The race was as competitive as we expected it to be.
And over the course of eight laps, we saw some major moves that changed the position of where it went from moment to moment.
In the end, it was a race to the finish between Canadian Marcus Kemp of Stockton St. Mary's and Broomfield (CO) High's Michael Mooney, with Kemp taking the overall title in 8:50.95.
Mooney was second in 8:50.96 while 14 others broke nine minutes, including third-place James Mwaura in 8:51.62, fourth-place Jacob McLeod in 8:52.72, and fifth-place Liam Anderson in 8:52.74.
Roughly two laps in, Mwaura began to push the parameters of those in the field, pushing the pace as the contingent ran to a conservative start. He was in lead through 1600m, going through in approximately 4:28.
By then, however, things started to get interesting. Lyons Township (IL) High's Danny Kilrea started to make his move toward the front, and then it was Arlington (MA) High's Ryan Oosting and with 800 meters to go, most of the field just tried to keep up.
With 450 meters to go, Homestead (WI) High's Drew Bosley, who had opened his season with a few smaller meets in Wisconsin before heading to this primetime meet in California, had made up an incredible amount of space and had finally made his big move, taking the lead with 400 meters to go.
But as he stretched out so did the field, and the kicks started coming. Kemp and Mooney were in position the entire way, and making the last turn, it was all daylight for the both of them as they raced home.
Kemp leaned Mooney at the line in a photo finish.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcus Kemp | 12 | St. Mary's Stockton (SJ) | 8:50.95 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Michael Mooney | 12 | Broomfield High School | 8:50.96 | 1 | |||
| 3 | James Mwaura | 12 | Lincoln Senior High School | 8:51.62 | 1 | |||
| 4 | Jacob McLeod | 12 | Trinity Christian School Dublin | 8:52.72 | 1 | |||
| 5 | Liam Anderson | 11 | Redwood High School (NC) | 8:52.74 | 1 | |||
| 6 | Ryan Oosting | 11 | Arlington High School | 8:53.42 | 1 | |||
| 7 | Carter Cheeseman | 11 | Fort Worth Christian | 8:54.06 | 1 | |||
| 8 | Ryan Raff | 12 | Lehi | 8:54.65 | 1 | |||
| 9 | Michael Phillips | 12 | Chiles HS | 8:55.53 | 1 | |||
| 10 | Danny Kilrea | 12 | Lyons Township High School | 8:56.84 | 1 | |||
| 11 | Brandon Garnica | 12 | Springville | 8:57.25 | 1 | |||
| 12 | John Bennett | 12 | Granada High (NC) | 8:57.33 | 1 | |||
| 13 | Grant Gardner | 11 | Springville | 8:58.14 | 1 | |||
| 14 | Charles Hicks | 11 | Bolles HS | 8:58.78 | 1 | |||
| 15 | Joe Waskom | 11 | Mount Si High School | 8:58.87 | 1 | |||
| 16 | Drew Bosley | 11 | Homestead High School (CC) | 8:59.04 | 1 | |||
| 17 | Matt Strangio | 10 | Jesuit | 9:00.20 | 1 | |||
| 18 | Clayton Mendez | 12 | Whitney Young High School | 9:00.76 | 1 | |||
| 19 | John Tatter | 12 | R.J. Reynolds | 9:02.22 | 1 | |||
| 20 | Collin Ullrich | 12 | Liberty Ranch (SJ) | 9:02.73 | 1 | |||
| 21 | Ben Perrin | 11 | Flathead High School | 9:04.56 | 1 | |||
| 22 | Aidan Troutner | 12 | Timpview | 9:05.38 | 1 | |||
| 23 | Dylan Jacobs | 12 | Sandburg High School | 9:06.75 | 1 | |||
| 24 | Zachary Kinne | 11 | Neuqua Valley High School | 9:09.66 | 1 | |||
| 25 | Trevor Woodward | 12 | Centennial Corona (SS) | 9:16.02 | 1 | |||
| 26 | Justin Hazell | 12 | El Camino Real Senior High (LA) | 9:17.54 | 1 | |||
| 27 | Logan Hall | 12 | Arthur High School | 9:21.88 | 1 | |||
| 28 | Raymon Ornelas | 12 | Eleanor Roosevelt (SS) | 9:22.57 | 1 | |||
| 29 | Jacob Gebhardt | 12 | Sterling High School | 9:24.00 | 1 | |||
| 30 | Hunter Appleton | 11 | Brother Martin | 9:25.50 | 1 | |||
| 31 | Jensen Lambert | 12 | Cedar High School | 9:30.10 | 1 | |||
| 32 | Marcus Mota | 11 | Stockdale High School (CS) | 9:38.36 | 1 | |||
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