8. Almost-Upset: Jack Salisbury Comes Within An Inch Of Beating Drew Hunter
We've covered this race over and over again, so we'll be brief here. La Salle Academy of Rhode Island handed off to Salisbury with a 9.03 second gap to Loudoun Valley of Virginia. LV's Hunter split 9.031 seconds faster.
Salisbury, who ran 4:08 for a full mile this indoor season and 4:06 at Pre last outdoor season, peeked over his shoulder on the final lap and saw what has to be one of the most uncomfortable sights in high school sports: a rapidly closing Drew Hunter. With around 9:10 left on the race clock, Salisbury unquestionably intentionally slowed down and bet that he'd rather test his kick against Hunter's than try to stretch Hunter to his limit and get walked down in the final meters.
Insanely, this strategy--bet that your own kick is better than that of the best high schooler of the decade--came within an thousandth of a second of paying off. Decision-making should be judged on process and not outcome, and this strategy nearly gave Salisbury what would've been the upset of the year. Good on him.
| PL | SCHOOL/AFFILIATION | MARK | ATHLETES | ID | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loudoun Valley (Purcellville, VA) | 10:00.01 | Colton Bogucki (3:11.03), Nathaniel Thompson (49.28), Will Smagh (1:58.97), Andrew Hunter (4:00.73) | A | |
| 2 | La Salle Academy (Providence, RI) | 10:00.01 | David Principe Jr. (3:01.20), David Medeiros (53.46), Matthew Bouthillette (1:55.59), Jack Salisbury (4:09.76) | H |
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