9-Minute Barrier Broken For Deuce?
One thing is certain here in the Bay State. We definitely have our share of quality, national-level distance runners. Arlington's Ryan Oosting is the defending outdoor 5K national titlist. Recent cross-country champion Tristan Shelgren of St. John's Prep and Brookline's Lucas Aramburu both qualified for this Saturday's Foot Locker Nationals by going 1-3 at the regionals and Newton North's Andrew Mah was a Nike Cross Nationals' qualifier. We're thinking with at least three of these guys in one race, perhaps the state meet or maybe New England's, a sub nine-minute effort is possible in the two mile. As a sophomore, Oosting clocked 9:05 for two miles on the outdoor surface. Mah's best is 9:15, although he did 9:10 for 3,200m to take the New England outdoor title. Shelgren has done 9:10. Based on the cross-country season he has had this year, we're thinking he could improve on that time substantially this year.