Ohio schoolboys who have gone on to break 4 minutes for one mile

Alexander leads nation with 6 sub 4 miles

At year's end, Colby Alexander lead all U.S. milers with six sub 4 efforts. His NJNY teammate, Johnny Gregorek was right behind with 5.

Additionally, he ran six 1500 meter races between 3:34 and 3:38 which translate to between 3:52 and 3:56 for the mile.

Twelve races of that caliber in one season is quite remarkable.
 
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Alexander earns top five ranking in 1500, Murphy 8th.

Track and Field News came out with their annual year-end rankings and Ohio was well represented at 1500 meters.

Colby Alexander earned a top 5 ranking (5th) and Clayton Murphy came in at 8th.

Colby's 5th place ranking was the highest by an Ohioan since Rob Myers ranked 5th back in 2007.

Colby's 3:34.88 ranked as the 3rd fastest 1500 by an American.
That time ranked 29th in the World and 10th among non-Africans.
He won the high profile Tracktown Summer Series 1500, ran more sub 4 minute miles than any other U.S. miler, was an Olympic Trials 1500 finalist and almost upset Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz at the NYRRC 5th Ave Mile, running 3:50.3.

As with Clayton's World ranking in the 800 (see separate thread), I thought Colby should have been ranked higher than 5th. Not much higher...but 4th...ahead of Manzano. Leo literally only had one good race all year (a 4th at the Trials) and otherwise had the worst year of his career. A ranking should be based on your body of work. Leo had no other races indoors or out to support a ranking that high. Barely top 10, IMO.

Clayton earned an 8th ranking based on his NCAA win and his 3:36.23, just 3 hundredths off the Olympic A standard. He was the 10th fastest American with his 3:36.23.

Way to rep Ohio!!
 
**Letsrun.com is a popular running website catering to distance events. It has a mixed bag reputation. The negative rap it sometimes gets is because of the negative vibes the boards many times take on. BUT their up to date news and their reporting are reasons to visit.

**Their editors ranked each event for 2016 and came up with slightly different takes in many events than did our Bible, Track and Field News. Their criteria and protocol for ranking makes more sense to me than the criteria Track and Field News employs.

**For example, Letsrun counts indoor track. T&FN does not. If there is a World Championship, a U.S. Championship and a very competitive NCAA season, why wouldn't you count it? All of our Olympians ran indoors. It's not like HS where a good percentage of athletes don't participate.

**Also Letsrun will not give a high ranking to an athlete based on one good race. Unless it is an "off the charts" crazy fast time (like Jager's 3:32 1500 two years ago).They base your ranking on your entire year's body of work. T&FN will rank you very high based on one race, if it's the right one. Olympic Trials, for instance.

**LR had Colby 4th US and T&FN had him #5. That's usually a "splitting hairs" thing that really isn't too debatable until you see that the difference was T&FN put Manzano 4th (ahead of Colby) while LR only had Manzano an Honorable Mention. Letsrun got it right. Manzano's 4th at the Trials was his only good race of the year.

**Manzano didn't put up any other good races all year before or after the Olympic Trials. Didn't run indoors. Didn't run a top 10 time. Didn't win any races (not even close). In fact in head to head races with the top ranked runners, Leo never won. It was, in fact, the worst season of his career. LR got it right ranking Colby 4th.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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Colby Alexander and Clayton Murphy opened up their 2017 indoor seasons this last weekend.

Colby ran at the Armory in NYC in the Columbia East-West Challenge. He doubled, running the leadoff 1200 leg of the DMR for the Hoka NJNY Track Club and then coming back to run the 3000.

With Oregon, Penn, UCLA, UConn and Columbia in the DMR field, the goal was for the NJNY team to help set a fast pace to help set up some NCAA qualifying times for the collegiate entries.

Colby led off with the 1200 leg, running straight 29's for 6 laps, handing off in 2:54, giving NJNY a sizeable lead. It was a great first effort for the season as that is 3:52 mile pace.

In terms of helping the collegiate teams along, mission accomplished, as Oregon ran a collegiate leading 9:30. Edward Cheserek anchored with a 3:54 1600!

Alexander then capped off his first meet with some over distance work racing to an 8:10 in the 3000.

