Dustin Horter of Lakota East and Ben Ewert (#3) had strong showings at Vanderbilt.
Thoughts on the Vanderbilt Invitational (Nashville, Tennessee)
Dustin Horter
2/4/17
It was a nice day in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University. The almost brand new facility was filled with people and competitors. Everyone knew the field for the Mile was going to be competitive. The field included Brodey Hasty, Taylor Vroon, Ben Ewert, Jackson Vroon, and myself. All of us were capable of running sub 4:20 or even lower, and I highly anticipated this race to be a tough one.
As the gun went off, I almost instantly jumped to the front. I wanted to make the pace honest from the start, so I made sure we went out in about 62-63. I was feeling smooth through the next 400 as well, however, our pace dropped significantly. We came through 800 meters in 2:11 which came as a shock. To get to where we all wanted to be, we were going to have to negative split the race. It was evident that there was a shift in pace, and as I expected, Hasty jumped to the front and took command. He was still catchable, but had taken control along with Taylor Vroon. I honestly was not prepared for the jump in pace that we made, and I fell back to about 7th with 400m to go. When we got to the official bell lap, I felt a sudden surge of adrenaline. The field moved to about 200m to go and I was feeling better than I ever have before. I was able to catch three of my competitors in the last 200m, and with about 75m to go, I ended up passing Ben Ewert. Fulfilling expectations, the top five were all around 4:17 for a full mile.
Dustin Horter pushed the pace from the start to ensure that a fast race would be possible.
Overall, I felt good about the race. Even though I didn't win, this race was about getting my legs under me this winter and seeing what I could do. Considering it was my first race of the indoor season, I was happy with the results. My goal was to attempt to hit my outdoor PR of 4:14 and I hit a 4:15.3 1600m. I was satisfied, my parents were happy, and my coach boasted that he told me I could run that fast this early. All parties were content, and I am ready to move on to my next race!
Dustin Horter felt smooth and relaxed in his first race - a good sign of things to come.