photos by John Dye unless otherwise noted

Sam Vazquez 4:03.87 Jeff See breaks Webb's sophomore record Steve Magness, the season's fastest miler (4:01.02 US#6 all time), opened the door, and Sam Vazquez crashed through to move into 16th place on the all time US list in Jack Shepard's HIGH SCHOOL TRACK. After leading through one lap, Magness slipped back to the pack, probably feeling the effects of running a 4:09 split for his 4xMile relay team in the morning. With a 57-second last lap, Vazquez laid a claim as high school miler of the year. Chris Solinsky, the season's best 2-miler and the Foot Locker cross country national champion, was second in 4:05.30 after looking like a winner when he overhauled mid-race leader Stephen Pifer on the backstretch. A hard charging third was Middletown OH sophomore Jeff See in 4:06.07, which broke Alan Webb's record for a sophomore, 4:06.94 in this meet in 1999. Before Webb, the record was held by Jim Ryun. Seven runners were under 4:08, justifying meet management's claim that this was the strongest boys mile field ever assembled.     photo by Victah Sailer, PhotoRun

Anatomy of the Race

Lap 1 - 60 seconds - Magness, Pifer, Solinsky

photo by Doug Speck

photo by Mike Leary

Lap 2 - 62.8 and 2:02.8 - Pifer, Solinsky, Magness, Adam Perkins

photo by Doug Speck	Jeff See and Victor Gras trail

Lap 3 - 63.2 and 3:06 - Pifer, Solinsky, Magness, Vazquez, Leonel Manzano, Jeff See

photo by Doug Speck

Lap 4 - 4:03.87 - Solinsky took the lead from Pifer on the backstretch, but Vazquez moved in front on the turn, with a 57-second last lap proving the difference. See moved up with Vazquez to get third.

photo by Mike Leary

Magness, See, and Solinsky after the finish

SteveU's Distance Report

by Stephen (steveu) Underwood

Both 4-lap races at AOC Saturday night had prohibitive favorites. Ari Lambie’s hard pace for all but the first 200 meters or so of the girls’ race forced her competitors to run fast and pray. But when 4:01-miler Steve Magness slipped back to 3rd before the halfway point of the boys affair, “Plan B” went into effect. A handful of other young stars had serious designs on winning and three of them made serious bids.

But the best execution came from Sam Vasquez. He made the final move inside of 200 meters to go and flew down the straight to a big PR 4:03.87 and victory over what was being called the best boys mile field ever assembled. Six others broke 4:08 in his wake, including runner-up Chris Solinsky (4:05.30), who had made his move with 300 left, and super soph Jeff See (4:06.07) who rocked the house with a gutsy finish that ripped Alan Webb’s national class record from 1999 (4:06.94) out of the books.

Vasquez pretty much bided his time in the middle of the group the first three circuits. “At the end of the third lap I passed everyone (else) and caught up to Magness (in third at the time),” the Palm Coast, FL senior said. “I felt like, I can win this, I can win this – and I saw Magness kind of fading. So when I got in front of him, then I saw Solinsky going, so I went right with him, until the last 100, then I tried to kick.”

At first, the race had appeared to take its “Plan A” form, with Magness (Spring, TX) taking the lead from fellow Texan Eric Stanley and towing the field through 440 in 60.0. But it was not to be for this year’s revelation, who had run 4:09 earlier in the day trying to rally his FMR club to victory in the 4 x 1 Mile. Did the effort negatively affect him?

“I think it did,” the senior said. “I mean, this morning – I don’t know what it was. This morning I felt great going through the half. But I didn’t see any chance, so I backed off a little bit. But this afternoon I felt like crap going through the half, so much slower.

“I wanted to push the pace, because I figure that’s what’s worked all season,” he continued, “but after the first lap, I could tell my legs were just crap. So I figured I’d back off the pace and recharge for a kick, nationals but I didn’t have anything.”

Stephen Pifer (Glen Carson, IL) and Solinsky (Stevens Point, WI) took over at that point, taking the field through 880 (2:02.8), 1100 (2:34.3) and 1320 (3:06.1). Vasquez and See were closing fast at that point and the slowing pace had created kicking opportunities. With 300 left, Solinsky made his bid, going for the win after narrowly missing Gabe Jennings’ state mile mark the week before and carrying not only the best 3200 in the nation into the meet, but also his Foot Locker CC champ status.

