3:55, 3:56, 3:57…
The clock at the end of the Sklar Family Track’s south straightaway on the University of Colorado campus counted down the final seconds of the men’s mile Friday night as CU runners Joe Klecker, Zach Perrin and Ben Saarel gave an all-out sprint over the final 100 meters.
Would one or more of the trio become the first ever to break the magical 4-minute mile barrier in Colorado?
A crowd of roughly 300 lining the new Mondo track, including Adam and Kara Goucher, Stephen Pifer, Jake Hurysz and other of CU’s past All Americans, cheered the runners home. After a “conservative” early pace of 61 seconds for the first 400 meters and 2:03 for 800, it seemed that yes, they were indeed going to go sub-4!
3:58, 3:59, 4:00…
The clock stopped at 4:01.49 for Saarel, a senior, with sophomores Klecker (4:01.72) and Perrin (4:02.27) a step behind.
So close, and exciting, and what a way to end the penultimate day of the Colorado Open track meet, which showcased the new track inside CU’s indoor football practice facility.
The meet finished up with a full day of action Saturday, attracting larger crowds and showing that the venue is going to be a place where head coach Mark Wetmore and meet director and CU assistant Casey Malone can host high-quality track meets for years to come.
“I didn’t feel good today,” Saarel, an engineering physics major who had been up late Thursday night studying, said after catching his breath. “I was tired, and am happy to qualify for NCAAs (indoor national championships).”
The NCAA gives a 6.5 second altitude adjustment for Boulder’s mile-high altitude, meaning all three runners likely qualified for the NCAA indoor championships. While they have all run fast times over 10,000 meters in cross country and 3000 or 5000 meters on the track, it is the mile that holds fast in the public’s imagination, going back to 1954, when Englishman Roger Bannister first ran a mile under 4 minutes.
“Absolutely, there is a mystique to the mile,” Saarel explained, before taking a cool-down with his teammates. “It comes from everyone having run the mile. A lot of people can relate to it.”
One of those is Wetmore. He became a track fan during the era of U.S. greats Jim Ryun and Marty Liquori, and then began coaching when Brits Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe took turns breaking the world record, part of a personality-driven era that included flying-maned New Zealander John Walker, the first man to break 3:50 for the mile.
“Ben, Joe and Zach exceeded my most optimistic expectations,” said Wetmore, explaining it was his runners’ first race since the November NCAA cross country championships. “Those are really good times.”
So was the mile turned in by sophomore Dani Jones. Paced by Olympic and World Championship medalist Jenny Simpson through splits of 70 seconds for the first 400 meters and 2:21 for 800 meters, Jones won the women’s race in 4:39.5, followed by Tabor Scholl (4:46.57) and Erin Clark (4:48.06).
While the women’s mile does not have the cachet of the men going for sub-4, Wetmore praised Jones’ race, saying it translates to roughly 4:32 with the NCAA altitude adjustment.
“That’s really rocking,” Wetmore said, adding that athletic director Rick George deserves props for seeing that the indoor practice facility, which includes the track, got built after years of delay. “Rick George had a shovel in the ground a year-and-a-half after he got here. He’s solely responsible for this. If it wasn’t for him, we’d be back up in Balch (Fieldhouse) running 4:20 (for the mile).”
After a brief conversation, Wetmore went to give feedback to his runners. Turning, he said, “Come back next year. You might see a 4-minute mile then.”
According to meet director Malone, the Colorado Open could be larger next year.
“It’s exciting to see people excited about a track meet, in the community of Boulder and also with the other colleges competing here for the first time,” he said. “Once people around the nation see these (mile) times in the morning, my phone is going to be ringing off the hook with people wanting to come race here.”
Contact Mike Sandrock at sandrockm@gmail.com.
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