Track and Field Blogs - Justin Kopunek

Coming into the 2007-2008 season, Texas Senior Leonel Manzano had already won NCAA titles in the 1,500m, the Mile and qualified for the World Championships by placing 2nd at the US Champs in the 1,500. In doing so, he defeated eventual 1,500m and 5,000m World Champion Bernard Lagat. That is an intimidating resume which put him in a different stratosphere in the eyes of most other college milers. During his senior campaign, Manzano was undefeated amongst collegians, including relays. That is virtually unheard of. Like all reigns, however, King Leo's had to come to an end, as he moved on to the professional ranks. As fate would have it, there are a multitude of contenders vying for the crown.

As awe-inspiring as it was watching Manzano race, with his trademark kick, it was significantly less exhilarating when you know who is going to win, because he won every time. Watching his races, it seemed as though the other competitors knew this too and conceded to the fact that Manzano would win and they were racing for second. Each race seemed like deja vu. Manzano took the race out in a modest pace while the field bunched up behind him and waited for his ferocious kick. Nobody would ever make a move no matter what the pace was, with a few exceptions (Bobby Curtis' brief stint in the lead of the NCAA DMR comes to mind). It became frustrating as a spectator. As Lets Run put it after Penn Relays last year, "we know [Manzano's] better than you. Yes, he's got a better kick than you. So why not pass him when he's running slow the first 1,300, or at least try to? It looked like there was an imaginary line extended outside of Manzano's shoulder which prevented anyone from even trying to pass him."

Well, the man with the imaginary line is gone and supremacy in the 1,500, Mile, DMR and 4xMile are up for grabs. Manzano left the door wide open and it seems as though every miler in the NCAA is running a fast as they can to be the first one through it. Last indoor season, 11 men broke 4 minutes with only 3 under 3:59 and none under 3:58. The year prior, only 4 athletes went sub-4 with Manzano being the only one under 3:59. As of February 14th of this year, 11 have already gone under 4 minutes. 3 have run 3:59 (Jacob Boone, Andrew Wheating, and Mark Davidson), 1 at 3:58 (Justin Switzer), a remarkable 6 at 3:57 (Shane Knoll, Dorian Ulrey, David McCarthy, Hayden McLaren, Lee Emanuel and Matt Centrowitz), and German Fernandez is the DI leader at 3:56.50. The astonishing thing is that of these 11 sub-4 efforts, McLaren is the only one who was also under 4 last winter. This means, for one, that many of these harriers are having breakthrough seasons. Also, all the returning sub-4 guys from last year, AJ Acosta, Brandon Bethke (who have both been running unattached this season), Anderw Bumbalough, Kyle Perry, Jack Bolas, and John Kosgei, all have the chops to do it again in 2009. Add to the list the 2008 NCAA Mile runner-up Jake Morse, Kyle Miller, Jeff See, David Proctor, Austin Abbott, Michael Coe (who ran 3:41 1,500 at a small meet this season) and over a dozen guys who have run in the 4:00-4:01 range already this winter. This all makes for a very interesting post season in the mile.

For the first time in a while, there is no dominating force over 4 laps (8 indoors...who knows how many at UW) in the NCAA. At College Station next month, the mile could be taken by a long list of runners. This can be said of the Distance Medley as well. Arkansas, Oregon, Texas, Cal, and Providence, among others, can each field formidable teams. With the lack of a single frontrunner, the anticipation circling around these events is palpable. Is the absence of Leo Manzano the reason for this? There is an abundance of fast time being run in the Mile and part of that may be the subconscious knowledge that without Manzano, an NCAA title is a much greater possibility. Not necessarily because he was running untouchable times, but because he was such a skilled racer who was overwhelmingly revered by his competitors. Think of a large (5'5") fish in a pond with amazing hunting and scavenging skills. He eats all the food in sight, leaving little for the other fish. If you move that fish to the ocean, the other fish in the pond suddenly see there is all this food in the pond for them to go after and they begin to grow bigger and stronger.

Is this analogy the only explanation for these fast mile times? No. There have been fast times across many events this season. Shawn Forrest ran a 13:37 and it was practically ignored because Galen Rupp and Sam Chelanga broke the collegiate record in the same race. There is not any single reason why so many athletes are running fast right now, but it is an exciting time in college track and field regardless. Whether or not Manzano's departure helped in producing faster times in the mile, one thing is certain, there is a vacancy on the throne that many runners are eager to fill.

**Update** This article was written in February, so some developements have happened in the mile since. Most notably, Fernandez broke the CR in 3:55.02. Also, the sub-4 total has reached 14. The new additions are Galen Rupp (3:57.86), Austin Abbott (3:58.23), and Craig Miller (3:59.09).