There is another thread on Scott Bauhs (1:01:30) and Luke jointly but I think a collegian running 1:01:36 deserves his own thread.
I posted some of this in that thread.
Just talked to Luke. He said the plan to run the half came up in the middle of the XC season.
He said 1:03 would have been considered a success so he was obviously very pleased. And he looked very good afterwards. He's known for going out very hard in 10,000ms and looking exhausted afterward but he remarked Oregon coach Vin Lananna was even surprised how well he looked after.
He had never done a road race of any kind before. So no 5ks even. However after turning his ankle he said he does do a lot of running on the roads in Oregon.
No desire to move up to the marathon immediately but coach Lananna had talked to him about the Hauser twins (Brad 5k Olympian, 27:58 10k and Brent) and Bob Kempainen (Lananna coached athlete who won 1996 Olympic Marathon Trials).
He has not ruled out running an indoor season and has indoor and outdoor eligibility left.
Anyone know the fastest halfs by a collegian?