Clayton Murphy debuted as well, running in Boston at the New Balance Games.
He moved up in distance, running the 3000 vs a stellar field. He finished back in the field but ran a PR 8:16.

Both Colby and Clayton will be running the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in two weeks. This is the most prestigious indoor mile race in the world. It's a feather in our cap as Ohio track fans to have two former Ohio 1600 State Champs in such a world class event.
 
Clayton Murphy, Colby Alexander and Cory Leslie competed in the Wanamaker Mile Saturday night at the 110th annual Millrose Games at the Armory in NYC. The Wanamaker Mile is the most prestigious indoor mile in the world

Ater a start that saw all three Ohio schoolboy alums get off the line slowly, they eventually began moving up thru the field. Murphy used his lethal kick on the final lap to nail down second in 3:54.31.. Alexander moved up over the final 2 laps to secure 5th in the 12 man field in 3:55.99 and Cory Leslie placed 9th in 3:57.86.

My observation was that Murphy's slow start cost him the win. Or at least a good shot at it. Eric Jenkins won in 3:53.23 but had already gapped Murphy with a lap to go. He simply had too much to make up on the world-class Jenkins. Likewise, I thought Alexander's slow start cost him a top 3 finish. He has beaten all 4 runners that finished ahead of him but not going out and running with them from the start may have hurt him Saturday.

The good news is that both Clayton and Colby recorded indoor mile PR's. Those times should easily be fast enough to qualify them for the USA indoor championships in March.

Top 5 at Millrose Wanamaker Mile
Eric Jenkins Nike Oregon Project 3:53.23
Clayton Murphy Nike 3:54.31
Kyle Merber NJNY TC Hoka. 3:54.67
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot asics Canada 3:55.33
Colby Alexander. NJNY TC. Hoka. 3:55.99
 
Looking at the last 3 posts by state the obvious, I find it remarkable that Bob Kennedy is just 10th on our All-Time mile list. Bob is one of our country's greatest ever. I realize Bob was more of a 5K guy but we know world class 5000 guys are required to possess world class mile speed. And he did show he had mile chops, as evidenced by his 3:56 PR. And that just shows you how high quality our state All-Time List is

It demonstrates the incredible level of talent that comes out of Ohio in the mile.
 
...

My observation was that Murphy's slow start cost him the win. Or at least a good shot at it. Eric Jenkins won in 3:53.23 but had already gapped Murphy with a lap to go. He simply had too much to make up on the world-class Jenkins. Likewise, I thought Alexander's slow start cost him a top 3 finish. He has beaten all 4 runners that finished ahead of him but not going out and running with them from the start may have hurt him Saturday.

...

I don't think it was Murphy's slow start as much as it was that he didn't continually move up to the right position by the time they hit the 1200 mark. You can tell he wanted to sit back a bit in the beginning, which was fine, but he needed to move a bit sooner in order to be close enough to contend with 200 to go. You can even see that at one point he goes to move up after realizing Jenkins had made his move and ends up in lane three, not being used to the brevity of the straights. Tactically he just isn't experienced in a fast mile on a 200m banked, but I bet next time he'll be more than ready. He learns quick it seems.

Great showing by all three Ohio guys.
 
OHIO MILERS 1-2 in USATF INDOOR NATS

Clayton Murphy and Brannon Kidder took 1-2 at the USA Indoor National Championships today at 1000 meters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Another Ohioan, Drew Windle (New Albany HS, 2011 D1 State Champ 800 Meters) placed 5th.

Murphy (2:18.60) and Kidder (2:19.10) were both under the USATF Chmps meet record. Murphy's winning time was the fastest in the world this year.

Colby Alexander was entered in the 1000 but was a last minute scratch from the meet. Had he run, Ohio could very well have had an excellent shot at a 1-2-3 finish!!

Congratulations to Clayton, Brannon and Drew!
 
It's been awhile since I last posted (Late March!) and a lot has happened with our Ohio mile alums.

Clayton Murphy currently owns the fastest mile time in the US at 3:51.99. That came at the Pre Classic at Historic Hayward Field where he took 5th in a world class field. Clayton is now #2 on the Ohio All-Time list, trailing only Tom Byers (3:50.84, 1982).

