Last week, 11 collegians broke 3:40 in a single heat at Bryan Clay. What's the deepest 1500 in NCAA history?

I don't know if there has been faster heats in the past. What I do know is that the fastest 1500 m belongs to New Mexico's Josh Kerr who ran a 3:35.01. Although he has the best 1500 m time set back in 2018, his counterparts might not have had as fast of runs as the athletes in the latest Bryan Clay Invitational.

There is no way that 11 collegians broke 3:40 in a single race before.

Eleven college guys under 3:40 is unreal.
And it's amazing that only two of them were seniors.

I wonder if the course was short.

If the meet isn't itself NCAA (but just colllegians competing in their spare time at an invitational), should it count?

Next maybe we'll have "college aged runners" independent of whether they are doing the USA college farce athlete thing?

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instituions of higher learning wrote:

If the meet isn't itself NCAA (but just colllegians competing in their spare time at an invitational), should it count?

Next maybe we'll have "college aged runners" independent of whether they are doing the USA college farce athlete thing?

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Yes.

It's pretty pathetic to think that each of these 11 are likely taking away scholarships from more deserving academic students, such as children of Hollywood elites who have to cheat on exams and lie about rowing participation just to get in.

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Felicitious statement wrote:

It's pretty pathetic to think that each of these 11 are likely taking away scholarships from more deserving academic students, such as children of Hollywood elites who have to cheat on exams and lie about rowing participation just to get in.

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rojo wrote: Has that ever happened before? Anyone recall super deep NCAA 1500 heats from the past?

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The 1984 NCAA 1500m Final was a deep race, with the top 7 breaking 3:39 and 12th place finishing in 3:41.20.

1. Joaquim Cruz, Oregon, 3:36.48; 2. Marcus O'Sullivan, Villanova, 3:37.40; 3. Dub Myers, Oregon, 3:37.94; 4. Paul Donovan, Arkansas, 3:38.31; 5. Paul Larkins, Oklahoma State, 3:38.44; 6. Don Volkey, Wisconsin, 3:38.59; 7. Ashley Johnson, Western Kentucky, 3:38.66; 8. Kevin King, Georgetown, 3:39.19; 9. Espen Borge, Wyoming, 3:40.46; 10. Mike Parkinson, UCLA, 3:41.04; 11. Paul Rugut, Southern Methodist, 3:41.10; 12. Tom Maloney, Arkansas, 3:41.20

Swarthmore Last Chance meet in 2012 had mostly college aged (ish) guys in the top 12 (all under 3:40) :

https://www.tfrrs.org/results/26260/1663517/Swarthmore_College_Last_Chance_Meet/Men_1500m_Run_Jim_Tuppeny/

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cotton shirt wrote:

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rojo wrote: Has that ever happened before? Anyone recall super deep NCAA 1500 heats from the past?

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I don't have sufficient detail on my database to distinguish collegiate races from other races, so a simple answer to your question is not possible. however...

I found 247 outdoor 1500m races in which 10th place ran under 3:40

10 of those races took place in the United States

the earliest occasion in the US was the 1984 Olympic final where Steve Scott was 10th in 3:39.86, so not a collegiate race.

of the others it is easy to establish that they are not collegiate races because they include folk like Asbel Kiprop (KEN), Balázs Tölgyesi (HUN), etc. of the others, the closest I can find was at the Adidas Boost Boston Games on 17 Jul 2016 which is not an all-collegiate race but I think it has 9 collegians in it (Will Leer was 18th), 8 of whom went under 3:40.

mark name / (country) - college
1. 3:35.82 Collins Cheboi (KEN)
2. 3:35.95 Nick Willis (NZL) - Michigan
3. 3:36.05 Ben True (USA) - Dartmouth College
4. 3:36.53 Hamish Carson (NZL)
5. 3:36.64 Jake Wightman (ENG)
6. 3:37.36 Julian Matthews (NZL) - Providence College
7. 3:37.52 Robby Andrews (USA) - Virginia
8. 3:37.55 Nathan Brannen (CAN) - Michigan
9. 3:38.04 Lee Emanuel (ENG) - New Mexico
10. 3:39.14 Peter Callahan (USA) - Princeton
11. 3:39.33 Cristian Soratos (USA) - Montana State

cheers.

