 | 18th Nike Outdoor Nationals
June 19-21, 2008 - North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro NC
2-Mile |
Boys - [Video]
Girls - [Video]
German Fernandez 8:34.40 USR !!!
Neely Spence 10:20.77
Interviews
Boys
by Pete Cava for NSSF
How many times have much-ballyhooed events turned out to be bombs? The Edsel, for example. The most recent version of “King Kong.” Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.
But not the boys 2-mile race at this year's Nike Outdoor Nationals. The highly-touted event paid off Friday night with a national high school record by German Fernandez of Riverbank, Calif., High School. Fernandez was part of a star-studded field that included Oregon signee Luke Puskedra (Judge Memorial, Ogden, UT), Oklahoma State recruit Colby Lowe (Carroll, Southlake, TX) and a pair of top finishers from last year's race, Sean Kevern (Brentwood, TN) and Robert Finnerty (Burnsville, MN).
Fernandez whetted appetites with a 64.2 split on the first lap, and Puskedra took the field through the second lap in 65.8. The 2:10-flat half-mile had the crowd stirring.
Three laps into the race, Fernandez, Puskedra, Lowe and Finnerty began to separate from the field. Finnerty began to lag by the mile mark, which Fernandez covered in 4:19.4. Lowe was fading by the fifth lap and, on the backstretch, Fernandez began to gain ground on Puskedra. A 64.7 sixth lap by Fernandez had announcer David Mitchell pleading with the crowd for vocal support.
At the bell lap it was clearly Fernandez's race. His only opponent was Jeff Nelson's prep record of 8:36.3 from 1979. As the lithe Fernandez loped toward the final turn, the crowd was on its feet. The Californian needed a 64-second final lap for the record and, to the crowd's delight, surpassed it. He finished with a time of 8:34.40.
Puskedra just held off Lowe for third place, 8:47.06 to 8:47.07.
Fernandez will join Lowe this fall at Oklahoma State. “I’ve been having a great senior season,” he said, “so I just didn’t want to come away here with a win, but I wanted the record too. I’ve won before, but to get the record is really an accomplishment. I wanted to run smart, work my splits and put it all out there because this is my last high school race. I heard them say I ran the first mile in 4:20. So I felt good when I heard that because I had so much energy left. I just stayed patient and made some key surges at the right time and went on from there. When I heard them say had to run my last lap in 64 seconds, I knew I had it.”
C.F.P.I. Timing & Data - Contractor License
Nike Outdoor Nationals - 6/19/2008 to 6/21/2008
North Carolina A+T University, Greensboro, NC
Event 13 Boys 2 Mile Run
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Section 1 at 6:50pm; Section 2 at 8:00pm
National: $ 8:36.3h 5/6/1979 Jeff Nelson, Burbank, CA
Meet: M 8:41.55 6/15/2007 Matt Centrowitz, Broadneck,
Freshman: F 9:04.4h 1973 Eric Hulst, Laguna Beach, C
Sophomore: O 8:50.6h 1974 Eric Hulst, Laguna Beach, C
Junior: J 8:41.10 2000 Dathan Ritzenhein (m), Rock
Senior: S 8:36.3h 5/6/1979 Jeff Nelson, Burbank, CA
Freshm: 9:01.68 2005 Sintayehu Taye (m), Portlan
Name Year School Finals
================================================================
Finals
1 Fernandez, German 08 Riverbank, CA 8:34.40S
2 Puskedra, Luke 08 Ogden, UT 8:47.06O
3 Lowe, Colby 08 Southlake, TX 8:47.07O
4 Finnerty, Robert 08 Burnsville, MN 8:50.96F
5 Williams, Kevin 08 Lakewood, CO 8:51.30F
6 Darling, Maverick 08 Ovid, MI 8:57.80F
7 Aprill, Bobby 08 Dexter, MI 8:59.50F
8 Unterreiner, Miles 08 Gig Harbor, WA 9:02.48F
9 Kaulbach, Max 08 Philadelphia, PA 9:06.44
10 Keveren, Sean 08 Brentwood, TN 9:06.59
11 Medrano, Francisco 08 Lafayette, IN 9:06.75
