Ben Saarel Arcadia Champ - 8:45 with 55 last lap, 4:14 second mile.

Any of these seniors not know whre they're heading to college next year yet? Our coach has full ride waiting.

ConfusedHSer wrote:

Where are the results on that?

i think a .pdf is supposed to load, but i keep getting a file retrieving error below the story.

That was easy wrote:

Pushers 2.0?

What about the sophomore who led early? Nice future.

In addition to his 9:04, there were two sophs in the next fastest section who ran 9:05 and 9:06.

Refresh your page and try again. It is event #34.

or

http://www.prepcaltrack.com/wp-contentdata/uploads/2013/04/2013ArcadiaFullResults.pdf

I ran with Thom Hunt this morning and he asked "Did anybody break my meet record?" Guess not. Thom ran 8:42.3 in 1976.

Here is an excerpt from a dystat article in 2003:

Former champs on hand

Two highly decorated distance runners from year’s past were seen milling around during Arcadia. Thom Hunt, Arcadia two mile/3200m record holder (1976), now a coach at his old school, Patrick Henry in San Diego, attended, but was unable to stay for the 3200m. Chomping down on a huge cheeseburger, he reflected on the state of distance running and his record run. Surprisingly, it was the first time he had been back to Arcadia since his record run.

Jeff Nelson, two mile record holder(8:36.3 in 1979) was also in attendance, and another famed high school runner, Alan Webb, was proudly showing off Jeff's autograph "to a fellow high school record holder."

Thom Hunt

Arcadia 3200m record holder (8:42.30) - his record withstood the onslaught. [photo by Mike Leary ]

RQ: Can you talk about the Arcadia record?

Thom Hunt: Well, this is what I tell people about that. The thing that I was doing was trying to win the race. The year before I was second. When you finish second, you work harder the next year to come back and win. That’s what really fuels the marks. It’s the competition. It’s all about winning.

RQ: Was Eric Hulst second in that race?

Hunt: Yes. There were seven guys under 9 minutes. So you didn’t slack off or you were going to get your rear kicked.

RQ: The record was set when? 1976?

Hunt: Yeah, 1976.

Solinsky was dismayed when he was told the finish clock time. He had missed Thom Hunt's Arcadia Invitational record by less than a second.

RQ: Why do you think it’s been so long for the resurgence?

Hunt: Well, for a while there, I don’t think they were training as much as we used to train. I wasn’t really involved in it so I’m not really the best opinion. I’ve only been back in the game for about five years. I know that the top top people are training pretty hard. But on a whole, when you look at the masses, people aren’t training as much as they used to train.

RQ: What kind of training are you talking about?

Hunt: I’m just talking about, in terms of just overall bulk. The amount that is being trained. Not the specifics like who does what workout and who does what other workouts. Just in general, more people ran more. More people trained harder I think in the 70’s than they were there for a while. Your top kids seem to be training at that level, but not as many kids train at that level.

And it’s a process. I know now that I’m at Patrick Henry coaching, we’ve slowly built up over the last few years the amount that they can do. You can’t just throw them to the wolves and all of the sudden have them train. But when I came in, they weren’t able to handle the training load. They are slowly, but surely building so they can do more and more and the program is getting more successful.

RQ: The mileage you were doing, how much are we talking about?

Hunt: In high school, I probably started at 50 miles a week and then ended at 75 or something like that. Nothing that’s like “oh my gosh” type mileage. It’s not about only running miles. It’s not about the mileage. It is about the volume of good quality training. It's also training year round and also really prepping and preparing and doing what is necessary to be successful at that top level.

RQ: Will you be watching the race tonight?

Hunt: Actually not. My kids are here during the day. I’ll be heading back down. This is the first time been here since I ran here which is interesting. I’ve got three little kids so my priorities are I’ve got to go home and see them. If I don’t, I’ll miss them two days in a row and that kind of exceeds my level of commitment there.

RQ: So if this record goes down tonight, what will you think?

Hunt: Well, it should. Eventually, they have to. It’s like my indoor mile record with Alan Webb a couple of years ago. It was going to happen. Somebody at that level was going to get that. Some of these things are pretty amazing that they’ve stood around as long as they have. It will go. If not tonight, it ill go some other time soon. You know guys are shooting for it and will get together and go after it.

