distance runner

“I definitely understand the question always being there,” says Sara Hall, an elite distance runner competing in Sunday’s race.

“I think that it’s terrible for young athletes to see that this is what’s possible if you compromise, at the very least your health,” says Susanna Sullivan, an elite distance runner and grade-school teacher competing Sunday.

But perhaps no name carries the power and poignancy of Steve Prefontaine, the gritty, charismatic distance runner from Oregon whose life ended in a car crash in 1975.

Colin Sahlman is the latest Newbury Park High distance runner to emerge as the best in the nation, capping a historic cross-country campaign.

Distance runner Hannah Nuttall and discus thrower Lawrence Okoye were among those to also triumph on Saturday and earn selection.