12 Hill, Ryan 08 Hickory, NC 9:07.36
13 Haile, Solomon 09 Silver Spring, MD 9:07.66
14 Abdalla, Mohamed 08 San Jose, CA 9:08.61
15 Smith, Douglas 09 Succasunna, NJ 9:11.48
16 Bazell, Graham 09 Columbia, MD 9:13.06
17 Lovelace, Luke 08 Chapin, SC 9:18.61
18 Krause, Elliot 08 Appleton, WI 9:19.00
19 Springer, Andrew 09 Westerly, RI 9:21.13
20 Nicolls, Bobby 09 Parker, CO 9:23.42
21 Bodary, Chris 08 Downingtown, PA 9:23.45
22 O'Donnell, MacLean 08 Oak Ridge, TN 9:25.15
23 Udland, Tyler 10 Short Hills, NJ 9:25.80
24 Lachowitzer, Kevin 08 Perham, MN 9:26.62
25 Bosshard, Joe 08 Crested Butte, CO 9:36.33
26 Hernandez, Francis 10 Windham, NH 9:41.53
-- DelBene, Colby 08 Patterson, NY DNF
-- Beabout, Ryan 08 Wheeling, WV DNS
-- Sheinbaum, Julian 08 Scarsdale, NY DNS
Girls
by Elliot Denman for NSSF
With half a lap left, the sus-Spence was over. Just as most NON-goers figured it, it was Shippensburg, Pa. senior Neely Spence leaving the field in her tracks with her concluding sprint. Daughter of former IAAF world marathon medalist Steve Spence – who will become her college coach when she joins Dad’s team at Shippensburg University this fall – she won it in 10:20.77.
Unable to match Spence’s closing rush, Harvard, Mass. junior Emily Jones settled for second in 10:22.40 and Penn Relays/Eastern/NJ Meet of Champions titlist Kathleen McCafferty of Madison, NJ held on for third in 10:22.47.
This was a truly national race, with the delegates of Tennessee (Kathy Kroeger 10:24.53), Arizona (Jessica Tonn 10:24.57), Florida (Ashley Brasovan 10:25.28) and New York
(Emily Lipari 10:33.72) next in line.
Said Spence: “The race worked out perfectly. There were no fluke things that happened like shoes falling off or people getting spiked. There was a little bit of jostling but we are all close together so that was to be expected. I was just waiting for someone to make a move and then I covered it on the last leg. In the last 200 (meters), I started kicking it. I couldn’t have planned a race that perfect.”
“I haven’t been feeling great and over States I got sick. It’s been two weeks since I’ve been well, so I’ve been little anxious to get out there and compete. Plus, my confidence after States was really down, so to come here and end my high school career on a good note means my career really ended well. ‘’
C.F.P.I. Timing & Data - Contractor License
Nike Outdoor Nationals - 6/19/2008 to 6/21/2008
North Carolina A+T University, Greensboro, NC
Event 14 Girls 2 Mile Run
================================================================
National: $ 10:01.08 6/14/2002 Molly Huddle, Notre Dame,
Meet: M 10:01.08 6/14/2002 Molly Huddle, Notre Dame,
Freshman: F 10:19.0h 1976 Aileen O'Connor, High Poin
Sophomore: O 10:07.56 4/7/2007 Jordan Hasay, Mission Prep
Junior: J 10:03.0h 1984 Suzie Tuffey, Bergan Peori
Senior: S 10:01.08 6/14/2002 Molly Huddle, Notre Dame,
Name Year School Finals
================================================================
Finals
1 Spence, Neely 08 Shippensburg, PA 10:20.77
2 Jones, Emily 09 Harvard, MA 10:22.40
3 McCafferty, Kathleen 08 Madison, NJ 10:22.47
4 Kroeger, Kathy 09 Franklin, TN 10:24.53
5 Tonn, Jessica 10 Paradise Valley, AZ 10:24.57
6 Brasovan, Ashley 09 Wellington, FL 10:25.28
7 Griffin, Georgia 08 Norwich, VT 10:28.89
8 Lipari, Emily 10 Greenvale, NY 10:33.72
9 Champagne, Mary Kate 08 Plattsburgh, NY 10:35.17
10 Flanagan, Lindsay 09 Roselle, IL 10:36.73
11 Eilers, Brooke 08 Holland, MI 10:37.93
12 Gibson, Kacey 08 New Castle, PA 10:54.14
-- Wijayaratne, Hiruni 09 Herndon, VA DNF
-- Shields, Anna 09 Harwinton, CT DNS
-- Ley, Chelsea 10 Clarksboro, NJ DNS
-- Levene, Abby 09 Dublin, NH DNS
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