TOP MOMENT OF THE MEET (2)
A lot of folks were holding their breath in anticipation of the boys individual race. Cole Sprout was seen on-site in uniform, but ended up not running. That narrowed the focus of attention a little to Justin Andrade, Isaac Green, and Tanner Norman.
But, at one mile, it was still anyone's race. Well, at least anyone's race out of a group of eight or ten guys at the front. That lead pack went through the mile at about 5:10, leaving a whole lot of bystanders scratching their heads. Where is this blazing speed we've been told about? Evidently, a lot of guys were expecting someone else to take the lead, and each regarded becoming an early sacrificial lamb as a tactical error.
Shortly after the mile (and free of the overwhelming majority of the quirky sections of the course), Tanner Norman made a surge. A few went with him at first, but his surge came with enough intensity to quickly thin out the ranks of contenders. By two miles, Isaac Green was the only one left within shouting distance.
Not only was Green within shouting distance, he was practically in Norman's back pocket, waiting for the kill. Both Norman and Green rolled through two miles at several seconds under 10 minutes.
Norman and Green continued to battle in close quarters through another half of a lap around Waneka Lake before Norman was finally gained some separation over the last half mile.
At the end, Norman's 15:39 tied Cerake Geberkidane's meet record from 2012 and beat Green by 11 seconds. For his part, Green improved his all-time #4 mark for the meet by nine seconds. Although Green lost a place in the meet records to Norman, he managed to maintain the #4 position overall by leadfrogging Adam Sinda.