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cotton shirt wrote:

the closest I can find was at the Adidas Boost Boston Games on 17 Jul 2016 which is not an all-collegiate race but I think it has 9 collegians in it (Will Leer was 18th), 8 of whom went under 3:40.

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Star wrote:

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cotton shirt wrote:

the closest I can find was at the Adidas Boost Boston Games on 17 Jul 2016 which is not an all-collegiate race but I think it has 9 collegians in it (Will Leer was 18th), 8 of whom went under 3:40.

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18th place?
That must be multiple heats with placing listed by time over all heats.
That's too many people on the start line for a short yet high quality race.
Possible, though.

What's the largest number of finishers anyone's ever seen in a 1500m race won in under 3:40?

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It's nice to see a college race with pacers. Mt Sac was notorious for not letting rabbits in the races, destroying the hopes and dreams of many potentially great runners.

Here's one - without a rabbit, all-collegiate (of course), where you didn't score unless you ran 3:38...

2005 NCAA Outdoor1,500-meter final:

1. Leonel Manzano, Texas,3:37.13;
2. Bryan Lindsay, Brigham Young, 3:38.31;
3.Sean Duffy, American, 3:38.46;
4. Adam Perkins, Arkansas, 3:38.54;
5. Shane Stroup, Florida, 3:38.57;
6. Chris Lukezic, Georgetown, 3:38.58;
7. SeanJefferson, Indiana, 3:38.91;
8. Tom Lancashire, FloridaSt., 3:38.92.

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rojo wrote:

Often times on Monday mornings, we take a deep look at results to try to find interesting things to say in our WTW recap. This week we noticed how deep the top heat of the the 1500 was at Bryan Clay. 11 collegians broke 3:40 in the top heat.

Has that ever happened before? Anyone recall super deep NCAA 1500 heats from the past?

Bryan Clay Heat 10 Results
1 Oliver Hoare JR - Wisconsin 3:37.20
2 Carlos Villarreal JR - Arizona 3:37.22
3 Yared Nuguse SO - Notre Dame 3:38.32
4 William Paulson SR - Arizona State 3:38.35
5 Sam Worley SO - Texas 3:38.64
6 Waleed Suliman SO - Ole Miss 3:38.72
7 Geordie Beamish JR - Northern Arizona 3:39.15
8 Luis Grijalva SO - Northern Arizona 3:39.52
9 Theo Quax FR - Northern Arizona 3:39.84
10 Cameron Griffith SR - Arkansas 3:39.86
11 Spencer Brown JR - Georgetown 3:39.94
12 Drew Piazza - Nike OTC Elite 3:40.16
13 Hassan Mead- NIKE OTC ELITE3:40.29
14 Kevin Robertson - Saint-Laurent Select3:42.71 10

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Lee Emanuel was long past college by 2016 as well. Soratos turned pro in 2015.
Julian Matthews ran for Auburn for a year and then finished at Providence in 2013.
Peter Callahan graduated Princeton in 2013.

So, to sum up, not a single member of that race was a collegian at the time.

This race was awesome. Leo led them out and then just smoked them with his finish in the last 200.

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byumiler wrote:

Here's one - without a rabbit, all-collegiate (of course), where you didn't score unless you ran 3:38...

2005 NCAA Outdoor1,500-meter final:

1. Leonel Manzano, Texas,3:37.13;
2. Bryan Lindsay, Brigham Young, 3:38.31;
3.Sean Duffy, American, 3:38.46;
4. Adam Perkins, Arkansas, 3:38.54;
5. Shane Stroup, Florida, 3:38.57;
6. Chris Lukezic, Georgetown, 3:38.58;
7. SeanJefferson, Indiana, 3:38.91;
8. Tom Lancashire, FloridaSt., 3:38.92.

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