Athletes Are On The Hunt For Sub-9 At The VA Showcase

At The VA Showcase, an elite field of some of the nation's top distance runners will have their sights set on a sub-9:00 performance in the 3,200m.

Jan 9, 2024 by Cory Mull

Athletes Are On The Hunt For Sub-9 At The VA Showcase

A healthy dose of North Carolina State University recruits will lead the top section of the boys 3,200m at The VA Showcase next Saturday.

Four athletes in all -- including Foot Locker Nationals top 20 finisher Gabriel Schmid and Nike Cross Nationals qualifier Noah Valyo -- will lead the contingent of future Wolfpack men.

The goal? A sub-9 minute performance for the distance.

Jan 12-14, 5:30 PM UTC

2024 VA Showcase

If recent results are of any indication, it just might be Schmid who acquires it.

The Orange High School senior currently owns the U.S. No. 1 time of 9:04.30, while four of the top five athletes at the distance in the U.S. are scheduled to run in the field.

Valyo, a future teammate from Raleigh, is the defending champion from his effort of 9:12 last year. Schmid, Valyo, Tyler Surface and Will Venable are among the top 12 runners in the field and have all signed with NC State.

While Schmid has yet to eclipse nine minutes for his career, he got very close last year, netting times of 9:03 at Arcadia and 9:09 for the full two miles at Nike Indoor Nationals.

Valyo, a senior at Athens Drive, ran 9:12 at this meet in 2023 clocked a blistering best of 14:40 for 5K over the cross country season at NXR Southeast, qualifying for NXN.

Most likely to succeed? That just might be Berkley Nance, the fourth-place finisher from Foot Locker Nationals who will be debuting here.

Nance ran 13:58 for 3-miles at Woodbridge and 14:43 for 5K over the fall. He clocked a time of 9:12 for 3,200m as a junior outdoors and 9:07 outdoors for two miles.

Shane Murphy and Henry Koike-Sieira, teammates from Manhattan Hunter College (NY), are among the strong contenders. Both Ivy-league bound -- to Pennsylvania and Columbia, respectively -- they own PRs of 9:03 and 9:11.

This will be all dependent on pace.

Jack Anstrom, a senior from Seaforth, is also a viable challenger. He ran 9:02 for 3,200m last outdoor season and is coming off an impressive cross country season where he clocked a PR of 14:59.70.

NAME	SCHOOL	SEED TIME
Jack Anstrom	Seaforth (NC)	9:02.61
Gabriel Schmid	Orange (NC)	9:03.06
Shane Murphy	Manhattan Hunter College (NY)	9:03.30
Ethan Green	Arlington (NY)	9:04.44
Noah Valyo	Raleigh Athens Drive (NC)	9:06.00
Berkley Nance	Mills Godwin (VA)	9:08.78
James Partlow	Governor Thomas Johnson (MD)	9:10.00
Ty Blair	Loudoun Valley	9:11.35
Henry Koike-Sieira	Manhattan Hunter College (NY)	9:11.82
Nayan Kasperowski	South County (VA)	9:12.01
Tyler Surface	North Raleigh Christian (NC)	9:16.00
Will Venable	Raleigh Broughton (NC)	9:16.09