Josh Methner Breaks 40-Plus Year Detweiller Park Record


* Craig Virgin's 47-year-old course record at Detweiller Park went down on Saturday -- Photo Credit: Steve Bugarin/MileSplit

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Josh Methner's performance on Saturday will go down as remarkable. 

While the Hersey (IL) High School senior was certainly capable of breaking the Illinois state 3-mile record on Detweiller Park's famed course, few would have suspected the one-time Illinois state champion to go after the 47-year-old record owned by Craig Virgin following two high-profile efforts in 2010 from Lukas Verzbicas and in 2007 from Chris Derrick

Well, he did. 


And Methner, a two-time national All-American in cross country following top performances at Nike Cross Nationals and Foot Locker Nationals in 2018, recorded it astoundingly, running 13:49.90 to break Virgin's best of 13:50.60 by less than a second. 

Virgin was at the state meet to see Methner break his old mark. 

It was an incredible moment in Illinois cross country. In setting the new record, Methner cut nearly 22 seconds off his previous course best of 14:11.50 from the state championships last year. 

Methner reportedly went into the mile split at 4:28 and into the two-mile marker at 9:12.


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