Patrick Tiernan's 19:09.48 at yesterday's main Line Invitational is a Villanova course record at Haverford's 4-mile course, breaking Sam McEntee's 19:13.50 from last year. If I am correct, it's the #2 time ever on that course by anyone, behind only Hugo Beamish's 18:57.10 run last year (Beamish was competing as a post-collegiate runner by then and he went on that season to win the New Zealand 5000 meter national title).
By way of comparison, Bobby Curtis debuted as a frosh on this course in 2003 and ran 19:33 (and he later went on to win the 2008 NCAA 5000 title). Tiernan just turned 19 yrs old this month and just ran 7 seconds faster than Curtis's best ever time on that course (19:16.60 in 2007), when Curtis was a 5th-year senior, two months short of his 23rd birthday. Sheesh.
Scary thing is that as the races get longer (8K and 10K) toward the end of the year, Tiernan should be at a greater advantage (since he's not a blown-up miler).
Here are some recent Villanova freshman times on that course (excuse any errors), to put Tiernan in perspective:
Jordy Williamsz (2012): 19:15.30
Bobby Curtis (2003): 19:33
Sam McEntee (2011): 19:35.91
Mathew Mildenhall (2009): 19:51.17
Adrian Blincoe (2000): 20:14
Matt Kane (2008): 20:37.14
By way of comparison, Bobby Curtis debuted as a frosh on this course in 2003 and ran 19:33 (and he later went on to win the 2008 NCAA 5000 title). Tiernan just turned 19 yrs old this month and just ran 7 seconds faster than Curtis's best ever time on that course (19:16.60 in 2007), when Curtis was a 5th-year senior, two months short of his 23rd birthday. Sheesh.
Scary thing is that as the races get longer (8K and 10K) toward the end of the year, Tiernan should be at a greater advantage (since he's not a blown-up miler).
Here are some recent Villanova freshman times on that course (excuse any errors), to put Tiernan in perspective:
Jordy Williamsz (2012): 19:15.30
Bobby Curtis (2003): 19:33
Sam McEntee (2011): 19:35.91
Mathew Mildenhall (2009): 19:51.17
Adrian Blincoe (2000): 20:14
Matt Kane (2008): 20:37.14