COFFMAN ALUM, LUCAS BONS, DROPS A 3:55.45 Mile at HUSKY INVITE!!!

[State The Obvious]

Last weekend, former Dublin Coffman star, Lucas Bons, scored a MASSIVE mile PR, running a 3:55.45 mile to place second at the Husky Invite in Washington. Lucas lost to Washington’s Sam Tanner by a mere two tenths of a second. His time is the second fastest indoor mile in BYU history.

Lucas is in his third year at BYU and entering this season owned a 1600 PR of 4:09.25 (from HS), which is worth a 4:10+ for one mile. That means he PR’d by a whopping 15 seconds! We see that kind of improvement with HS underclassmen, but not with 3rd year collegiate athletes, am I right!!

Lucas was 3rd at State then 2nd at State in the 1600 for Coffman in 2017 and 2018.

He becomes the 30th Ohio schoolboy to break 4:00 for one mile and also breaks into the All-Time Fastest Ohio Schoolboy Miler Top Ten List, debuting at #10.

CONGRATULATIONS LUCAS!!

 

[State The Obvious]

OHIO SCHOOLBOYS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR ONE MILE

UPDATED 3/1/21...(other recent updates go to page 3)

1. Bob Schul 1964 Miami (Milton-Union)
2. Dave Wottle 1970 BGSU (Canton Lincoln)
3. Reggie McAfee 1973 UNC (Cincinnati Courtier Tech)
4. Steve Foster 1975 Florida TC (Madison)
5. Tom Byers 1981 Athletics West (Columbus North)
6. Kevin Ryan 1983 Athletics West (Cleve. St. Joseph)
7. Roosevelt Jackson 1988 Reebok (Orwell Grand Valley)
8. Bob Kennedy 1991 Indiana (Westerville North)
9. Mark Dailey 1993 New York AC (Lakewood St. Edward)
10. Rob Myers 2003 Ohio State (Lancaster Fairfield Union)

11. Ian Connor 2003 Nike (Galion Northmor)
12. Chris Estwanick 2004 Nike Farm Team (Dublin Coffman)
13. Jeff See 2007 Unattached (Middletown)
14. Tony Jordanek 2010 Unattached (Lexington)
15. Mack Chaffee 2011 Ragged Mountain TC (Chagrin Falls)
16. Cory Leslie 2011 Ohio State (Sandusky Perkins)
17. Brannon Kidder 2013 Penn State (Lancaster)
18. Chris Fallon 2013 Ohio State (Copley)
19. Jake Edwards 2014 Columbus RC (Delaware Hayes)
20. Eric Finan 2014 Team Minnesota (New Richmond)

21. Colby Alexander 2014 Oregon (Strongsville)
22. Clayton Murphy 2016 Akron (Tri Village)
23. Sam Prakel 2016 Oregon (Versailles)
24. Mick Stanovsek 2018 Oregon (ND Cathedral Latin)
25. Kyle Mau 2018 Indiana. (Hudson)
26. Michael Hall 2018 Florida State (St. Xavier)
27. Willy Fink 2018 VT Elite (Maumee)
28. Ryan Adams 2020 Furman University (CVCA)
29. Jacob Dumford 2020 Under Armour/District TC (Westerville N)
30. Lucas Bons 2021 BYU (Dublin Coffman)

Of the 30 athletes on the list, 17 broke 4 min for the first time while still running for their college team (or in their redshirt year).
(Schul, Wottle, McAfee, Kennedy, Myers, See, Leslie, Kidder, Fallon, Alexander, Murphy, Prakel, Mau, Stanovsek, Hall, Adams and Bons.)

Of the 30 athletes on the list, 9 have gone on to qualify for the 1500 meter final in the USA Championship Meet at least once (getting thru the heats to the championship race).
(Wottle, McAfee, Ryan, Byers, Myers, See, Alexander, Murphy, Prakel)

Reggie McAfee was the first African-American to break 4 in United States history.

Why is Sam Bair missing from the above list? Because he didn't attend HS in Ohio. He was from Pa. He did, however, run sub 4 for Kent State in 1967.

 

[State The Obvious]

2/24/21 revised

FASTEST 1500 RUNNERS IN OHIO HISTORY... UPDATED 2/24/21

(All sub 3:37 runners)

1) Colby Alexander 3:34.88 run in 2016
2) Rob Myers 3:34.89 run in 2005
3) Cory Leslie 3:34.93 run in 2013
4) Jeff See 3:35.21 run in 2012
5) Brannon Kidder 3:35.27 run in 2019
6) Tom Byers 3:35.75 run in 1982
7) Dave Wottle 3:36.2 (HT) run in 1973
8) Clayton Murphy 3:36.23 run in 2016
9) Sam Prakel 3:36.36 run in 2021

NOTE: Sam Prakel ran 3:35.66 for 1500 en route to his indoor 3:50.94 mile. At the time, it ranked (and counted) as #9 All-Time on the US indoor performer 1500 list but can't count as an IAAF PR because it wasn't run in a 1500 race.