Colby Alexander missed 3 months between Mid Feb and Mid May with a calf injury. After running an indoor mile PR at the Wanamaker mile at the Millrose Games in NYC, he missed the next 3 months and it looked as if his outdoor season was in jeopardy. After only a few weeks of training he debuted at USA's with a 3:42 in his 1500 heat, just missing the last qualifying spot to the final. The next week at the Portland Tracktown Summer Series, he almost stole the race against a field that was basically the same field as the USA final. His time of 3:37.86 was only 4 tenths from the win. Four days later he ran 3:36.10, only a second off the win at the TT Summer Series final against the same field in NYC. That time is the #6 time run in the US so far this year. At this rate of improvement, it could be a great summer for Colby!

Sam Prakel has a year left at Oregon but he's already making a splash on the national level. Sam was a 1500 finalist at the USA Championships (7th) and has run 3:37.79 for 1500. That's equal to a 3:55.21 mile. Oregon makes their mark churning out world class milers!

Cory Leslie ran a 3:38.10 at Swarthmore. That converts to a 3:55.55 mile.

Ryan Adams (CVCA HS), a soph at Furman, ran 3:42.90 at the Raleigh Relays. That is a 4:00.73 mile equiv. Will he become the 24th Ohioan to run sub 4???

Or will it be Indiana frosh, Kyle Mau (Hudson HS)?? Kyle ran 4:00.37 indoors this year. Missed by the blink of an eye!
 
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Also, related to my last post, here are some Ohio alum that are on the brink of breaking 4. But as we all know, those last seconds and tenths are the toughest to take off!

Mick Stanovsek...Notre Dame Cathedral Latin HS....U of Oregon frosh....ran 4:02.69 for the Ducks.

Along with his 3:42.90 for 1500, Ryan Adams, (CVCA HS), soph Furman, ran 4:02.73 for one mile.

Jacob Dumford (Westerville North HS), SR at Notre Dame, ran 4:02.77.

Willy Fink (Maumee HS), SR at Eastern Michigan ran 4:02.88.
 
In the above post regarding Ohioans that have been running fast miles lately, I forgot to mention Brannon Kidder. Brannon (Lancaster HS) PR'd in the 1500 in Europe recently, running 3:38.71 in London just a few days ago, on July 9. Brannon presently runs for the Brooks Beasts based out of Seattle.
 
Sam Prakel makes All-Time Ohio Mile list!

Oregon junior Sam Prakel (Versailles HS) ran a 3:55.89 mile in Cork, Ireland, on July 18, for his first win on the European circuit to put himself in at #9 on the All-Time Mile list for Ohio milers. Sam knocked Ohio legend Bob Kennedy out of the top ten!! That's as much of an accomplishment as the 3:55!!
 
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Just saw a facebook post by Scott Fry. Fastest 1500 meter runners in Ohio history. He was going by memory so I double checked his stats just to make sure he was correct and he was, almost. He was one second off on one guy and 2 seconds on another. Pretty good memory! Here are the findings:

Rob Myers 3:34.89 run in 2005
Corey Leslie 3:34.93 run in 2013
Jeff See 3:35.21 run in 2012
Dave Wottle 3:36.2 Hand Time run in 1973
Colby Alexander 3:36.56 run in 2015

Current formula for conversion to mile is:
1500 in seconds x 1.08

Based on that formula here are their mile times:

Rob Myers 3:52.08
Corey Leslie 3:52.12
Jeff See 3:52.43
Dave Wottle 3:53.76
Colby Alexander 3:53.88

Tom Byers definitely deserves a mention. Although his fastest 1500 time was "only" 3:37.5 (HT), he ran a mile in 3:50.84. That is the fastest mile in Ohio history for an Ohio native and I believe he's the 11th fastest miler in U.S. history.

Pretty sure Byers split 3:35-3:36 in that 3:50.84 mile. Enroute 1500m splits DO count in international statistical compilations, as long as there was a timer or timing machine at that point. I'd have to go back and check my T&FN's from back then to see if it was done.
 
Update

The 2017 Pro track season is winding down but we still see bits and pieces of news from some of our Ohio alum.

Clayton Murphy will be joining the Nike Oregon Project and will be relocating to Portland. He'll be joining Olympic Gold Medalist Matthew Centrowitz and another new NOP signee, Craig Engels, to form a solid miler training group.
This is also being discussed in another Clayton Murphy thread on Yappi.

