Gerry Lindgren's Legendary 47-Year-Old High School National Record Survives Scare From Lukas Verzbicas And Edward Cheserek

By LetsRun.com
March 13, 2011

Gery Lindgren's legendary 47-year-old high school two mile record lives on for another year, as the mark survived an assault today by Lithuanian-born Lukas Verzbicas and Kenyan-born Edward Cheserek at the 2011 New Balance Indoor Nationals. Lindgren's record mark of 8:40.0h was set at San Francisco's Cow Palace in 1964 in a race where Lindgren led most of the race against two-mile world record holder Ron Clarke of Australia on a 160-yard, 11-lap-to-the-mile board track. Today, Verzbicas ran 8:40.70, pulling away from Cheserek on the final lap, as Cheserek ran 8:42.66. At 3,000 (8:09.57), Verzbicas had a .39 lead on Cheserek, but Verzbicas hammered home at 28.47 pace for the final 218+ meters to just miss getting the record.

While one 47-year-old record survived today, two 37-year-old records did not, as Cheserek's 8:42.66 shatters the previous sophomore indoor national record of 8:55.80 that belonged to Rudy Chapa, as well as bettering the outdoor sophomore record of 8:50.6 that belonged to Eric Hulst. Both Chapa and Hulst set their records back in 1974.

Full results and more info appear below.

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More: LRC MB Thread: Gerry Lindgren 8:40 indoors *LRC MB Lukas V. 8:40.7!! *LRC MB So close *Running Times Q&A With Lindgren About His 8:40.0 Note: This article incorrectly implies the record was set in a 16-lap race. *Eric Hulst Page *Eric Hulst Feature *New Balance Indoor Results

Delta Timing Group - Contractor License 
           2011 New Balance Indoor Nationals - 3/11/2011 to 3/13/2011           
                               New Balance Armory                               
                                  New York, NY                                  
 
Event 11  Boys 2 Mile Run
===============================================================================         
    National: N 8:40.00  2/15/1964   Gerry Lindgren, Rogers, Spokane, W         
        Meet: M 8:45.19  3/11/2001   Alan Webb, South Lakes, Reston, VA         
      Armory: A 8:43.24  2/12/2011   Lukas Verzbicas, Sandburg, Orland          
    Freshman: F 8:57.55  3/15/2009   Lukas Verzbicas, Linc-Way,New Leno         
   Sophomore: O 8:55.80  3/21/1974   Rudy Chapa, Hammond, IN                    
      Junior: J 8:52.94  3/12/2000   Dathan Ritzenhein, Rockford, MI            
      Senior: S 8:40.00  2/15/1964   Gerry Lindgren, Rogers, Spokane, W         
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points   3000m     
===============================================================================         
Finals                                                                          
  1 Lukas Verzbicas           11 Orland Hills, IL       8:40.70A  10    8:09.57 
  2 Edward Cheserek           13 Newark, NJ             8:42.66A   8    8:09.86 
  3 Shayne Collins            11 Mansfield, MA          9:11.12    6    8:37.86 
  4 Kikanae Punyua            11 Ellicott City, MD      9:11.47    5    8:36.87 
  5 Dustin Wilson             12 Philadelphia, PA       9:12.16    4    8:34.00 
  6 Dayton McVicker           11 Fairmont, WV           9:16.29    3    8:42.31 
  7 John Murray               11 Shrewsbury, MA         9:16.71    2    8:35.46 
  8 Khari Bowen               11 Philadelphia, PA       9:18.80    1    8:45.64 
  9 Connor Rog                12 Fairfield, CT          9:20.77   8:45.06       
 10 Paul Szulewski            11 Williamstown, NJ       9:22.67   8:49.63       
 11 Liam Hillery              11 Greenville, RI         9:24.66   8:49.58       
 12 Collin Leibold            11 Falls Church, VA       9:24.83   8:49.00       
 13 Collin Frost              11 Randolph, NJ           9:25.48   8:49.58       
 14 Tim Tyler                 11 Mt. Pleasant, SC       9:27.31   8:54.13       
 15 Cole Townsend             11 Buffalo, NY            9:27.53   8:52.73       
 16 David Kilgore             11 Melbourne, FL          9:29.57   8:52.97       
 17 Adam Visokay              12 Charlottesville, VA    9:30.44   8:55.49       
 18 Chernet Sisay             12 Brookline, MA          9:36.57   8:58.92       
 19 Mitch Mallory             11 Raleigh, NC            9:36.96   8:56.31       
 20 Thomas Madden             13 Front Royal, VA        9:38.76   8:58.27       
 21 David Melley              11 Newton, MA             9:39.77   9:01.66       
 22 Thomas Harrison           11 Washington, DC         9:50.11   9:12.63       
 23 Ryan Walsh                11 Providence, RI         9:52.35   9:12.50              

 

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