NEW YORK – Making his professional indoor debut on Saturday, Drew Hunter recorded his third sub 4-minute mile at The Armory to win the Men’s 1 Mile Elite race during the New Balance Games.
Hunter, the 19-year-old from Purcellville, Va., turned in a 3:58.92 to edge New Zealand’s Julian Oakley (3:59.04) at the finish line.
Third-place finisher D.J. Principe of La Salle Academy in Providence, RI finished at 4:00.97 and nearly became the third high school runner ever to post a sub 4-minute mile indoors.
“Any professional can relate that it’s really hard to break four minutes,” said Hunter, who possess four sub-4 minute miles overall.
“Every elite runner, who is in a mile race, their goal is to break four minutes. It’s not automatic necessarily but it’s still that barrier you have to break after you break it once.
“It doesn’t get old. I want to keep track of how many I do by the end of my career.”
While a high senior last year for Loudoun Valley High School (Va.), Hunter broke Alan Webb’s national high school record at the 2016 Armory Track Invitational. Hunter drove his record time even lower at the 2016 NYRR Millrose Games with 3:57.81. He will return to The Armory in two weeks to run the 3,000m at the Armory Track Invitationalfollowed by the February 11th NYRR Millrose Games where he’ll run the mile.
Olympian Ajee’ Wilson thrilled a packed Armory with a blazing performance in the Women’s 600 meters. She won the event with a 1:25.23. Wilson’s time is the second best American women indoor mark in the 600 meters behind only Alysia Montano’s 1:23.59.
Like Hunter, Wilson next returns to The Armory for the February 4th Armory Track Invitational and to the historic NYRR Millrose Games.
For more on the New Balance Games please click HERE.
Photo by armorytrack.com.