Great Oak Breaks 40-year-old 4x1600m National Record
The Wolfpack erased one of the oldest national records in the book on Friday night at the Arcadia Invitational in California, as the quartet of Solomon Fountain (4:19.32 FAT), Cole Spencer (4:14.10), Issac Cortes (4:11.55) and Spencer Dodds (4:10.88) ran the 4x1600-meter relay in 16:55.85.
The previous national record belonged to South Eugene High School of Oregon; that group ran 17:06.6 for the 4xMile in 1976, which converts to 17:00.7 for 4x1600m.
The record marks a coming out party for the fall's Nike Cross Nationals champions.
Cross country rivals CBA from New Jersey congratulated Great Oak on Twitter, as did national high school indoor mile record holder Drew Hunter and University of Texas distance coach Brad Herbster, who will coach Dodds next year.
Dana Hills High School of California took second in 17:13 (Jack Landgraf 4:21.78, John Turner 4:24.17, Mason Coppi 4:14.20, Jake Ogden 4:13.54) and The Woodlands of Texas placed third in 17:14.65 (Matthew Henderson 4:19.93, Michael Butero 4:15.67, Matthew McClellan 4:20.29, Nick Hawley 4:18.74).