Colby Alexander has rebounded from injury with some good races lately. Colby missed 3 months of training heading into outdoors but has come back strong.

After running a US #6 ranked 1500 3:36.10 (3:53 mile equiv) at the Tracktown Summer Series final, Colby raced only his 3rd 800 since HS, running 1:47.00, only 2 tenths off the win at the Liege Meet in Belgium.

He followed that up with a win at the Westchester Mile in a tactical race. With a 25 second last 200, Colby edged Garrett Heath, Craig Engels and Riley Masters for the win in 4:00.1. Two weeks later, in a field that featured a bevy of Olympians and National record holders, Craig Engels turned the tide on Colby by taking the win in the Falmouth Elite Mile. Engels outkicked Colby and 2-time Olympic 1500 medalist Nick Willis (NZ) to win another slow tactical, kickers race in 4:00.1. Willis and Alexander crossed the finish line one and two tenths behind Engels in a blanket finish.

The season is winding down but a couple high caliber mile races remain. The Hoka Long Island Mile (track) is Sept 6th. A world class field featuring Nick Willis (NZ) , Chris O'Hare (GB), Johnny Gregorek (US), Ryan Gregson (Aus) and a slew of world class milers will be aiming for a fast time in honor of David Torrence. Daniel Winn will be setting a pace geared toward 3:50/3:52.

On Sept 10th the NYRRC will host the world's most competitive road mile, the 5th Ave Mile in NYC. Last year 3 Oregon Ducks took the honors. Eric Jenkins (NOP), Matthew Centrowitz (NOP, 2 weeks off his Olympic Gold performance), and Colby Alexander (Hoka/NJNYTC) raced to the fastest top 3 finish in the history of the event. Jenkins edged out Centro and Colby 3:49.5 to 3:49.6 to 3:50.3. Colby and Jenkins will be back as part of a 22 man star studded international field.
 
Great Documentary!!

If you haven't seen this, sit back, relax and watch one of the coolest running documentaries I've seen in recent years. It's about some of our top USA milers making an excursion to Alaska in search of the Sub 4 minute mile. It had never been done outdoors on Alaskan soil. They attempted it at the end of September and, as you can guess, the weather was not cooperative.

Alaskan native and former Oregon All-American, Trevor Dunbar, came up with the vision and Run Gum helped fund the documentary.

Oh yes...Ohio native Colby Alexander (Strongsville, Oregon) is featured in the video as one of the milers in the group, along with Olympian Ben Blankenship, Kyle Merber, Garrett Heath, Trevor Dunbar and a few other studs.

Tip: when you click on the video, click on "cc" on the bottom of the video. That will bring up closed caption. It will enable you to catch all the conversations without missing anything.

Enjoy!

https://www.motivrunning.com/running...-alaskan-mile/
 
Mau ran 3:59.15 today at Indiana. Congrats to him! Add another Ohioan to the list of sub-4 guys!
 
Mau, stanovsek break 4 for 1st time on same day

Thanks SOTT! You beat me to it!!

Kyle Mau (Indiana) and Mick Stanovsek (Oregon) broke the magic 4 minute barrier today, becoming the 24th and 25th Ohio schoolboys to do so.

Kyle ran 3:59.15 at the Indiana Relays, winning handily and (for the moment) was ranked #1 in the NCAA for the indoor mile.

A few hours later at the most iconic indoor track in America, the NYC Armory, Mick Stanovsek ran an NCAA #1, 3:57.90, winning his heat and becoming the 7th fastest indoor miler in Oregon history.

Mick is a redshirt sophomore. He walked on at UO and wasn't fast enough to run for the team so he ran club track his frosh year. His perseverance and drive to achieve his dream is a great story. His rate of improvement is nothing short of remarkable!!
 
UPDATED LIST OF OHIO SCHOOLBOY MILERS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR THE MILE

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. Kyle Mau 2018 Indiana. (Hudson)
25. Mick Stanovsek 2018 Oregon (ND Cathedral Latin)

Of the 25 athletes on the list, 14 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 and Stonovsek)

Of the 25 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? He didn't attend HS in Ohio. He was from Pa. He did, however, run sub 4 for Kent State in 1967.

