Jan 28, 2014

Dartmouth's Geoghegan joins select company in Sub 4 club

Will Geoghegan, a senior at Dartmouth College broke the 4 minute barrier for the first time in the mile at the Terrier Invitational

Former Brunswick HS distance star Will Geoghegan now a senior at Dartmouth College joined a select group of runners as he broke the 4 minute mile at the Terrier Invitational at Boston University last Saturday. Geoghegan running in section 2 broke the tape in 3:58.04, and along the way set a Dartmouth College school record & New Ivy League record. Additionally he became the 5th Maine native under 4 minutes, and the 408th American.

Will ran a very smart race hitting the first quarter in 59, followed by a 60.3, to hit the halfway mark in 1:59.3. In the always tough 3rd quarter he maintained sub 4 pace with a 60 before finding another gear over the last 400m to clock a 58.7.

Previously this indoor season Geoghegan opened with a 4:05.75 to win the Dartmouth Relays Mile over Sam Chelanga, his time was just .04 off his personal best. The Dartmouth school record was previously set by another Maine native Sam Wilbur (4:02.26) in 1994, and this is also the fastest mile indoor or outdoor ever run by a Dartmouth College athlete. The only other sub 4 in school history was ironically by former Greely HS standout & current Saucony athlete Ben True who ran 3:59.99. Talk about Maine ruling the roost for the Big Green in the mile, they must be happy they have another star on the way in Gray New Gloucester's Will Shafer.

Additionally Will's mark broke the Ivy league record of 3:58.52 formerly held by Columbia's Kyle Merber

"It was always a goal on the horizon, I think every high school runner thinks about it" Geoghegan said when asked about when he started running track if he imagined breaking 4 minutes in the mile

What's next for the Dartmouth senior, "I have my eye on my 3K PR, it's 8:31 right now.", he said when talking about the goal on the horizon

Want a chance to relive the moment watch the race (via Flotrack)

Check out an interview with 5th Maine native to break 4 minutes in the mile (via Flotrack)

Results courtesy of Lancertiming.com

Section  2                                                         
  1 Geoghegan, Will              Dartmouth              3:58.04    
  2 Burkstrand, Travis           Team Usa Minnesota     4:00.15    
  3 Stilin, Joseph               Zap Fitness            4:01.72    
  4 Oakley, Julian               Providence             4:01.85    
  5 Allen, Robert                Umass Lowell           4:02.58    
  6 Guarino, Josh                Syracuse Chargers      4:03.41    
  7 Dillenbeck, Alex             Iowa State             4:03.96    
  8 Clorley, Daniel              Iona                   4:04.38    
  9 Palmer, Ford                 New Jersey-N           4:07.44    
 10 Van Ackeren, Trevor          New Jersey-N           4:10.74    
 11 Crits, Nick                  New Jersey-N           4:15.87

photo credit: ©www.kevinmorris.com

Maine Natives to break 4 minutes in the mile

list courtesy of http://mainerunning.weebly.com/ (Sam Wilbur)

3:56.25 Riley Masters, Bangor, Oklahoma 2013

3:56.95* Ben True, North Yarmouth, Dartmouth 2013 (standard conversion of 1.0058 x finishlynx timed 3:55.58 last 1600 of USATF 5000m) 3:59.99

3:57.28 Eric Nedeau, Kennebunk, Northeastern 1995

3:57.57 Matt Lane, Yarmouth, William & Mary 2002

3:58.04 Will Geoghegan, Brunswick, Dartmouth 2014

Will's Mile progression since junior year of high school

One Mile Run

2014 Indoor 3:58.04
2013 Indoor 4:05.71
2012 Indoor 4:11.78
2010 Outdoor 4:12.76
2010 Indoor 4:14.94
2009 Indoor 4:26.23

New England Indoor Mile History by Larry Newman

It was quite a day for New England collegiate milers as five athletes dipped under 4 minutes, 2 seconds at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational at Boston University. Leading the way was Dartmouth senior Will Geoghegan who ran 3:58.04 from the second-seeded heat to capture the overall mile title. The Brunswick, Maine native moves into the #7 spot on the all-time New England Intercollegiate list. Just missing breaking the 4-minute barrier was Yale’s James Shirvell, who ran 4:00.54, moving him to #17 on the indoor list. Dartmouth’s Steve Mangan (4:01.31), John Bleday (4:01.44) along with Providence’s Julian Oakley (4:01.85) were also under the 4:02 barrier.

Here is a look at the all-time top New England collegiate indoor mile performers. The list contains 31 individuals, believed to be everyone under 4:02.00 indoors. Providence College is represented by 12 athletes. Northeastern has four, Boston University and Dartmouth three, and Brown two. All other schools are represented by one athlete. The record is held by David McCarthy of Providence @ 3:55.75. The times span a 44-year period from 1970 thru 2014. The first New England collegiate athlete to break the 4-minute barrier indoors was Providence’s Frank Conway, who as a sophomore ran 3:58.32 during the 1988 indoor season. Conway eventually improved to 3:56.78 during his junior year, ranking him No.4 all-time New England. The New England Intercollegiate Division II indoor record was also set in the same meet today as UMass Lowell’s Robert Allen, running in the same heat as Geoghegan, ran 4:02.58. That eclipsed the previous Division II record of 4:03.43 by Stonehill’s Keith Gill. The New England Intercollegiate Division III record is held by Trinity’s Ryan Bak, who ran 4:01.45 in 2003. The fastest US born athlete on the list now is Dartmouth’s Geoghegan.

Larry Newman

New England Track

‘ following names indicates an international athlete

** = sophomore, * = junior, all others seniors

3:55.75 David McCarthy’ Providence-IRL ‘12

3:56.29 Andy Keith’ Providence-GBR ‘94

3:56.44 * Mark Carroll’ Providence-IRL ‘94

3:56.78 * Frank Conway’ Providence-IRL ‘89

3:57.78 * Hayden McLaren’ Providence-NZL ‘09

3:57.83 ** Rich Peters’ Boston University-GBR ‘12

3:58.04 Will Geoghegan Dartmouth ‘14

3:58.11 Eric Jenkins Northeastern ‘13

3:58.17 * Riley Masters Maine ‘11

3:58.57 Julian Matthews’ Providence-NZL ‘11

3:59.14 * David Proctor’ Boston University-GBR ‘07

3:59.33 ** Max Smith’ Providence-NZL ‘06

3:59.68 Erik Nedeau Northeastern ‘93

4:00.30 * Dominic Channon’ Providence-NZL ‘11

4:00.37 Neville Davey’ Brown-IRL ‘11

4:00.4 * Troy Billings Boston University ‘82

4:00.54 James Shirvell Yale ‘14

4:00.71 Brad Schlapak Northeastern ‘89

4:01.03 * Adam Dixon Harvard ‘83

4:01.1 Art Dulong Holy Cross ‘70

4:01.15 * Dylan Wykes’ Providence-CAN ‘04

4:01.31 Steve Mangan Dartmouth ‘14

4:01.32 Dan Wilson Connecticut ‘02

4:01.35 * Jeff Cullinane Northeastern ‘81

4:01.44 John Bleday Dartmouth ‘14

4:01.45 Ryan Bak Trinity ‘03

4:01.53 Mark Beeman Brandeis ‘85

4:01.53 Liam Reale’ Providence-IRL ‘05

4:01.85 Julian Oakley’ Providence-NZL ‘14

4:01.87 * Greg Whiteley Brown ‘88

4:01.95 ** Mike Scanlan Providence ‘89