Mike Zurzolo, a College of New Jersey senior from Cherokee, had a huge 3,000 race in Boston Saturday, placing second out of 100 runners at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
Zurzolo ran a massive PR of 8:31.87, finishing behind only Neil Braganza of Yale, who won the race in 8:30.99.
That’s the fastest time by a TCNJ runner in 13 years.
Zurzolo was out in 2:18.7, 2:17.7 and 2:18.4 before running the final 600 in 1:37, which is 2:09 pace. He closed in 62.4 and 29.5.
His previous PR for 3,000 was 8:44.66 last month in a meet at the Armory.
Zurzolo’s time is No. 19 in NCAA Division 3 and fastest by any NJAC runner this year by nearly 10 seconds.
At Cherokee, Zurzolo had an indoor 1,600 PR of 4:35.90, so he came through the 1,600 only about half a second slower Saturday in a 3,000 than his high school PR for a race nearly half as long.
Zurzolo’s 3,200 PR at Cherokee was 9:30.60. An 8:31.87 converts to approximately a 9:09.6 for 3,200 meters or about 9:12.8 for a full two miles.
His time is fastest by any TCNJ runner indoors or out since Brian Kopnicki ran 8:22.73 at the 2007 New Balance NYC Gotham Cup at the Armory on Jan. 12, 2007.
2020 indoor
2019 outdoor – 5th 20.97
2019 indoor – 3rd 20.63
2018 outdoor – 20.14 7th
2018 indoor – DNC
2017 outdoor – 14th 19.02
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 