Ryan Allen, who graduated this month from Kingsway, won the 10,000-meter race walk Friday morning at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene
With a top-two finish, Allen earned a spot on the U.S. National team that will compete at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in August in Cali, Colombia.
Allen set a nearly two-minute PR of 49:53.14 and beat the field at Hayward Field by over half a mile.
Clayton Stoil, who Allen edged by 10 meters to win the National Scholastic title at 3,000 meters on the same track last weekend, placed 2nd in 54:15.71.
He finished about 850 meters behind Allen.
Allen walked his previous 10,000 PR of 51:39.97 in February in a meet at Cuyamaca College El Cajon, Calif.
Allen is the first U.S. junior champion from Kingsway in 38 years, since Pedricktown native Denise Liles won the 100-meter dash in 11.81 in 1984 in what was then known as The Athletics Congress Junior Nationals at L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles.
Stoil built an early five-second lead. Just 800 meters into the 6.2-mile race, Stoil came through in 3:52.55 and Allen was at 3:57.41. Stoil still led at 2,000 meters – by 4-100ths of a second – before Allen took the lead for good. At 2,800 meters – through seven laps – Stoil was only 2 ½ seconds back.
But the next time they came across the line Allen’s lead was up to nine seconds and by 4,400 meters – 11 laps in – the lead had grown to 40 seconds.
It only grew largert and larger as Allen ripped off steady sub-two-minute laps.
His first 15 laps were all between 1:57.22 and 1:59.94.
Allen is the first South Jersey race walker to win a U.S. junior title in 49 years, since Willingboro’s Randy Mimm won the 1973 10,000 in 51:45.1.
For those of you who want to see the official judge’s summary sheet, click here.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 