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2002 Nike Athletes of the Yearthe dominant high school track and field athletes Chris Lukezic2002, Auburn WA |
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Chris Lukezic is a talker. After he won the Millrose mile in New York in February, he chattered about his chances of running a 4-minute mile, despite the pedestrian time he had just run (4:21.14). Then he went quiet for 4 months, and other people started talking -- that the Millrose win was a fluke. Then it suddenly became clear there was a plan all along to peak in the post season championships. Over 15 days in three meets in June Lukezic let his feet do the talking: Chris Lukezic was the best miler of the year. First, at the Golden West in Sacramento, Lukezic put down Nike Indoor and Arcadia champion Bobby Curtis of Louisville KY in the fastest mile of the year, 4:06.84 to 4:07.61. Next, at AOC Raleigh, Lukezic took the baton well behind in the 4x800 and blew open one of the year's strongest events with a 1:49.4 third leg that sent Auburn on the way to a national record 7:32.89, breaking the 1-year-old mark by Alan Webb's South Lakes Reston VA team. The next night Lukezic's 4:03.6 anchor brought Auburn the second fastest DMR ever, just 1.2 seconds behind another Webb-South Lakes record. One week later Lukezic was back in California winning the Junior Nationals 1500 at Stanford in 3:47.32. He improved on that time at the World Juniors in Jamaica with a very respectable 11th place 3:46.01 against the Africans.
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