Boys Recap: Lutkenhaus, Le'Ezra Brown (110 Hurdles), Brayden Wiliams (100) Break Meet Records

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Logan Hannigan-Downs photo

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

RENTON, Wash. — Cooper Lutkenhaus demolished Michael Granville's long-standing high school national record in the 800 meters Sunday, running 1:46.26 to take home the win at the Brooks PR Invitational.

Granville's record of 1:46.45 had stood since 1996, making it one of the oldest records in high school track. 

Lutkenhaus, a sophomore at Justin Northwest TX, gave a lot of credit to Granville, saying that even though he now holds the record, Granville's performance may have been more impressive. Granville broke the record at the CIF Track and Field Championships in a race that he won by nearly eight seconds.

“I think he still kind of owns that record,” Lutkenhaus said. “You know, we gotta get a bunch of guys to come together to try to break it. He was able to do it on his own.”

Lutkenhaus recorded negative splits in the race, which he said was not the plan. He had been hoping to come through the 400 mark at around 52 seconds, but he came through at 53.59.

“I didn’t panic whenever I hit the line,” Lutkenhaus said. “I just knew if I wanted a shot at that record, I’d have to go sooner than what I was planning on… the thing about these major competition races is you have to make split-second decisions and just stick with it.”

Owen Powell (Mercer Island WA) and Tiago Socarras (Miami Havana FL) stuck with Lutkenhaus for the entire race. Powell looked as if he was gearing up for a kick with about 200 meters left, but he couldn't muster the strength to pass Lutkenhaus.

“I was pretty sure that it was gonna take a national record to win this race,” Powell said. “I tried to put myself in it and tried to do that… I mean, I wanted to win, that’s always what I try to do, but second’s never really felt this good.”

Powell ran a massive personal best of 1:46.63 for second, lowering his Washington all-time best by two seconds and moving to No. 6 in prep history. Socarras, who ran a 4:04.31 mile on Thursday at the HOKA Festival of Miles, finished third in 1:47.60, good for US#3 behind Lutkenhaus and Powell. He said he could still feel Thursday’s race in his legs.

Juan Gonzalez, meanwhile, torched his competition in the boys 2 mile, closing in 56.65 seconds to run 8:47.06, a new US#1 (not counting converted 3,200 meter times). 

Gonzalez, a senior at Fremont NE, said he had originally been hoping to run something faster — he ran 8:47.01 in the 3,200 last year at the RunningLane Track Championships, so this performance was only a slight improvement — but he knew early on that it wasn’t going to happen. Ben Crane (Winnetka IL) led the pack through the halfway point in 4:29, and Gonzalez knew then that he was going to have to put up a fierce kick.

When Gonzalez broke free in the back stretch, he said he felt “free.”

“It’s kind of a scary feeling,” Gonzalez said. “You’re kind of worried about getting got. “But, you know, it’s also super inspiring to go out there and put your best out there.”

Gonzalez is nearing the end of an illustrious career at Fremont and is about to start a new one at the University of Oregon. He said this race represented “everything I worked for,” and he hopes it will give him some momentum for his years as a Duck.

“This is just another step towards what I want for the rest of my running career,” Gonzalez said. “I’m excited to keep going out there and have races like that.”

Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll TX) finished three seconds behind Gonzalez in 8:50.22. He also closed in under 60 seconds (59.71). Joe Barrett (Lincroft NJ) took third in 8:52.18, arguably his best performance since winning the NXR Northeast Regional last November. Barrett struggled through the winter with low iron levels, and he had been spotty throughout the spring, but he was able to put together one last solid performance in what has been a dominant high school career overall. He’ll head to North Carolina in the fall.

TJ Hansen (Freeland MI) and Corbin Coombs (Las Cruces NM) capped off the high school distance events with their sixth matchup this year in the mile. Hansen ran 4:01.23 for the win, and Coombs ran 4:03.72 to take second. Hansen’s performance gave him a 4-2 edge over Coombs for the year, and it allowed him to end his high school career with a win.

