New Balance Outdoor Nationals 2013

Distance Records Set Off Day 1 Of New Balance Nationals

Distance Records Set Off Day 1 Of New Balance Nationals

Jun 14, 2013 by Justin Britton
Distance Records Set Off Day 1 Of New Balance Nationals
June 14th, Greensboro, NC

On an unseasonably cool night at Irwin Belk Track of North Carolina State A&T University, day 1 of New Balance Outdoor Nationals started off with a bang.  Throughout the day, many of the exicting 'Emerging Elite' races showed the up and coming talent for years to come in high school track & field.  

As the sun set, nerves came into play as many were looking forward to the showdown in the Girls 5000m.  At New Balance Indoor Nationals we saw a 5000m race where many thought that Erin Finn had the race in the bag, but it's not over till it's over.  With 1 to go, Finn failed to close strong and we saw Wesley Frazier turn up the wheels a few notches to just barely nip Finn at the line for the title and snatching Finns' indoor 5000m national record right from her.  Article HERE

Flash forward to June 14th under the lights in North Carolina where the two biggest names in the race were again Finn & Frazier.  Both seniors, with many accolades just looking for that one last title.  As of late, Frazier has been on a hot streak, as she ran sub-4:40 at the Adidas Dream Mile a few weeks back.  

Photo courtesy of Milesplit.com
Perhaps it was the hometown crowd of the native Frazier, maybe it just wasn't Erin Finn's night but the meet record for the 5000m was set tonight at New Balance Nationals and Wesley Frazier was the victor.  Winning by a sizeable margin, Frazier ran 15:55.94, smoking the field as the next closest finisher ended up being Erin Finn as she ran 16:17.89. The meet record prior to this was also broken as it was set last year by Ashley Erba, 16:18.21.  Not to be overlooked, Wesley Frazier ran only 10 seconds slower than what Mary Cain had run last weekend at the Portland Track Festival.  
 

Switching over to the boy's side of things, the final race of the night at New Balance Outdoor Nationals was the Boy's 5000m.  Prior to this race, we thought "Can anyone really toss in a threat with Leingang?"  Especially after Jakes race the previous weekend at the Portland Track Festival, we knew there was something special in the bag for the young lad of the dakota's.  

Leingang, of North Dakota, ended up having enough competition in tonight's 5000m to be pushed far enough so that he ended up setting the meet record.  A record that was set just two years ago by Edward "King" Cheserek, which was 14:25.74.  

Photo courtesy of Milesplit.com
Having beating 2nd place finisher Nicholas Elswick by over 17 seconds, Leingang ended up finishing at 14:11.61.  Elijah Armstrong & Jack Keelan finished 3rd and 4th, as they were also close to Chesereks' old meet record with finishing times of 14:28.97 and 14:29.20 respectively.  

With two more days of competetion, New Balance Outdoor Nationals is looking to be a fast meet.  After seeing two meet records broken of the first-two final events that were run, one can only wonder what we will see over the backend of the weekend.  There's still tons of great action to witness with exciting races in both the boy's and girl's relays, miles and sprints.

One key event to look out for will be the boy's 100m, where we'll keep a close eye on the fastest high school 100m runner ever over all conditions, Trayvon Bromell.  Bromell ran 9.99s last weekend at the Great Southwest meet, the first prep boy to ever break 10.  
  
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