On August 7th eleven athletes will make a historic attempt to break 4:00 in the mile. This would make them the first ever to accomplish this great feat on RI soil. Seven of those athletes have already surpassed the 4:00 mark, including two recent additions, Daniel Clark and Cory Leslie.
Daniel Clark graduated from Lumen Christi Catholic High School in Michigan where he was a division 3 state champion and all-time record holder in the 800m. He earned multiple All-State selections and held PRs of 1:54.2 in the 800m, 4:16.2 in the 1,600m, and 15:46.7 for 5,000m cross country.
Daniel then entered the University of Notre Dame where he earned several All-Big East accolades. His most notable performances came as a senior where he finished 2nd in the Big East Indoor Championships with a mile time of 4:07.02 and then at the Big East Outdoor Championships where he placed third in the 1,500m with a time of 3:45.11. He was also a member of the 4x1600m relay team that finished first at the Drake Relays.
Most recently, Daniel competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He ran a blazing 3:42.85 in the semi-finals of the 1,500m. He missed the finals by only a tenth of a second. His most recent 1,500m PR includes a 3:39.11 and with a 3:58.67 Mile PR, Daniel is poised to run well below 4:00.
Joining Daniel will be Cory Leslie. Cory also competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 3,000m Steeplechase. Cory finished 9th with a time of 8:33.94. A recent graduate of The Ohio State University, Cory earned All-American honors in the Steeplechase, DMR, and the mile. He is the Ohio State record holder in the indoor 800m (1:48.11), indoor 1000m (2:22.48), Indoor mile (3:56.85) as well as being a member of the school record DMR and 4x800m relays. Cory finished 3rd in the 3,000m Steeplechase in the most recent NCAA Championships.
Cory has a laundry list of accolades from his time at Ohio State, not limited to his stunning PRs. Prior to competing at Ohio State, Cory was a 2008 Ohio high school state champion in the 800 and the mile. His mile time of 4:08.41 was only .38 seconds off the Ohio high school record. He was also a state champion at the 2007 OHSAA Division II Cross Country Championship.
These two athletes bring tremendous depth to a field of athletes which boasts seven sub 4:00 milers. As the field grows, the burning question no longer is who will break 4:00 on August 7th, but how many?