25; 2. Olivier Desmeules’ (PennSt-Can) 1:48.38.
1000: 1. ***Koitatoi Kidali’ (Or-Ken) 2:20.53; 2. Kyle Reinheimer (Wa) 2:21.30; 3. Justin O’Toole (Wa) 2:21.44; 4. **Shamiso Sikaneta’ (BU-Can) 2:21.79; 5. ***Gabriele Angiono’ (Gtn-Ita) 2:22.11.
Mile: 1. Josh Hoey (adiF8) 3:52.61; 2. **Tinoda Matsatsa (Gtn) 3:54.15; 3. **Laban Kipkemboi’ (OkSt-Ken) 3:54.73; 4. Jaxson Hoey (adiF8) 3:55.92; 5. Alex Stitt’ (OkSt-Aus) 3:56.03.
3000: I–1. Ethan Strand (NC) 7:30.15 CR (old CR 7:36.42 Drew Bosley [NnAz] ’23 (2, 2 A) (in/out 4, 6 A; 1, 1 C)
(29.85, 29.97 [59.82], 31.02 [1:30.84], 30.85 [2:01.69], 30.26 [2:31.95], 30.49 [3:02.44], 31.01 [3:33.45], 30.62 [4:04.07], 30.36 [4:34.43], 29.95 [5:04.38], 30.64 [5:35.02], 30.80 [6:05.82], 29.88 [6:35.70], 27.99 [7:03.69], 26.46) (26.46, 54.45, 1:55.13, 2:25.77, 3:56.70);
2. Parker Wolfe (NC) 7:30.23 (4, 4 A; 2, 2 C)
(29.60, 29.98 [59.58], 31.05 [1:30.63], 30.84 [2:01.47], 29.95 [2:31.42], 30.52 [3:01.94], 31.01 [3:32.95], 30.54 [4:03.49], 30.67 [4:34.16], 29.97 [5:04.13], 30.65 [5:34.78], 30.79 [6:05.57], 29.90 [6:35.47], 27.94 [7:03.41], 26.82) (finish—26.82, 54.76, 1:55.45, 2:26.10, 3:57.28);
3. Yaseen Abdalla’ (Ar-Sud) 7:34.17 (3, 3 C); 4. *Gary Martin (Va) 7:36.09 (4, 4 C); 5. *Nathan Green (Wa) 7:40.09 (9, x AmC);
6. Adam Spencer’ (Wi-Aus) 7:40.38; 7. Matthew Beaudet’ (Can) 7:43.82; 8. Loic Scomparin’ (CoMines-Fra) 7:43.96; 9. Joe Waskom (adidas) 7:46.62; 10. Silas Winders (IaSt) 7:49.81.
II–1. Sam Ellis (On) 7:49.60; 2. **Devan Kipyego (IaSt) 7:49.62.
5000: 1. *Graham Blanks (Harv) 12:59.89 (2, 2 C) (in/out: 5, 6 A; 2, 2 C)
(30.43, 31.81 [1:02.24], 31.89 [1:34.13], 30.90 [2:05.03], 31.22 [2:36.25], 31.45 [3:07.70], 32.26 [3:39.96], 31.37 [4:11.33], 31.52 [4:42.85], 31.13 [5:13.98], 31.49 [5:45.47], 31.62 [6:17.09], 31.11 [6:48.20], 31.77 [7:19.97], 31.91 [7:51.88], 31.40 [8:23.28], 31.29 [8:54.57], 30.22 [9:24.79], 30.87 [9:55.66], 30.92 [10:26.58], 31.04 [10:57.62], 31.00 [11:28.62], 31.13 [11:59.75], 30.48 [12:30.23], 29.66) (29.66, 60.14, 2:02.27, 2:33.31, 4:05.32);
2. Liam Murphy (Vill) 13:10.42 (6, 7 C) (in/out: 8, 9 C); 3. **Brian Musau’ (OkSt-Ken) 13:11.29 (8, 9 C) (in/out: 10, 11 C);4. **Marco Langon (Vill) 13:14.11 (8, x AmC);
5. Dylan Schubert (Furm) 13:17.89; 6. Sam Prakel (adidas) 13:18.06; 7. **Denis Kipngetich’ (OkSt-Ken) 13:18.33; 8. Kieran Lumb’ (Can) 13:19.47; 9. Sanele Masondo’ (IaSt-SA) 13:20.30; 10. Said Mechaal’ (IaSt-Spa) 13:21.13; 11. James Mwaura (unat) 13:22.21; 12. Bob Liking (Wi) 13:22.80; 13. Patrick Kiprop’ (Ar-Ken) 13:23.56; 14. *Creed Thompson (BYU) 13:25.03; 15. Matt Strangio (Port) 13:29.14.
II–1. Abdalla’ 13:22.29; 2. Joey Nokes (BYU) 13:29.61; 3. Abdel Laadjel’ (Ire) 13:29.79; 4. Victor Kiprop’ (Al-Ken) 13:29.90; 5. Cole Sprout (Stan) 13:30.17; 6. Toby Gillen’ (Ms-Aus) 13:30.34; 7. Lucas Bons (BYU) 13:32.05.
III–1. *Colton Sands (NC) 13:27.23; 2. *Ethan Coleman (NDm) 13:30.77; 3. Carson Williams (Furm) 13:31.85; 4. Tyler Berg (NDm) 13:33.86; 5. *Thomas Boyden (Stan) 13:33.88.