To make the list, Prakel's 3:36.36 1500 converts to a 3:53.66 mile.

To top the list, Alexander's 1500 converts to a 3:52.07 mile

 

[State The Obvious]

Here is the updated list of top milers in Ohio History: UPDATED 3/1/21

FASTEST MILERS IN OHIO HISTORY

1) Tom Byers 3:50.84 run in 1982
2) Sam Prakel 3:50.94 run in 2019 (indoor) **
3) Clayton Murphy 3:51.99 run in 2017
4) Dave Wottle 3:53.3 (HT) run in 1973 *
5) Cory Leslie 3:53.44 run in 2014
6) Rob Myers 3:53.78 run in 2004
7) Colby Alexander 3:54.94 run in 2016
8) Jeff See 3:55.24 run in 2012
9) Steve Foster 3:55.1 (HT) run in 1977
10) Lucas Bons 3:55.45 run in 2021
11) Kevin Ryan 3:55.9 (HT) run in 1983
12) Brannon Kidder 3:56.06 run in 2018
13) Bob Kennedy 3:56.21 run in 1994

* NOTE: Dave Wottle's 3:53.3 was run in a race in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field. Pre invited Wottle to come out and race him in a mile. Wottle outkicked Pre for the win in, what was at the time, the second fastest time ever run by an American. Only Jim Ryun's World Record 3:51.1 was faster at the time. This race is featured in the "Fire On The Track" documentary on Pre.

NOTE: Colby Alexander ran 3:50.3 (HT) at the NYRRC 5th Avenue Mile in 2016. That is the fastest mile ever run by an Ohioan indoors, outdoors, or on a certified road mile.

** NOTE: Sam Prakel's 3:50.94 indoor mile ranked him, at the time, as the #5 indoor performer of All-Time in US history... only 2 hundredths of a second from Galen Rupp in 4th ...and only 1.05 seconds off Bernard Lagat's American Record.

 

[mathking]

Last weekend, former Dublin Coffman star, Lucas Bons, scored a MASSIVE mile PR, running a 3:55.45 mile to place second at the Husky Invite in Washington. Lucas lost to Washington’s Sam Tanner by a mere two tenths of a second. His time is the second fastest indoor mile in BYU history.

Lucas is in his third year at BYU and entering this season owned a 1600 PR of 4:09.25 (from HS), which is worth a 4:10+ for one mile. That means he PR’d by a whopping 15 seconds! We see that kind of improvement with HS underclassmen, but not with 3rd year collegiate athletes, am I right!!

Lucas was 3rd at State then 2nd at State in the 1600 for Coffman in 2017 and 2018.

He becomes the 30th Ohio schoolboy to break 4:00 for one mile and also breaks into the All-Time Fastest Ohio Schoolboy Miler Top Ten List, debuting at #10.

CONGRATULATIONS LUCAS!!

One correction. Lucas is in his first year at BYU. He went on his mission before going to BYU, and started there this fall.

 

[State The Obvious]

Thanks Mathking. Makes sense. I remember talking to Josh McAdams, a former Brecksville/BYU runner about the mission they undertake when attending BYU. Josh made our 2008 Olympic team in the Steeplechase. We talked about how uncanny it is that after their two year missions, so many of the runners come back and achieve such great things. I asked him if they are still able to train on their missions. He said “Absolutely not”. They work all day and have no extra time to train. He said during his two year mission, he didn’t really do any training. But yet, he was able to come back and eventually make an Olympic team. Incredible. He attributes their post-mission success to their strong faith.

 

[Rohbino]

Interestingly, Andrew Jordan of Watkins Memorial, now at Washington after transferring from Iowa State, ran as a pacer for the Husky Invite mile.

Eligibility-wise, I believe that Jordan is a junior in track but has used up all of XC eligibility. That's a shame because Jordan probably would have been one of the favorites for the individual title after his strong 2019 XC campaign at Washington. That year Jordan was the West Region XC champion but did not compete in the National championship meet.

 

[State The Obvious]

Andrew Jordan still has a shot at a sub 4 tho. He has a 4:02 PR. But I think his forte is distance and that’s probably what he’ll focus on for the remainder of his career. He is a stud. I believe he placed 3rd overall in the PAC 12 XC Championships in 23:06 for 8K in 2019. As we all know, the PAC 12 is about as good as you get. As you mentioned, Rohbino, he was also 2019 Regional XC Champ that year, the first Husky to ever accomplish that feat. Unfortunately, he was injured and didn’t run Nationals that year, or we’d have seen a potential top ten finish.