By Chris Chavez
May 27, 2023
LOS ANGELES – It’s not every day that the 18th place finisher in a race steals the headlines but Newbury Park High School senior (CA) Lex Young highlighted the first night of the LA Grand Prix by breaking the U.S. high school 5000m record in 13:34.96. U.S. road 5K champion Abdihamid Nur won the race in a personal best of 13:05.17 and locked up his World Championship qualifying standard.
What you need to know:
– The previous high school record of 13:37.30 was set just three weeks ago by Connor Burns at Sound Running’s Track Fest. He broke Galen Rupp’s record of 13:37.91, which had stood since 2004.
– This should not come as much of a surprise after Young ran 13:43.95 last year. He didn’t have the best start to the year after finishing the 2022 cross-country season injured and then finishing third in the 5000m at New Balance Nationals Indoor in 14:00.64. Young has raced sparingly this outdoor season but took a big step forward with a 13:44.83 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 14. He called his shot and publicly announced he was going after Burns’ record in the leadup to Friday night’s race.
What he said after the race:
What told him in training that this was possible:
“The times kept on getting faster and the effort kept on feeling easier, where I knew with the training progressing in the same way, I’d be ready by now.”
On racing a majority of the race solo:
“I knew it would be pretty darn fast but I thought there would be more people in that 13:30-13:40 range. So when everyone was still together at a mile and I was dropping off, I had to take a couple of breaths and think, ‘I’m falling off the back but it’s not because I’m dying but if I keep on going with them, I don’t want to dig myself down into a deeper hole.’ They were going really fast. They went like 4:17, which is faster than I need to go for the record. I wanted to be a bit more conservative.”
On what it’s like being a high school star in the social media era, where performances are under a bigger microscope and open to more criticism:
“When I produce the content, it motivates other people to try and do what I’m doing. Ultimately that is so worth it. People come up to me and they tell me how much it’s inspired them and that means so much. No matter how much people will hate or people who comment and doubt, I will always keep producing the content because I know how much it can help people as other people’s content has helped me.”
Other highlights from the LA Grand Prix:
– Emily Lipari won the women’s 5000m in 15:08.87 for her second-best career performance. She closed with a 69.34-second final lap.
– Team New Balance Boston’s Emily Mackay won the women’s 1500m in a personal best of 4:07.03. She spoke about what she’s learned in her first full year as a pro.
– Kieran Lumb notched a personal best of 3:35.99 to outkick NACAC champion Eric Holt in the men’s 1500m. He discussed his decision to turn professional and sign with On.
– Under Armour Mission Run Baltimore’s Ahmed Jaziri won the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:17.64 – just barely missing the World Championships qualifying standard.
– Former Colorado Buff Madie Boreman took 10 seconds off her personal best to win the women’s steeplechase in 9:22.99. She is now being coached by Julie Benson and could be a contender for the U.S. team.
– Craig Engels won his first race of the year with a 1:47.32 in the men’s 800m. He took three months off due to a torn calf and Achilles injury.
– Laurie Barton of the Brooks Beasts won the women’s 800m in 2:02.54.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
