I should have said national type meets...He seems to be great when running in Colorado
You should have said cross country. Rocco bombs out and underperforms in big cross country meets both at state and national level. Totally not the case in track and field.
Rocco did run well at Brooks XC, getting 10th. He hasn't done too well at NXN, though.
OK...please explain tactical. Tactical to win? As in go out slow and try and win with a lap left? Yes that has happened at Arcadia, but that's not the norm. I usually see the milers going out in around :60 and 3200 guys in :62-:63 on a yearly basis and have been going for maybe 25 years. I remember the days when Rich Gonzalez would be excited when 10 guys broke 9 in the 3200 and the last year I looked there was 69 in all races combined with 33 in one race. I remember the race where 9 girls broke 10. If the rain and wind hold off, the weather could be perfect with hopefully plenty of clouds to keep the sun off of the athletes. It's been over warm over the last month. This could be a window in time for FAST times and that's the tactic for Arcadia.
Because of the enormous field size and general unwillingness of most to be the sacrificial goat, the race always ends up slowing down around laps 5-7 as people try and position for a fast final 600 meters.
In fairness, even with the level of talent over the last few years, it is VERY hard (understatement) to run a sub-8:30 from the front.
Also,
1. Looks like my original post jinxed the weather. Whoops, sorry yall.
2. If the winning time in the 3200 is below 8:34, i'll eat my pants.
He's referring to the fact that, on occasion, the Invite 3200m has gone out slowly. Last year with the 5 sub-4 guys they went out at barely sub-9 pace. There's a few reasons--the race, of course known for the sheer volume of guys sub-9 as you noted, has now become a championship in and of itself. Maybe because of the FL/NXN division or because its at the right time for everyone coming off a winter base? The pace depends on if theres a few guys willing to push or if there is a pacer--in 2023, A. Sahlman brought it through 1600m in about 4:19ish and Birnbaum and co. finished in 8:34.
That being said, I think Jackson Spencer is the typa guy to push it and Mantecon, the Niwot guys, van Meerten all like a fast pace too. More importantly they can KICK off a fast pace, and there's a ton more sub-4:05/ sub-8:50 guys like Lenn, Seitz, Burns, XC guys like Horton... I think we'll see a whole host of guys attached at a 4:17ish opener and many in the low 8:30s this year if the weather cooperates.
Awesome to see Spencer and Mantecon battle it out once more. Wonderful race, maybe overestimated the top-end depth sub-8:40 (or rather its a testament to Spencer's excellence!)--but the sheer volume sub-8:50 was crazy. Every year the Invite 3200 gets better. Terrific racing by these young guns and props to Rich Gonzalez for another great meet.
If they call him "Spencer Jackson" one more time, I am punching the screen
Arcadia scours the nation for best athletes, but hires first guy they find in local frozen food section as PA announcer.
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Blame his parents. He has a first name for a last name so they decided to give him a last name for a first name. Makes sense. Guarantee this is happening this kid’s entire life.
Spencer BURIED Mantecon that last 200. Mantecon is no slouch.. one of the best kicks I’ve seen from a HS boy in a 3200. Crazy wheels, definitely think he is in sub 8:25 shape in a better paced race.
Easily, could see sub 8:20, he led practically the whole thing and his last 200 was in 26 or so (I believe it was 27 low but he let up the last 10 meters).
There have been a bunch of guys who I think has a shot at a low 8:20s but you don't see many races where they run a sub 4:15 first 1600. These races always seem to open in 4:20...
Impressive run with taking it out early....Niwot had 3 guys under 8:48 without Culpepper who always seems to either miss big meets or run bad at them
Wrong, Culpepper never had any intention of running this meet. I agree with earlier poster- that kid does know how to win, he is fun to watch, pretty form. Jude looks good running too, other Niwot top guys not so much. Will see if any of them have results after HS with how hard they train now- not sure there is much room for improvement
Of course not sure what the injury mechanism was or where he’s hurting. Both would be very relevant. As others have said stress reactions/fracture wouldn’t be from a couple days from soccer. However, he very well could have strained a calf and the MRI showed something completely asymptomatic and different. Here’s a study showing that 43% of collegiate runners had signs of bone marrow edema (early stress changes) even when asymptomatic.
Signs of a tibial stress reaction were found on MRI in 43% of the 21 asymptomatic college distance runners in this study. The presence of these changes was not found to be a predictor of future tibial stress reactions or stre...
Jackson Spencer’s 8:31.80 for 3200 meters converts to approximately 8:34.79 for a full two-mile race. German Fernandez ran 8:34.40 in 2008 for a full two miles basically by himself without competition in the last half of the race. Drew Griffith ran the full 2 Miles in 8:31.46, in 2024 which was the No. 2 time ever by an American HS student and the #1 time in a ‘high school only race’ and was exactly 2 seconds short of Lukas Verzbica’s (who was foreign born and raised) 8:29.46 on June 4, 2011, which was in a mix level race with professionals at Pre. I am sure that Sam Ruthe from NZ still at 16 years old in HS could beat all of their times easily if he runs in a full two mile race this year! But of course, he’s injured now………. Jackson’s kick was absolutely devastating and he crushed the field easily. To run 5 seconds faster than Webb did at only 16, is simply staggering!!!
Incredible stuff. Can't wait to see what Spencer's got left in his senior season, and I can't believe Mantecon is only a junior. Their race at Balboa was one for the ages and I'm looking forward to seeing them continue to duel over the coming years.
400M: Quincy Wilsom 45:48 broke the meet record that was set by Michael Norman.
Wilson continues to impress. A shame that he will be running the NCAA system. I wish him all the best- he will need it.
He was impressive, but if I were picking one Bullis runner as an mvp it would be the freshman Mya Adderell. She was on fire and was more exciting to watch this time than Quincy (which is saying something). think she won every time she stepped on the track.
Yes. They have 2 that can run 4:05 regularly and another that can run sub 4:10 and another that’s between 4:10-4:15. Rocco and Quinn should be 4:02 or better by Summer. They haven’t really trained for speed yet since their season just started.