Need to add St. Xavier's Michael Hall to the list. He ran 3:59.37 on Feb. 10, 2018.
 
UPDATED LIST OF OHIO SCHOOLBOY MILERS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR THE MILE


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

Because the list says LIST OF OHIO SCHOOLBOY MILERS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR THE MILE, not Ohio college students.
 
Another ohio sub 4!!!

Thanks for the heads up LoveCrossCountry!!

Michael Hall, a St. Xavier graduate and redshirt junior at Florida State University, broke the magic 4 minute barrier February 10th at the David Hemery Valentines Invitational in Boston.

Michael's time of 3:59.37 netted him a 5th place finish in the race won by Craig Engels in 3:53.93.

Michael becomes the 26th Ohio schoolboy to break 4 minutes for the mile.

Congrats to Michael on joining the elite sub 4 club!!
 
Originally Posted by State The Obvious View Post
UPDATED LIST OF OHIO SCHOOLBOY MILERS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR THE MILE


Why is Sam Bair missing from the above list? He didn't attend HS in Ohio. He was from Pa. He did, however, run sub 4 for Kent State in 1967.
Because the list says LIST OF OHIO SCHOOLBOY MILERS WHO HAVE GONE ON TO BREAK 4 MINUTES FOR THE MILE, not Ohio college students.
 
That did it I’m coming out of retirement to break the four minute barrier. At 64 I still have a little left in my legs...any offers to coach me ?
 
Prakel, stanovsek earn all-american

Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsek, 2 Ohio Oregon Ducks, earned All-American honors last weekend at the NCAA D1 Indoor Championships in Arkansas.

Multiple time career All-American, Prakel, took 3rd in the Mile, only tenths from the win, clocking 3:58.59.

Stanovsek had a bit of bad luck, getting tripped up and falling in his heat and failing to qualify for the final. At one point this indoor season, Mick had the top Mile time in the NCAA at 3:57.

However, Stanovsek had already earned his 2nd career All-American honor on Friday night running the 800 leg on the 3rd place Oregon DMR. Mick got the baton in 3rd and pushed the Ducks into 2nd at the handoff with a 1:48.75 leg.

Ohio Boys making a difference at the highest level of collegiate track!!
 
Some great miling by 3 former Ohio HS mile studs.

Oregon Ducks, Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsik ran 3:39.75 and 3:39.96 to finish 3-4 in the 1500 meter run at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. That was a PR for Mick.
Those 1500's convert to 3:57.33 and 3:57.55 mile times.

Jacob Dumford (Westerville North) a 5th year Sr at Notre Dame, also ran a 1500 PR at Stanford last Saturday, racing to a 3:42.04. That is the equivalent to a 3:59.80 mile. Jacob has a 4:02.77 mile PR (indoor).
 
The Sam and Mick Show Continues...

Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsek both ran 1500 PR's, as 4 Oregon Ducks broke 3:40 at the Bryan Clay Invite at Azusa Pacific today.

That very well could be the first time in NCAA history that 4 athletes from the same school broke 3:40 in the same race.

Prakel led all Ducks with a PR 3:36.84, equal to a 3:54.18 mile. Next came James West at 3:37.41 (3:54.80) and FRESHMAN Reed Brown at 3:39.56 (3:57.12), followed by Ohio Duck, Mick Stanovsek in a PR 3:39.82 (3:57.40).

Sam's 3:36.84 now ranks #8 on the All-Time Ohio 1500 list!
 
Penn relas

Jacob Dumford, former Westerville North State 1600 Champ (2013), now running as a redshirt senior at Notre Dame, came sooo close to becoming the 27th Ohio schoolboy to break 4 minutes in the mile on Saturday at the 124th running of the Penn Relays.

Jacob took 5th overall in a star studded field in the Roger Bannister Memorial Mile at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and came agonizingly close to going under the magical barrier, stopping the clock at 4:00.00.

Here's hoping Jacob gets a few more shots at it.

Interesting note: When Jacob won the 2013 State 1600, he beat two athletes that have gone on to break four flat. Both St. Xavier's Michael Hall and Hudson's Kyle Mau achieved the feat earlier this season (indoors).
 
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