That was easy wrote:

Was it that fast for BM?

I wrote In the other thread that I thought he was shocked that Saarel would not come back to him. He won't let him get a lead on him when they meet again.

Great finish.

Saarel was pulling away from BM in the last 200. It's not a if Montoya spotted him too much room and ran out of space to catch up. Saarel was just faster on that day.

2chainz wrote:

[quote]That was easy wrote:

Saarel was pulling away from BM in the last 200. It's not a if Montoya spotted him too much room and ran out of space to catch up. Saarel was just faster on that day.

We ran against Saarel twice so far this year. He dumped a 54 high on us in the last lap like it was nothing. I think he and his coach decided to put an end to the no speed at the end stuff. Like BM used in CC against Ben. Its over now! Seemed to us Ben did not even start racing till the last 400. I hear he is a way sharp individual he must have a dang good coach.Totally different runner from a few months ago.

I know someone that lives in Park City. As a reality check I've asked her if she knows who this kid is. She isn't a runner. Haven't heard back from her yet.

Splits actually 4:34 and 4:11. No joke.

Check on full splits here:

http://www.prepcaltrack.com/wp-contentdata/uploads/2013/04/2013ArcadiaFullResults.pdf

road rashed wrote:

Saarel heading to Colorado next year

Zach Perrin and Adam Peterman are also going to CU. They are the top two in Montana this year (along with Troy Fraley). Both 8:57 this Saturday, and probably both well suited to NCAA distances.

Imagine having three kids signed who all go sub nine in one race...

My Park City resident friend has never heard of him. Needs to step up his game to gain Alan Webb-like recognizability.

sc42 wrote:

road rashed wrote:

Saarel heading to Colorado next year

Zach Perrin and Adam Peterman are also going to CU. They are the top two in Montana this year (along with Troy Fraley). Both 8:57 this Saturday, and probably both well suited to NCAA distances.

Imagine having three kids signed who all go sub nine in one race...

You know CU lands marquee runners here and there, but nothing like say Stanford, Oregon or as of late Oklahoma State yet they are STILL strong contenders. Imagine with a recruiting class like these 3 guys! CU will be downright SCARY.

UUU wrote:

You know CU lands marquee runners here and there, but nothing like say Stanford, Oregon or as of late Oklahoma State yet they are STILL strong contenders. Imagine with a recruiting class like these 3 guys! CU will be downright SCARY.

They have an extremely young squad right now, too. While they probably won't beat OSU for the XC title next fall, they'll be right up there challenging for top two, then the next couple years watch out!

Your friend must not read the local papers. Ben has been a star runner in Utah since his sophmore year when he won the first of his 3 state championships in cross-country. He has made steady improvement over the past 3 years but is very humble about his talent. He has also been able to jump into some workouts with Salazar's group when they are in town and has held his own from what I heard. He made a good choice in going to Colorado. I am sure he will continue to impress.

I'm a OSU fan but I definitely agree with you, especially when OSU graduate 3 all americans after next xc. Should be an interesting battle the next few years.

joh wrote:

Your friend must not read the local papers. Ben has been a star runner in Utah since his sophmore year when he won the first of his 3 state championships in cross-country. He has made steady improvement over the past 3 years but is very humble about his talent. He has also been able to jump into some workouts with Salazar's group when they are in town and has held his own from what I heard. He made a good choice in going to Colorado. I am sure he will continue to impress.

What surprises me is that there are not more Ben Saarel's & Brian Schrader's (Flagstaff, AZ).

Kids born & raised at altitude.

Utah & Colorado should be absolutely dominating HS running, the way Eldoret, Kenya does.

Thoughts??????????

Since it was short of two miles, a sub nine is not that big of a deal.

sc42 wrote:

Imagine having three kids signed who all go sub nine in one race...

With less than 3 million total population, Utah holds its own against any other state... Puskedra, Rohtinsky, Perry, Smyth, Nye, Pilkington - just a few of the All-Americans out of Utah in the last few years. A lot of good ladies, too - Shea Martinez 800/1 mile double winner at Arcadia!