2. Garek Bielacyzc vs. Casey Clinger
What a weird race! Here's perhaps the best way to digest it: Bielaczyc's 800 splits were 2:09, 2:18, 2:20, 2:10.
And he led every step. The senior from Salt Lake City took it out hard, quickly opened a significant gap on NXN champion Casey Clinger, got caught...and never got passed. Clinger incrementally cut Bielaczyc's lead, almost metronomically slicing a meter a lap or so until they were next to each other with 400 to go. That's when Bielaczyc woke up just a little, but Clinger looked a hair smoother and had the added benefit of not having led up to that point. But with 200 to go, Bielaczyc suddenly looked like a different runner and closed in 28 seconds to become the first boy to ever break nine minutes in the Simplot 3200. Two seconds behind him, Clinger became the second. Garek's 8:57.03 and Casey's 8:59.02 are US #3 and #4 this year, and if the NCAA conversion system were in place, the altitude would cut those times under 8:50. Watch out for these two when they get to sea level.