Leo Daschbach Breaks 4:00 In Mile; Supreme 56.81 Last Lap Allows Him To Become 11th US Boy To Do So
By LetsRun.com
May 23, 2020
With an incredible 56.81 last lap, Leo Daschbach a senior from Highland High School (Gilbert, Ariz.) became the 11th high school boy to break 4:00 in the mile, clocking 3:59.54 to win the Quarantine Clasico on Saturday night at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif. He joins Jim Ryun, Lukas Verzbicas and Michael Slagowski as the only athletes to accomplish the feat in a high school-only race.
Dasbach celebrates after the race with everyone else in the right. Photo courtesy Reed Breuer
Daschbach, who will attend the University of Washington in the fall, was in fifth place (fourth racer) at 809 meters, which he hit in 2:03.03, but Daschbach produced a stellar final 800 of 1:56.52 to write his name into the history books. A 59.71 penultimate lap put Daschbach at 3:02.74 at the bell, just behind leader Thomas Boyden of Skyline (Utah) High School (4:05 1600, 8:50 3200; Stanford commit). Daschbach needed a 57.25 or faster for his last lap to make history.
Fortunately, Daschbach was full of run, taking the lead early in the final lap and blasting away from the field over the final 200 meters. It was Daschbach versus the clock on the home straight, and Daschbach prevailed, stopping it at 3:59.54 to take over four seconds off his PR (he ran 4:03.7 in a time trial on April 11). Cole Sprout of Valor Christian (Colo.) High School (4:04 mile/8:40 3200, 3rd ’18 NXN, 7th ’19 NXN, Stanford commit) wound up second in 4:02.42 and Boyden third in 4:04.50, both men setting personal bests. *Results and splits *Race video
Analysis below.
Quick Take: What a kick
High school sub-4:00s are more common than they used to be — until 2015, only five boys had ever done it, and now six boys have done it in the last six years. But they’re still rare, and Daschbach’s was the first since Reed Brown did it in 2017. With a lap to go, it looked as if tonight’s opportunity was going to slip away, but Daschbach — who ran 1:49.9 in an 800 time trial last month — used a monstrous 56.81 last lap to break the barrier.
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- Final turn
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- Final straight
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- The finish
Daschbach deserves a ton of credit. For any high schooler to break 4:00 is incredibly impressive, but to do it in a season like the spring of 2020 is remarkable. No one would have blamed him for stopping training once the coronavirus derailed the spring track season and halted most racing opportunities. But Daschbach kept grinding it out, training for an opportunity that may have never come. Daschbach seized it tonight, and he’ll remember this night as long as he lives.
Looks like somebody forgot what racing feels like. Your latest sub-4 miler: pic.twitter.com/9MZtUHPkbR
— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) May 24, 2020
Quick Take: Daschbach Expands the HS Sub-4:00 Club to an Elite Eleven
For the first time in history, a sub-4:00 mile is not enough to put you in the top 10 on the all-time US high school list. Daschbach comes in at #9, bumping Marty Liquori out of the top 10.
3:53.43 Alan Webb, 2001
3:55.3 Jim Ryun, 1965
3:57.81i Drew Hunter, 2016
3:59.30 Reed Brown, 2017
3:59.38 Matthew Maton, 2015
3:59.38 Grant Fisher, 2015
3:59.4 Tim Danielson, 1966
3:59.53 Michael Slagowski, 2016
3:59.54 Leo Daschbach, 2020
3:59.71 Lukas Verzbicas, 2011
3:59.8 Marty Liquori, 1967
Quick Take: Credit to all the athletes for persevering this spring
We gave Daschbach props above for continuing to train hard despite the uncertain season in front of him, which ultimately enabled him to run a big pb tonight. Well Daschbach wasn’t the only guy who PR’d — in fact, all eight finishers tonight clocked personal bests. Congrats to all eight for persevering through a tough situation.
Talk about the sub-4 on our world famous fan forum / messageboard.
MB: LEO DASCHBACH JOINS THE HS SUB 4 CLUB – 56.84 last lap gets him 3:59.54!!
Pre-Race messageboard talk:
- A bunch of HSer are going to try to go sub-4 in the mile on Saturday (May 23)
- ALLRED WILL GO 3:57 TONIGHT
- Arizona’s HSer Leo Daschbach Runs 4:03.7 Full Mile
- Leo Daschbach runs sub-1:50…SOLO
- HSer Jace Aschbrenner runs 8:44.93 for 3,200 in time trial
All photos including the ones in the tweets are via Reed Breuer.