* Lex Young at the Arcadia Invitational in the 3,200m
Photo Credit: Raymond Tran / MileSplit
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For the second time this season -- separated by nearly three weeks -- the national high school boys outdoor 5,000m record has fallen.
This time, Lex Young's name is next to it.
Inside Drake Stadium on Friday at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, Young lined up on the track for the first time since March with records on the mind.
Amongst 23 other runners, the Newbury Park (CA) senior and Stanford signee was the youngest competitor in the 5,000m professional field.
And perhaps that experienced competition made all the difference as the California sensation posted the fastest outdoor 5,000m time in U.S. high school history of 13:34.96, taking down the previous record by two seconds.
Even though he finished 18th overall, the place didn't matter. The time did, however, as Young made history.
Southern Boone County's (MO) Connor Burns, who was the first high school boy in 2023 to break four minutes in the mile, produced a new national record of 13:37.30 at the On Running Track Fest at Mt. SAC earlier this month. Burn's time outperformed Galen Rupp's previous all-time best in the event with a 13:37.91, which came from a meet in Belgium in 2004.
It took nearly 20 years to chase down Rupp's mark. Now with Young's effort from Friday night, he surpasses Burns' record, which stood for only about a month span.
Young is now one of 11 high school boys that have broken 14 minutes for the outdoor 5,000m in U.S. history.
* Lex Young reflects on his 5K performance
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Related Links:
On The Line: Just How Crazy Was Connor Burns' 5k Record?