Athlete: Luke Gavigan
Year: Junior
School: Other Hearst Subscriptions
Location: Orangeburg, NY
800m PR: 1:56.50
1,000m PR: 2:29.09
Mile PR: 4:15.68
Luke Gavigan of New York, who’s done his key winter training in the school parking lot because of the stormy weather, brings an unmatched record of consistency into Saturday’s Millrose Games Boys High School Mile at the New York Armory. Gavigan, a junior at Tappan Zee High, about an hour’s drive from the Armory, has five sub-4:20 performances, including relay legs, to his credit in the past month. But he’ll need to run a lot faster than his 4:15.68 best to contend for the victory.
Millrose Favorite: Prior to last Saturday’s New Balance Indoor Games in Boston, Gavigan’s PR, set on Jan. 15 in a qualifying race at the Armory, was the fastest indoor time of the 11-man field. But Tony Russell of West Chester Henderson in Pennsylvania captured the New Balance junior boys mile in 4:11.56, the nation’s fastest time of 2014. Russell, the Eastern States cross country champion last fall, also won the Yale Track Classic mile last month in 4:16.26.
Training Limits: With about a foot of snow sitting on the Tappan Zee track, Gavigan has been doing fartlek workouts on a 250-meter loop in the parking lot. A standard session, designed by the school’s distance coach, Pat Driscoll, is a 5-4-3-2-1, that is, 5 minutes hard, 4 minutes hard, etc., with short recovery in between. On other days, Gavigan is out on the roads, wherever he can find a clear path, for some tempo work. His mileage is 40 to 45 a week. He got up to 60 miles a week last summer.
Armory Home: The Armory has practically been Gavigan’s home track. His most recent effort at the facility came last Friday in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational high school 1,000m. Using the event as a Millrose tune-up, Gavigan placed sixth in 2:29.09. He’ll be back at the Armory this Wednesday for his sectional meet, again using it as preparation for Saturday. He expects to run another 1,000m plus the 4 x 800 relay.
Mile Qualifier: When Gavigan, 17, won the Armory’s Millrose qualifying race in January, he kicked from third-place in the last 100m to win convincingly. “I never expected to be able to do that,” he said. “I’m not crazy fast. I have a mix of speed and endurance. That’s why I like the mile.”
Dreaming Big: Gavigan attended Millrose last year as a spectator. He was enthralled by the excitement surrounding the boys’ mile and how victorious Ben Malone of New Jersey (now at Villanova) left the field gasping with his powerful kick. Gavigan, who ran 4:23.38 in the 2013 Millrose trials, thought, “It would be so cool to be able to do this.” Then, on a 10-mile training run last summer, and with a 4:17.45 PR from the Penn Relays, he thought, “Maybe I actually have a chance to qualify.” Now he says, “It’s a dream come true.”
Role Model: Also at Millrose last year, Gavigan had the opportunity to meet American Olympian Lopez Lomong. Gavigan knew all about Lomong’s remarkable story of survival as one of the lost boys of Sudan, told in his book, How to Run Twice a Day Without Injury. Gavigan said he felt that Lomong’s approach to racing the mile was similar to his.
Family Factor: Luke’s father, Patrick, a runner who once did the New York City Marathon, “has been with me my whole running career,” he said. “He knows as much about my running as I do.”
Fast Start: In fourth grade, Gavigan participated in the town’s summer track program. He continued running a couple of miles here and there, and when he entered some local 5Ks he found he could move pretty well through the field. At age 10, Gavigan ran the 5K in 20 minutes.
Varsity Level: While in eighth grade, as allowed in New York State, Gavigan ran on the Tappan Zee varsity, clocking a 4:49 mile while looking up to older teammates. He made a huge breakthrough the next year as a freshman, running a 4:20.89 1600m and 4:22.68 for the full mile. Since then, Gavigan has made patient progress, running various “emerging elite” events at the national meets.
Lap Count: If the Millrose mile happens to go out fast, at least Gavigan will know what a searing pace feels like. At the Yale meet last month, when Gavigan took the baton for the anchor 1600m of the small-schools distance medley, he thought the lapped team ahead of him was in first. Gavigan flew out to a 59-second first 400 to try and close the gap. He slowed to a 4:19 split and did not realize his team had won until the finish.
Scout’s Honor: A longtime Boy Scout, Gavigan is working on his Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the program. He loves camping and the outdoors, and he lifeguards year-around—at an indoor pool during the cold weather and at a campground lake in the summer.
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.
