A group of high school milers achieved historic performances in the Quarantine Clasico: Sub-4 Attempt, closing out this chapter of their careers with a bang.
On Saturday, May 23, Leo Daschbach became the 11th high school runner in history to break four minutes in the mile. The senior from Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona, won the mile race in 3:59.54.
“I didn’t realize I was going to run sub-four until I literally leaned across the line and the clock still said 59 [seconds],” Daschbach told MileSplit. “I still can’t believe it. That’s amazing.”
The small competition was organized after high school seasons were canceled as a safety precaution in response to the global coronavirus outbreak. The race took place at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, a rural community 20 miles east of Sacramento, California; COVID-19 restrictions have started to relax in select California counties.
🚨 HISTORY 🚨
Leo Daschbach (AZ) runs 3:59.54 to become the 11th high school boy to break the four-minute barrier in the mile.
Daschbach ran a stellar last 400 meters, closing in 56.81 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/InfPUW5nED
Daschbach is the first high school runner since 2017 to break the four-minute barrier. Prior to the Quarantine Clasico, Daschbach’s personal best was 4:03.98 from the 2019 Brooks PR Invitational. He is now the fastest miler in Arizona history, according to AZ Central.
Closing in 56.81 seconds for the last 400 meters, the University of Washington commit led five runners under 4:09.
Behind Daschbach, Cole Sprout was the runner-up with a time of 4:02.42. The senior from Highlands Ranch, Colorado will be attending Stanford University in the fall. Thomas Boyden—another Stanford commit who traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete—finished third in 4:04.50. Including two pacers, nine runners raced the mile on the track.
Watch Leo Daschbach become the 11th high schooler in history to run a sub-4 mile.
According to MileSplit, the race was organized by Matt Strangio, a senior at Jesuit High School in Sacramento. The California state champion attempted to break four minutes in a time trial in April but fell 3.57 seconds short of his goal. For his second attempt, Strangio invited more runners to join him. While a shin injury prevented him from competing on Saturday, Strangio supported the athletes as the event’s meet director.
The race took place nine days after California relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in 18 counties (including El Dorado County) across the state. In stage 2 of California’s four-stage reopening plan, small group gatherings are permitted for recreation as long as residents maintain six feet between each other, according to El Dorado County’s COVID-19 information page.
From: Runner’s World US
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