byLarry EderWell, the first day at Reggie Lewis showed that the Nike Indoor move to Boston was the right move! Ironically, Brad Hudson, one of the high school greats and a superb elite coach ( he has Dathan Ritzenhein in his group), still held the indoor 5,000 meter record until last night. In a period of several hours, first in NYC Armory, and then at the Reggie Lewis Center the record dropped first to 14:22, then to 14:18. Read Victor Sailer’s chronicle of the amazing evening, which we have pasted below!
Lucas Verzbicas, winning the Nike Indoor 5,000 meters, breaking the HSR by five seconds and setting the new freshman high school record! photography by PhotoRun.net
It was a day of records in Boston and NYC for USA Junior boys and girls on Friday the 13th of March. FootLocker National HS cross country champion, Solomon Haile, broke the twenty-five year old 5000m record of 2 time Olympian, Dathan Ritzenhein’s coach, Brad Hudson with a stellar 14.22.88 in the famed NYC’s Armory. Six hours later, at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston, Ma, Lucas Verzbicas, a freshman from Lincoln Way-Central of Illinois dropped another 4 seconds, for a new HSR-14.18.42. He won by almost 45 seconds over NY’s Sean Curry.
Verzbicas not only broke the HSR but also took down Hudson’s 1981 Freshman HSR in the process. Verzbicas, who emigrated to the US in 2002 from Druskininkai, Lithuania had won 3 straight cross county events in the fall of 2008 before injuring his back and taking some time off. He plans on coming back for the the 2 Mile on Sunday, but “I won’t be going for the national record, I just want to win.” He next test himself against some very good open elite athletes and 30,000 others at the Bank of America Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8km on March 29th.
2008 World Youth Silver Medalist, Conor McCullough of Canoga Park, CA. was the first High Schooler to pass the 90 Ft barrier in the weight throw. He surpassed his own HS record with a throw of 26.81m(87’11.5″) on his third throw before his monster final toss of 28.23(92’7.5″). He defeated NY’s Alec Faldermeyer by an amazing 5m(16Ft) at 23.27(76’4.25″)
Nadel setting frosh 5,000 meter record, courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
In the girls 5000m, Samatha Nadel of NY set a freshman HSR of 17.15.38 in finishing second to Ohio’s Chelsea Oswald’s 17.03.82, “I didn’t know I could run that fast”, noted Nadel.
The Nike Indoor Nationals continue for 2 more days of great competition with Track and Field New’s March Cover Girl, Jordan Hasay going for Melody Fairchild’s 2 Mile Record of 9.55.92 set in 1991.
More updates to follow.
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