Young achieves feat at highest elevation for any American athlete to produce sub-4 performance with exceptional effort at Lumberjack Team Challenge at Lawrence Walkup Skydome

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photo courtesy of Wingfoot Finish

Nico Young has run a faster indoor mile in his collegiate career.

But no American athlete has produced a sub-4 mile at higher elevation than the Northern Arizona standout did Friday at the Lumberjack Team Challenge at the Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.

Young triumphed in 3 minutes, 57.33 seconds on the 300-meter flat track near 7,000 feet elevation, improving from 4:02.89 in 2022 at the same meet.

RESULTS

Young’s career-best indoor mile is 3:56.0 from the University of Washington Invitational at the Dempsey facility in Seattle.

Although former Oregon star Edward Cheserek, representing Kenya, ran 3:54.73 indoors in 2018, he achieved the feat at 5,300 feet elevation in Albuquerque, N.M.

Americans Ryan Hill, Will Leer, Cory Leslie and Craig Miller have also achieved sub-4 performances in Albuquerque, but none of them ran faster than Young did Friday. Pat Casey, another American athlete, ran 3:59.76 at a Montana State dual meet in 2011 at 4,800 feet elevation in Bozeman.

Australian competitor Oliver Hoare ran 3:56.8 in an outdoor mile in 2020 in Boulder, Colo., which is 5,360 feet elevation, with American athlete and On Athletics Club teammate Joe Klecker clocking 3:58.4.

Brigham Young’s Aidan Troutner became the first athlete to produce a sub-4 indoor mile at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, clocking 3:59.20 at 4,553 feet elevation Jan. 13 in Provo, Utah.

Doug Padilla achieved the first sub-4 performance on Utah soil by clocking 3:57.23 for the outdoor mile in 1983 in Provo. Casey Clinger and Lucas Bons have also produced sub-4 outdoor efforts for BYU running in Provo.

Although it was a 1,500-meter race, perhaps a better comparison of Young’s performance by a fellow American competitor would be the 3:37.8 effort achieved by Jim Ryun at the 1968 Olympic Games at 7,500 feet elevation in Mexico City.

Ryun’s mark would convert to approximately a 3:54.8 mile.

Young’s performance converts approximately to a 3:48.71 mile at sea level.