“It’s a weird feeling being done,” Hansen said. “Looking back, freshman year, I never even thought I would be at this meet. To come away and win it, it’s a weird but fulfilling feeling.”

Brayden Dormont (Bourbonnais Track Club IL) won the junior boys mile in 4:22.80, a personal best. He said it felt good to come to Seattle and represent his home state well.

Ronald Copeland-Carter (G1 Racing CA) ran 1:56.86, a personal best, to win the junior boys 800 meters.

In the only relay event of the day, Issaquah Track Club won the Seattle area boys 4x800 meter relay in 7:48.20.

Meet records fall in sprints and hurdles

Le’Ezra Brown (Greensboro NC) and Brayden Williams (Duncanville TX) broke the meet records in the boys 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash, respectively.

Brown ran 13.29 to take down Karamoko Sacko’s one-year-old meet record of 13.31. Brown said he texted Sacko last night to warn him that his record was on borrowed time.

“I was like, ‘Sorry, bro, that record’s mine,’” Brown said. “And I did it.”

Despite the win and the record, Brown said he wasn’t fully satisfied with his performance. He said he needed to work on “collapsing” — making sure his trail leg comes over the hurdle fast and not letting his form fall apart. He’ll have a few weeks to perfect that before running at the USATF U20 Championships.

Williams, meanwhile, ran 10.22 in the 100, barely beating Udodi Onwuzurike’s meet record of 10.23 from 2021. Williams came in wanting to break the record, but he also had a lot more on his mind; he wanted to finally run a wind-legal sub-10 performance after running three wind-aided sub-10s this outdoor season.

His foot had other ideas, though. Williams said one of his feet was cramping for the entire race, so he wasn’t able to push off as hard. If that hadn’t happened, he said, he would have run much faster.

He’ll have a chance to prove that at Nike Outdoor Nationals, and as he did before this meet, he took the chance Sunday to call his shot (albeit in less exact terms).

“We got Nike coming up, so we’ll definitely see a faster, way faster time than what I just ran today,” Williams said. “So be on the lookout for that.”

Jaelen Hunter (Anaheim CA) won the 400 meters in 46.62 seconds, coming out on top against a stacked field that included four Texans. Hunter came down the home stretch neck and neck with Elijah Ferguson (Houston TX), but he was able to hold off the Texas 6A champion, winning by two hundredths of a second. 

In the junior 400 meters, Kai Brown (Left Coast Track) took home a win in his home state, the only win for Washington in any of the individual boys events. He ran 48.68, a personal best by over two seconds.

Brooks Beasts shine in pro races

Kieran Lumb won the professional men’s 1,500 meters in 3:34.25, the fastest 1,500 ever run on Washington soil. 

Lumb stayed right on the shoulders of pacers Rhys Hammond and Ronan McMahan-Staggs, which he said was his plan going into the race.

“I think with these races, it’s pretty simple,” Lumb said. “You just get on the pacer and try to run the first 1,200 as smooth as you can… it’s really all about the last 300. I think a lot of people can get to 1,200 okay, and fewer people can close well.”

In the men’s professional 800 meters, Brannon Kidder and Isaiah Harris delivered a 1-2 finish for the Brooks Beasts in their de facto home meet. Kidder ran 1:46.11 for the win, while Harris was close behind in 1:46.30.

Harris said being able to race at home is a big advantage; he gets to sleep in his own bed the night before and stick to a comfortable pre-race routine.

Harris also commented on arguably the biggest piece of news in mid-distance running this week: the return of Donavan Brazier, who ran 1:44.70 to win the 800 at the TOAD Fest in Nashville, his first race in three years after multiple leg surgeries.

“I love Donavan, man,” Harris said. “I was so happy. Seeing the video of him and Craig (Engels) sharing that moment after the race, that had me tearing up… he’s so talented. I’ve been saying, if he had been healthy these last three years, he would have been right in the mix of all those guys running 1:41, and I think he would have been scaring that world record as well.”