Once pre-race favorite Drew Hunter cracked off a 4:31 opening mile on Saturday at the 2015 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, his 6.5 second lead on the field put any mystery about who would stand atop the prep running world on this day to rest.
His winning time of 14:55 is the fastest since 2011, and his 12-second margin of victory over runner-up Phillip Rocha (15:07) is the largest since 2009. This was a blowout that in no way exploited a weak field- Rocha's time matched Grant Fisher's 2013 winning time- but instead highlighted just how incredible of a talent Drew Hunter is, and even more so, will be in the future.
It was clear from the start that the future Oregon Duck was vastly superior to this field comprised of the best talent in the country, and the race for Hunter was purely between himself and the clock. By two-miles in 9:25 his lead over the West's Rocha and the Midwest's Ben Veatch had swelled to 17-seconds.
"Head down and keep plugging away," said Hunter of his strategy in a post-race interview.
Even with victory in hand, plug away Hunter did, chasing the mystical 14:36 course record held by Reuben Reina since 1985. Conveniently, that year was also the last time that a boy from the South region was champion at this race.
That 30-year streak stopped today, but the 14:36 would live to see at least another year, and probably a lot more than that. If someone of Hunter's caliber (4:02/8:42) can't scare it, you have to wonder who in the future will.
His time is the fastest at Balboa Park since Edward Cheserek (heard of him?) busted off a 14:52 in 2011. Not to take anything away from King Ches, but that performance was helped along quite a bit by Futsum Zienasellassie pushing him to the brink- the current NAU star finished just a tick behind Cheserek in 2011 in 14:53, each propelling the other to a lightning quick time.
Hunter didn't have the benefit of a challenger pushing him along today. All by himself, he navigated the course at a pace that he didn't need to maintain, if only to punish the rest of the field and test himself along the way.
"I wanted to take the race out hard, and make it a real tough race for everyone, including myself. It's really hard to do that," Hunter said.
It was two races, two wire-to-wire victories for Loudoun County, Virginia, as Hunter's victory in the boys' race came less than an hour after Weini Kelati won the girls' race. It's the first time that two Foot Locker champions have represented the same county, and just the second time that two champions have come from the same state. Leesburg, VA (Kelati) and Purcellville, VA (Hunter) lie just 10 miles apart.
His winning time of 14:55 is the fastest since 2011, and his 12-second margin of victory over runner-up Phillip Rocha (15:07) is the largest since 2009. This was a blowout that in no way exploited a weak field- Rocha's time matched Grant Fisher's 2013 winning time- but instead highlighted just how incredible of a talent Drew Hunter is, and even more so, will be in the future.
It was clear from the start that the future Oregon Duck was vastly superior to this field comprised of the best talent in the country, and the race for Hunter was purely between himself and the clock. By two-miles in 9:25 his lead over the West's Rocha and the Midwest's Ben Veatch had swelled to 17-seconds.
"Head down and keep plugging away," said Hunter of his strategy in a post-race interview.
Even with victory in hand, plug away Hunter did, chasing the mystical 14:36 course record held by Reuben Reina since 1985. Conveniently, that year was also the last time that a boy from the South region was champion at this race.
That 30-year streak stopped today, but the 14:36 would live to see at least another year, and probably a lot more than that. If someone of Hunter's caliber (4:02/8:42) can't scare it, you have to wonder who in the future will.
His time is the fastest at Balboa Park since Edward Cheserek (heard of him?) busted off a 14:52 in 2011. Not to take anything away from King Ches, but that performance was helped along quite a bit by Futsum Zienasellassie pushing him to the brink- the current NAU star finished just a tick behind Cheserek in 2011 in 14:53, each propelling the other to a lightning quick time.
Hunter didn't have the benefit of a challenger pushing him along today. All by himself, he navigated the course at a pace that he didn't need to maintain, if only to punish the rest of the field and test himself along the way.
"I wanted to take the race out hard, and make it a real tough race for everyone, including myself. It's really hard to do that," Hunter said.
It was two races, two wire-to-wire victories for Loudoun County, Virginia, as Hunter's victory in the boys' race came less than an hour after Weini Kelati won the girls' race. It's the first time that two Foot Locker champions have represented the same county, and just the second time that two champions have come from the same state. Leesburg, VA (Kelati) and Purcellville, VA (Hunter) lie just 10 miles apart.