OWEN POWELL IS THAT GUY THO. He has that killer instinct. Did you see that final 400? He got me giggling and sh*t on that final 4. Haven't seen talent like that since my buddy phil back in 72'. What a runner OWEN POWELL is.
It was a more entertaining race than 3 years ago when Sahlman ran 8:34.99, Leo Young 8:35.72, and those two finished 60 meters clear of third place—only 8 broke 8:50 that year, by the way.
Happy downvoting!
Whether it was more entertaining than any other Arcadia 3200m is subjective and if you feel it was better than another one, good for you. That only eight broke 8:50 that year? You're moving the goal posts. Breaking 9:00 is what pulls the common 9:04 guy to Arcadia.
OWEN POWELL IS THAT GUY THO. He has that killer instinct. Did you see that final 400? He got me giggling and sh*t on that final 4. Haven't seen talent like that since my buddy phil back in 72'. What a runner OWEN POWELL is.
You can’t be talking about someone else glazing when you’re glazing for some high school kid like that.
Honestly, it was a bit disappointing to watch. This wasn't a National Championship, so who cares about winning this race. But let's talk about the Newbury Park / Brosnan era - those guys wouldn't have settled for a slow race like this. They always brought such intensity and never hesitated to push the pace. That's what made them so thrilling to watch, that Prefontaine-esque spirit they embodied!
What???
Its an effing race, the point is too WIN the race, beat the other competitors. Powell did what it took to WIN.
A time trial is where you run for time and who cares anyways.
I don't know if I'd call it the weakest HS record. It's strong in its own right. The equivalent of a 13:31 5000m or a 3:40.9/3:57 mile according to the World Athletics rankings. Plus, Verzbicas would go on to win the U20 World Triathlon Champs later that summer. All of this in the days before supershoes is mighty impressive seeing how no other HS runner had bettered the 5000m equivalent before them and only Ryun/Webb had bettered the 1500m equivalent before supershoes (which we know to be absolute monsters in their own right)
Plus, the 2-mile isn't nearly as revered as the mile so most high schoolers have no reason to attack that record as opposed to trying to run sub-4. It's just a fun distance to throw in the mix before they step to the 5000m in college.
Honestly, it was a bit disappointing to watch. This wasn't a National Championship, so who cares about winning this race. But let's talk about the Newbury Park / Brosnan era - those guys wouldn't have settled for a slow race like this. They always brought such intensity and never hesitated to push the pace. That's what made them so thrilling to watch, that Prefontaine-esque spirit they embodied!
What???
Its an effing race, the point is too WIN the race, beat the other competitors. Powell did what it took to WIN.
A time trial is where you run for time and who cares anyways.
And disappointing race. 4 sub four guys with no balls
Whether it was more entertaining than any other Arcadia 3200m is subjective and if you feel it was better than another one, good for you. That only eight broke 8:50 that year? You're moving the goal posts. Breaking 9:00 is what pulls the common 9:04 guy to Arcadia.
Well of course it’s subjective, I didn’t think I needed to acknowledge that I was stating my opinion. And 23 kids broke 9:00 in the invite race that year vs. 29 yesterday, so what’s your point? I thought the main complaint was that it wasn’t as fast at the front end as people were hoping for.
And disappointing race. 4 sub four guys with no balls
Not for the guy who WON the race.
Own Powell had a fantastic win. Absolutely incredible performance, right? But let's be real, no one in this race showed the kind of guts, determinationIt or balls. Arcadia is not a championship race!!!!
These kids cheat their way to sub 4 with carbon shoes, yet they have underdeveloped aerobic development so they can't "fake" their way through 8 laps the way they can for 4 laps.
These kids cheat their way to sub 4 with carbon shoes, yet they have underdeveloped aerobic development so they can't "fake" their way through 8 laps the way they can for 4 laps.
I'm dead serious.
You're spot on. The latest shoes can shave off 4 seconds per mile effortlessly!
I think It's super fair if people are a bit critical of what the 'product' is here. For decades, Rich Gonzalez has been marketing this as "The Home of National Records". But is that what we saw last night? (Obviously we saw Jane get the NR. But her 15:13 mark is still more impressive. Based on her indoor season, this record was pretty much a guarantee).
But why didn't the boys get the same treatment? Did he think that Sam Ruthe, OP or TK weren’t able to challenge the LV 2 Mile record? They for sure could have!
This had all the ingredients of a perfect meet. You've got 5 sub-4 milers in the field. You've got the location, conditions volunteers and infrastructure to host a nearly perfect track meet. You've got the backpacks, the reputation and the hype. The kids are getting fit FOR this race specifically!
But is a 37 person field with no pacer or wavelights actually conducive to setting national records? Are we really just banking on someone going for it?
This race is confusing because it feels like it’s so close to being this incredible thing. But in 2025 It doesn’t know what it wants to be.
99% of the decisions Rich makes leading up to the gun going off are perfect, but then stacking the field past the absolute brim is just an absolutely bizarre decision to me.
Why no pacer? The people in charge of this meet obviously want the kids to run fast - If they didn’t - then they would have the in-stadium announcer constantly negging them for going slow.
After two laps he literally said Well we’re definitely running under TEN minute pace.
HEY RICH! We’re at the 1 yard-line here!! Cap the field at 25, and get them a pacer through 1600m and the rest will take care of itself!
For so long this race had the reputation of this where you race if you wanna break 9. There was an era where competitors bought into idea that and everyone in the race wanted to be a part of the total tally. This is why the races started to get so large. It’s an optics thing.
But in the last few years it’s just turned into something else. With the current talent pool - we’re so far past that 9:00 barrier. But the meet is still stuck in its own tradition.
If they don’t innovate, someone else is gonna come along and make a meet to compete with it.
Trust me, every kid in that 3200 who wasn't Owen Powell was probably fuming last night. Who wants to fly across the country for a lane four traffic jam into 400m all out sprint?
Side note: Why do the mile invites always have less than 10 runners? It looks weird. Just make it 12-16. It’ll be better.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.