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The boys Elite 5K runs at 10:35pm tomorrow..
In 2012 Thomas Graham (Cary Academy) ran a 14:11.66 in a college field at Raleigh Relays shattering Mohammed Abushouk's (Cary) State Record of 14:41.47 on the track. Four weeks later Graham went to Payton Jordan in California and bettered his PR narrowly to 14:11.23. No other NC boy has ever broken 14:30 on the track.
Below is the field Lane will go up against, which is likely the best assembled high school 5K field ever assembled in history as it is rarely run outside of New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
Top Boys In The Elite 5K:
Connor Lane (8th Foot Locker 2016)
Reed Brown (2016 Foot Locker National Champion).
Noah Affolder (6th Foot Locker 2016)
Seth Hirsch (4th NXN 2016, 3rd Foot Locker 2016)
Cooper Teare (16th NXN 2016)
Daniel Viegra (22nd Foot Locker 2016)
Alex Maier (5th @ NXN and Foot Locker)
Daniel Bernal (10th NXN 2016)
Graham holds a 3200 PR of 8:56 form his senior year, while Lane holds a PR from last week of 8:53 for the full 2 mile indoors, Graham's 3200 was outdoors. So 14:11.23 is certainly not out of reach.
Check out the Full Breakdown by MileSplit XC.
The fitness is certainly there for Lane to break Graham's State Record, but there will be no pacer, so the boys will have to make it a fast race by sharing the workload. If the pace goes out and Lane is able to close of a fast pace, the state record can be his at the end of the day. MileSplit National posted a debate the other date on if these boys would break the 14 minute mark tomorrow night. It is March, but these boys are fit, as proven by their performances last week at New Balance Indoor Nationals.