Lutkenhaus, others to Run US 1k HS Record Attempt
1k High School Record Breaking Attempt
Friday, around 8 PM at Justin Northwest Texan Stadium
I think one thing we can all agree on is that the 1k US High School record attempt at the Justin Northwest Texan Invitational this coming Friday should be exciting. There should definitely be more odd distance events like this.
The current US High School Outdoor record is held by Marcus Reilly of Massachusetts, who broke the record last June in Montreal, Canada in a time of 1:21.81. Reilly is currently a freshman at Michigan.
Without a doubt, the class of the field and prohibitive favorite is Cooper Lutkenhaus. Having just run an insane 1:46.86 at the Millrose Games, Lutkenhaus is in a class of his own. That’s saying a lot considering the Texas Gatorade XC Runner of the Year is in the field, Caden Leonard of Southlake Carroll, along with Noah Strohman of Holliday.
All of the being said, I believe this race will still be interesting. From a tactical standpoint, Lutkenhaus likes to sit in a fast field then blow past everyone with his blazing final 200m speed. To break the record, he’s not going to be able to do this. He is going to have to rely on his own pacing to get through 800m in the goal 1:53. I suspect his true goal pace for 800m is closer to 1:51, which really limits who can keep up.
(Editor’s Note: I wrote this before he officially withdrew)
Let’s start with Leonard. He just ran a 4:04.02 indoor mile at the BU Valentine’s Invitational. He hasn’t run a competitive 800m since supposedly middle school, but he’s a pacing machine. His splits from BU are all mid to high 30’s. Does he have the speed to stay in this? If this were a 2k, he’d be the prohibitive favorite, but it’s not. But, as we’ve seen, he’s a gamer and I suspect he will find a way to keep himself in the mix.
Now let’s take a look at Noah Strohman from Holliday. Strohman doesn’t seem to have raced since NXN. He didn’t have a great run (for his standard) in Portland, but he is the defending 3A state champion in the 800, 1600, 3200 and Cross Country. He does have a few 1:53’s to his name, however, and has plenty of ‘Big Race’ experience. Like Leonard, this guy just does nothing but win, so I expect a great fight out of him.
Colby Huntress of Austin Anderson seems to have the most speed behind Lutkenhaus, having gone 1:52 a couple of times last year. He really didn’t peak until the summer due to coming out of basketball season injured. He also fell off people’s radar this fall after getting hospitalized during the heart of the XC season. But he has seemed to rally back, garnering sixth in 5A XC and running 1:53.15 indoor, taking the Missouri Distance Festival a few weeks ago.
Lovejoy’s Caden Gary is potentially the most interesting entry in this field. He was second at State in the 5A 1600 a year ago in 4:08 but also has 1:53 speed. He ran the mile last week in 4:19, but was out the entire cross-country season. It will be interesting to see if he has the fitness to stay towards the front at this point of his return.
Wylie’s Zach Brumfield has run 1:54.15 in the 800m, but hasn’t broken 1:58 yet this season. He will need a huge effort to stay with this field.
There’s also Liam Bengtsson of Byron Nelson who set a PR of 1:56.83 at the North Texas Winter 3200/800 in January and Devin Muaina of Lovejoy, who was a late add. Muaina has gone as low as 1:53.71 and qualified for the state meet at 800m in 5A a year ago.
The bottom line is this race should have an electric atmosphere and every kid there will get a new 1k PR. My personal opinion is that Lutkenhaus makes this look easy and goes high 2:18 or 2:19. I base that on him going 1:51/0:27 or 0:28. His final 200m at Millrose was 26.88. Even if he goes 55/55 for 1:50, he’s only got to go 31.8 to break the record. The week prior at the Red Raider Invite he went 54/56.
Next week I will give a full report of the event.