Really? The results I am looking at have Yorks running 3:54.24 for his split and Oregon getting the baton 0.7 seconds behind Washington at the final exchange.
http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1indoor16/d1m_res.htm
'Run fast early, run slow late' doesn't really add up to me in this scenario. Yorks splits 3:54 (not much slower than 3:53) after leading the entire thing and going out in 55 for the first quarter. How would you explain Cheserek's 7:40 he ran back on February 20th or the 13:35 he ran on February 12th? That was really F'ing fast and earlier than Yorks mile......
It's comical that people think a hard mile would legitimately impact a performance two weeks later when they have had the opportunity to rest/taper. 10K-yes, 5K-maybe, 3K-not really, 1 mile-no.
Again Yorks and the rest of the field got beat because Cheserek is on a different level than every other collegiate distance runner, and what they did or did not run two weeks ago had anything to do with that.