Kavi Gibson after winning Manhattan
Kavi Gibson and his Cary Academy teammates travelled to Bronx, NY to compete at the prestigious Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational contested at Van Cortlandt Park. The event brings together many of the Northeast's top programs and individuals. The event is unique to where it contests the 4K distance instead of 5K where over 300 teams and 7000 athletes gather to compete. This years event was the 53rd running of the event.
Gibson last had won at Hare & Hounds Invitational in 14:50 at McAlpine Park and ranked 13th nationally in the MileSplit 50 rankings. He was scheduled to compete last weekend at Great American but unfortunately came up sick during the week and decided to hold out and focus on recovery, but would be recovered for this weeks Eastern States race.
The fastest time run in meet history was Edward Cheserek (NJ) who won in 11:55 in 2011. While not a commonly attending event from North Carolina teams or athletes, two former NC XC State Champions have competed here both in runner-up finishes with Cameron Ponder (Mt. Tabor) running 12:20 in 2017 and Jeremy Brown (Broughton) running 12:21 in 2015.
Other nationally ranked athletes in the field to compete with Gibson were #8 Marshall Vernon (LaSalle Academy, RI), #22 Nathan Lee (Brunswick School, CT), #24 Benjamin Berman (Bronx HS of Science, NY), and Honorable Mention Ryan Sykes (Horace Greely, NY). Skyes was runner-up at Great American last weekend in 14:44.
Gibson would go on to do as he's done all year long and win against the strong field by 8 seconds in 12:04.90 with Skyes coming in 2nd in 12:12. The mark will put him into the top 5 ever over 4000m in the events 53 year history.
To put the 4000m distance and time into perspective, runner-up Sykes was also runner-up at Great American where he was 5 seconds behind Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit, FL). We likely see Mantecon and Gibson in a battle up the hill at last weeks Great American in the 14:30s if Gibson were healthy. TullyRunners Speed Ratings were identical for Mantecon's Great American performance and Gibson's Manhattan performance grading out as 194.
Cary Academy also fared well as a team taking fourth overall. They'd score 251 points to finish behind Christian Brothers Academy (NJ), Bishop Hendricken (RI), and St. John's College HS (MD). Finn Miller took 23rd overall for the Chargers running 12:55 having a strong day as the teams #2 runner.
Gibson likely climbs well within the top 10 in the next COROS MileSplit 50 release and puts himself into contention for a regional and national meet title later this season whether that be Brooks or NXN later this season.
He'll compete in the TISAC Conference Championships this week at WakeMed before looking to win his first NCISAA 4A Individual title in two weeks at McAlpine.