Well, the move didn’t quite hold up, but the senior was able to take solace in a PR and a great effort. “I can’t take anything away from it because it’s my best time,” he said. “I wanted to be in the front the whole time and it went well; I was able to pull it off. I made my move a little early; probably should have waited 50 to 100 meters later. But I’m happy with a PR.”

“I wanted to come in here and win it,” he added, “but things didn’t come together quite as well as I hoped to. … Coming into this weekend, I thought everyone would wait until 200 to go, so I wanted to go early and put a gap on everyone. But I don’t know what it was, I just didn’t have my legs at the end. But hey, I put it all out there and I was on the track at the end of the race.”

See hung with the kickers and held third, nearly collapsing at the finish. The effort was rewarded with his second big PR in 2 weeks and Webb’s soph mark, joining the Nike runner and legendary Jim Ryun on the list of 10th-grade record holders.

“He did exactly the same thing last week, an all out effort, you know?” said See’s coach, David Fultz. “We talked about going through the half 2:02-2:04 and I said you might be last. But he’s such an instinctive runner. His last lap is always awesome.”

Meanwhile, Pifer was a victim of those kicks, but rallied himself at the end to take 4th (4:06.50), ahead of Victor Gras (4:06.93), Magness (4:07.73) and Leonel Manzano (4:07.83). He didn’t regret having done a lot of the work in the middle of the race. “That’s how I’ve raced all year … I like to get out fast, right around low 2:00s and then just keep hammering away … After the 1200 I was feeling relatively pretty strong … so I threw in an abrupt move at the beginning of the last lap to see where everyone was at; little gut check. Solinsky started moving up on me in the backstretch, so I tried to go with him. And then once he started pulling away, I just kind of started freaking out mentally, but at 150 I kind of caught a second wind; I was like, I want to hang in there. It was a PR, I was pretty happy with it.”

Meanwhile, Vasquez will continue a quest for fast times at juniors, the Maine Distance Classic and in Boston. We could have two sub-4 runners this year after all. “My coach (Peter Hopfe) knows what he’s doing. It’s worked, doing exactly what my coach told me to do. I knew I had one of the fastest kicks; I’m more an 800 meter guy.” Indeed, Vasquez has run 1:50, plus the 4:05.46 in Minnesota for the full mile that built his confidence. “It helped a lot because before that I was only running 1500s, so I wasn’t really sure I could hit a 4:05. But (after the 4:05) I knew I was one of the top guys.”

