The dream season for UVA junior Henry Wynne continued last Friday evening, as the NCAA mile champ opened up his outdoor campaign with a decisive 1500 meter win over a star studded field at the Florida Relays. His 3:38.35 clocking obliterated a 33 year old school record, finally knocking John Hinton's 3:40.24 (1983) down a peg after so many great Cavalier milers have just missed that mark in the last decade. It was an emphatic run by Wynne, and one that probably even surprised his coaches a bit, as to run so fast in March is a tremendous sign for what could follow later this spring and summer. The only possible negative about the whole evening is that Wynne JUST missed the Olympic Trials standard of 3:38.00, a mark that he will undoubtedly notch in the coming months.
Looking ahead, that 3:38.00 OT standard as well as the 13:37.44 (Kris Herdt, 1987) 5,000 meter school record have to be in the sights of Wynne and the coaching staff as the tall, lanky CT native (he ran right around 9:00 for 2 miles in high school) is certainly more of a mile/5K runner than a true middle distance specialist. Even more importantly, the series of victories that he is racking up must be immense fuel for his confidence and his ability to look at any runner in the NCAA and feel like he can beat them. Honestly, Oregon's Edward Cheserek, owner of more than a dozen NCAA titles, looks like the only runner in the entire NCAA right now that is "better" than Wynne, and even he should take notice as his time could soon come too.
On the horizon, UVA will host two home meets this weekend...a small, quad meet with Maryland, Penn & Columbia on Friday afternoon and the larger Lou Onesty Invitational on Saturday. The weather for both looks chilly and windy, certainly not very conducive to fast marks, but nevertheless area fans should be excited to see the Hoos compete at home for the first time this year. Rumors are that Henry will toe the line in the 5K on Saturday evening along with most of the Cavalier distance crew, and although a crack at the 13:37 school record is probably too much to ask for at this small meet, it will still be nice to see the NCAA mile champ race on his home track.
Both meets are free and open to the public. The Friday Quad will run from 6:00-8:30pm and Saturday's Invite will run from 3:00-9:00pm. The aforementioned Men's 5K is at 8:00pm.
Looking ahead, that 3:38.00 OT standard as well as the 13:37.44 (Kris Herdt, 1987) 5,000 meter school record have to be in the sights of Wynne and the coaching staff as the tall, lanky CT native (he ran right around 9:00 for 2 miles in high school) is certainly more of a mile/5K runner than a true middle distance specialist. Even more importantly, the series of victories that he is racking up must be immense fuel for his confidence and his ability to look at any runner in the NCAA and feel like he can beat them. Honestly, Oregon's Edward Cheserek, owner of more than a dozen NCAA titles, looks like the only runner in the entire NCAA right now that is "better" than Wynne, and even he should take notice as his time could soon come too.
On the horizon, UVA will host two home meets this weekend...a small, quad meet with Maryland, Penn & Columbia on Friday afternoon and the larger Lou Onesty Invitational on Saturday. The weather for both looks chilly and windy, certainly not very conducive to fast marks, but nevertheless area fans should be excited to see the Hoos compete at home for the first time this year. Rumors are that Henry will toe the line in the 5K on Saturday evening along with most of the Cavalier distance crew, and although a crack at the 13:37 school record is probably too much to ask for at this small meet, it will still be nice to see the NCAA mile champ race on his home track.
Both meets are free and open to the public. The Friday Quad will run from 6:00-8:30pm and Saturday's Invite will run from 3:00-9:00pm. The aforementioned Men's 5K is at 8:00pm.
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