3. Michigan Prep Wins 1500m Prelim - But Not The One You Think
Logan Wetzel won Heat 2 of the Junior Men's 1500m.
In Heat 2, prep runners Jaxson Hoey of Malvern Prep, Pa. and Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc, Mich. found themselves at the front of a slow-moving pack. How slow? 66 through 400m and 2:15 through 800m, pedestrian for a group that included a sub-four minute miler in Fisher.
Stanford freshman Blair Hurlock took the lead at the bell lap (3:18), but in a blaze of fast kickers, it was an unexpected Michigan prep who took charge to cross the line first - Logan Wetzel of Saline.
The Villanova recruit closed in 54.97 to run 3:59.90 for the win, followed by Brandon Pollard of Gonzaga then Fisher in third. Hoey, the Pennsylvania state 1600m champion, placed fifth in the heat but advanced on time (4:00.28).
"Coming into the race, I knew it was probably gonna be slower pace," Wetzel said afterward. "My coach and I talked a lot about being focused on positioning, going to that last 600 to 400 meters and being able to move at the finish. Most of my game plan was all about positioning and I definitely feel like I executed on that."
| Place | Name | Affiliation | Time | 300m | 700m | 1100m | 1500m | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan Wetzel | Unattached | 3:59.90 Q | 50.05 [50.05] | 1:58.66 [1:08.61] | 3:04.94 [1:06.28] | 3:59.90 [54.97] | |
| 2 | Brandon Pollard | Gonzaga | 4:00.05 Q | 49.63 [49.63] | 1:58.52 [1:08.90] | 3:05.29 [1:06.77] | 4:00.05 [54.77] | |
| 3 | Grant Fisher | Unattached | 4:00.09 Q | 49.46 [49.46] | 1:58.27 [1:08.81] | 3:04.80 [1:06.53] | 4:00.09 [55.30] | |
| 4 | Austin Anaya | Adams St. | 4:00.21 Q | 50.16 [50.16] | 1:58.91 [1:08.75] | 3:05.21 [1:06.30] | 4:00.21 [55.01] | |
| 5 | Jaxson Hoey | Unattached | 4:00.28 | 49.32 [49.32] | 1:58.32 [1:09.01] | 3:05.16 [1:06.85] | 4:00.28 [55.12] | |
| 6 | Blair Hurlock | Stanford | 4:02.23 | 49.95 [49.95] | 1:58.80 [1:08.86] | 3:04.63 [1:05.83] | 4:02.23 [57.60] | |
| 7 | Tyler Woodrome | Tennessee | 4:04.01 | 50.09 [50.09] | 1:58.70 [1:08.62] | 3:05.46 [1:06.76] | 4:04.01 [58.55] | |
| 8 | Evan Georges | Appalachian St | 4:04.42 | 49.74 [49.74] | 1:58.49 [1:08.75] | 3:05.09 [1:06.60] | 4:04.42 [59.34] | |
| 9 | Ethan Moehn | Arkansas | 4:15.49 | 49.87 [49.87] | 1:58.46 [1:08.59] | 3:05.03 [1:06.58] | 4:15.49 [1:10.47] | |
| DNS | Matthew Maton | Unattached | - |
Also notable was the absence of Matthew Maton. The Oregon-bound senior has not raced since his historic 3:59.38 mile in early May due to a sore Achilles. He entered both the 1500m and 5k, but decided to focus his energy on the 5k tomorrow morning.
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