Other Hearst Subscriptions First Boston Marathon? Here‘s What to Know Running in the Cold Running Times that his next goal was a sub-four-minute mile during the upcoming indoor track season.
“I think I can run four-flat right now,” Hunter said, after dominating the 5K race at hilly Balboa Park.
Hunter, an 18-year-old senior at Loudoun Valley High School in Virginia, said he would compete as an open runner this winter. He hopes to run professional races to get the best competition and has already lined up the Camel City Invitational elite mile on January 30, 2016, at the JDL Fast Track, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hunter, who has signed with the University of Oregon, will face Matthew Centrowitz, who is an Oregon alum and a two-time world championship 1500-meter medalist, among other world-class runners.
Hunter, whose fastest mile last season was a 4:02.36 in June at the Adidas Grand Prix High School Dream Mile in New York, wants to break Alan Webb’s high school indoor record of 3:59.86 set in 2001. That mark was made in open competition at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory. Webb also holds the high school outdoor record of 3:53.46 set later that year.
Last spring, Grant Fisher, of Michigan, and Matthew Maton, of Oregon, became the sixth and seventh American high school runners under 4:00. Each ran 3:59.38 in separate races. Hunter’s time made him the No. 3 miler in the country for the 2015 season. Hunter’s best race may have been the Brooks PR two-mile in Seattle, where he defeated Fisher in 8:42.51.
Hunter, 6-feet and 145 pounds, said he had not been pressed in a cross-country race all season, including Foot Locker. After a 4:31 opening mile, Hunter surged ahead and was never challenged as he crossed the finish looking comfortable with a 12-second triumph in 14:56. “I won, I’m not complaining,” Hunter said. “But it’s frustrating being out there by myself. I have the most fun when I have people to race.”
Like Mary Cain and Alexa Efraimson in recent years, Hunter has entered a teenaged realm all his own. He noted a track workout a week before Foot Locker in which he did 3 x 1 mile in 4:42, 4:30, and 4:13, with a three- to four-minute jog recovery between runs. Hunter did the session by himself. He does all his training alone.
But Hunter has had some running company from the girls’ Foot Locker champion, Weini Kelati, a Virginian from Heritage High who lives about 15 minutes from him. On easy runs together, Kelati told Hunter about her running experiences in her native Eritrea.
In addition to Camel City, Hunter hopes to run against the pros in the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile, February 20, 2016, at The Armory. Last March at The Armory, Hunter won the high school indoor national two-mile in 8:48.22. Hunter said he’s been contacted by the New Balance Grand Prix, on February 14, in Boston, about running the junior mile, essentially a high school event, but those plans are uncertain.
At Loudoun Valley, Hunter is coached by his parents, Marc and Joan, former top runners. Marc competed on two U.S. world cross country teams. Joan was a state champion in Virginia. The Hunters also coach a youth club that Drew will represent this winter.
Hunter said his parents stress “the little things,” like eating healthy and a good night’s sleep, that contribute to good performance. “I have a salad every day, at either lunch or dinner,” Hunter said. “That’s one of my rules.”
Averaging 75 miles a week this season, Hunter has two younger brothers on the Loudoun Valley team—Noah, a junior, and Jacob, a freshman, who has already shown some of Drew’s talent. When Drew was a freshman, he ran a 16:43 5K in the Third Battle Invitational in Winchester. This fall at Third Battle, Jacob ran 16:17. (Drew won the race in 14:20, a 5K cross-country state record.)
After giving up basketball, Drew made a big jump his sophomore year, winning his first state cross-country title in 15:37 and running 15:09 for 5K in the Foot Locker South. Hunter’s national emergence came at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia when he won the 3,000 meters in 8:16.31, a national sophomore record.
This winter, when Hunter takes the next step in his running ascent, he will remember last June in New York when he saw his potential in front of him. “I watched the pros at the Grand Prix meet,” Hunter said. “I never expected to be part of the future of distance running. It was cool to witness it and know that I’m next in line.”
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
