BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, January 31–February 01 — Clearly on an historic roll, North Carolina senior Ethan Strand, who set the Collegiate Record in the 3000 with his 7:30.15 in December, smashed the mile CR with a stunning 3:48.32 effort on the fast BU track to win at the Terrier Classic.
With a mandate to cover the first 809m in 1:54, pacesetter Hazem Miawad led the field through splits of 56.82 (409m) and 1:54.81 (809) before dropping just before 1000. All the while, Strand ran in 5th behind Colin Sahlman of Northern Arizona. After the 1000 mark, the Tar Heel senior moved past Sahlman into 3rd, and the top 3 raced away from the rest, led by German Robert Farken and Britain’s Adam Fogg. They passed 1209 in 2:52.31 and the Collegiate Record of 3:50.39 set by Oregon’s Cooper Teare in ’21 seemed doomed.
At the bell, Strand launched his sprint. He passed Fogg on the turn and Farken at the head of the backstretch, then sprinted to the finish, closing with a 27.10 final 200. Along the way he snagged another record, his 3:33.41 at 1500 slicing 1.31 off the CR that Washington’s Sam Tanner ran in ’21. Farken (3:49.45) edged Fogg (3:49.85) for 2nd. Sahlman, in 6th, moved to No. 6 among U.S. collegians with his 3:52.82.
Strand, who now ranks No. 3 on the all-time world list indoors, says he wasn’t targeting the record. “The two pros up front obviously wanted the world standard [3:50.00], so they weren’t going to let it go slow. I just hung tough and tried to win the race today.”
He admitted, “I was definitely a lot more happy after breaking the 3K because that was the finish to almost the perfect [XC] season for me. And this was kind of kicking off the season. I’m obviously super happy. It’s not something I quite expected today. I think the 3K was just a little more special.”
The other men’s distance events (all on Saturday) produced notable times. France’s Jimmy Gressier won the 5000 in 13:00.54, beating countryman Romain Legendre of Adams State (13:02.08) and New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, whose 13:04.92 made him No. 3 collegian ever. In the 3000, Arthur Gervais of France ran 7:38.90 to edge Anthony Camerieri’s 7:39.13.
The Friday women’s events saw Elise Cranny begin her big weekend double by dominating the mile, moving to No. 4 among Americans all-time with her 4:20.83, after a 4:02.85 split at 1500. Behind her…
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