Results

C.F.P.I. Timing & Data                 MANAGER  6:20 PM  6/14/2003  Page 1
       adidas Outdoor Track and Field Championships - 6/13/2003 to 6/14/2003
                   North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
                                      Results
  Event 9  Boys 1 Mile Run
  ================================================================
   Fastest 2 sections Sat at  6:35pm; all others  Sat at 4:15pm
      National: ! 3:53.43  5/27/2001   Alan Webb, South Lakes, Res
          Meet: @ 4:02.01  1997        Sharif Karie, West Springfi
      Freshman: # 4:15.50  1965        Doug Smith, West JHS, Sioux
     Sophomore: $ 4:06.94  1999        Alan Webb, South Lakes, Res
        Junior: % 3:59.0h  1964        Jim Ryun, East, Wichita, KS
        Senior: * 3:53.43  5/27/2001   Alan Webb, South Lakes, Res
      Name                    Year School                  Finals
  ================================================================
  Section  1
    1 Micky Cobrin              03 Buffalo Grove, IL      4:18.44
    2 Brandon Bonsey            04 Falmouth, ME           4:20.23
    3 Derrick Robbins           05 Newport News, VA       4:20.24
    4 Ahmed Haji                04 W. Hartford, CT        4:21.11
    5 Conor Lanz                03 Valley Stream, NY      4:21.42
    6 Stephen Pottey            04 Reno, NV               4:23.07
    6 Phil Hinrichs             04 Pullman, WA            4:23.07
    8 Glenn Collins             03 N Canton, OH           4:24.55
    9 Daniel McNally            04 Mataoras, NY           4:24.78
   10 Brendan O'Kane            03 Garden City, NY        4:24.87
   11 Eddie Loniewski           03 Blaurelt, NY           4:25.68
   -- Adam Breisch              03 Quakertown, PA             DNS
  Section  2
    1 Gavin Coombs              04 Jewett City, CT        4:10.54#
    2 Alex Tatu                 03 Chester, VA            4:11.69#
    3 Christopher Spooner       04 Lewisburg, PA          4:13.10#
    4 Joshua McDougal           04 Peru, NY               4:16.25
    5 Ryan Foster               03 Stephens City, VA      4:16.42
    6 Anthony Chiulli           03 Collierville, TN       4:17.51
    7 Michael Chavez            03 Anaheim, CA            4:17.61
    8 Carman Cavella            04 Turnersville, NJ       4:18.61
    9 Ian Burrell               03 Colorado Springs, C    4:19.15
   10 Brian McCabe              04 New Rochelle, NY       4:20.23
   11 Jeremy Zagorski           04 Morris Plains, NJ      4:21.82
   12 Michael Kerrigan          03 Stroudsburg, PA        4:22.80
   -- Chris Platt               03 Haddonfield, NJ            DNS
   -- Stephen Furst             03 Goshen, NY                 DNS
  Section  3
    1 Sam Vazquez               03 Palm Coast, FL         4:03.87$
    2 Chris Solinsky            03 Stevens Point, WI      4:05.30$
    3 Jeff See                  05 Middletown, OH         4:06.07$
    4 Stephen Pifer             03 Glen Carson, IL        4:06.50$
    5 Victor Gras               04 Belmont, MA            4:06.93$
    6 Steve Magness             03 Spring, TX             4:07.73#
    7 Leonel Manzano            04 Marble Falls, TX       4:07.83#
    8 Erik Stanley              04 Spring, TX             4:10.14#
    9 Matt DeBole               03 Winston-Salem, NC      4:11.39#
   10 Adam Perkins              03 Liberty, MO            4:16.42
  Event 9  Boys 1 Mile Run
  ================================================================
      Name                    Year School                  Finals
  ================================================================
  Finals
    1 Sam Vazquez               03 Palm Coast, FL         4:03.87$
    2 Chris Solinsky            03 Stevens Point, WI      4:05.30$
    3 Jeff See                  05 Middletown, OH         4:06.07$
    4 Stephen Pifer             03 Glen Carson, IL        4:06.50$
    5 Victor Gras               04 Belmont, MA            4:06.93$
    6 Steve Magness             03 Spring, TX             4:07.73#
    7 Leonel Manzano            04 Marble Falls, TX       4:07.83#
    8 Erik Stanley              04 Spring, TX             4:10.14#
    9 Gavin Coombs              04 Jewett City, CT        4:10.54#
   10 Matt DeBole               03 Winston-Salem, NC      4:11.39#
   11 Alex Tatu                 03 Chester, VA            4:11.69#
   12 Christopher Spooner       04 Lewisburg, PA          4:13.10#
   13 Joshua McDougal           04 Peru, NY               4:16.25
   14 Adam Perkins              03 Liberty, MO            4:16.42
   14 Ryan Foster               03 Stephens City, VA      4:16.42
   16 Anthony Chiulli           03 Collierville, TN       4:17.51
   17 Michael Chavez            03 Anaheim, CA            4:17.61
   18 Micky Cobrin              03 Buffalo Grove, IL      4:18.44
   19 Carman Cavella            04 Turnersville, NJ       4:18.61
   20 Ian Burrell               03 Colorado Springs, C    4:19.15
   21 Brian McCabe              04 New Rochelle, NY       4:20.23
   21 Brandon Bonsey            04 Falmouth, ME           4:20.23
   23 Derrick Robbins           05 Newport News, VA       4:20.24
   24 Ahmed Haji                04 W. Hartford, CT        4:21.11
   25 Conor Lanz                03 Valley Stream, NY      4:21.42
   26 Jeremy Zagorski           04 Morris Plains, NJ      4:21.82
   27 Michael Kerrigan          03 Stroudsburg, PA        4:22.80
   28 Phil Hinrichs             04 Pullman, WA            4:23.07
   28 Stephen Pottey            04 Reno, NV               4:23.07
   30 Glenn Collins             03 N Canton, OH           4:24.55
   31 Daniel McNally            04 Mataoras, NY           4:24.78
   32 Brendan O'Kane            03 Garden City, NY        4:24.87
   33 Eddie Loniewski           03 Blaurelt, NY           4:25.68
   -- Chris Platt               03 Haddonfield, NJ            DNS
   -- Adam Breisch              03 Quakertown, PA             DNS
   -- Stephen Furst             03 Goshen, NY                 DNS

AOC Raleigh home page