I just caught this on LetsRun.com – This could be the next big thing in American triathlon…
Lukas Verzbicas IL 14:18.42
Recently** Lukas Verzbicas** (Lincoln Way, New Lenox, Il.) set a national indoor freshman class record with nation-leading 8:29.15 for 3,000 meters but that turned out to be just a hint of what was to come. Friday night he clocked 8:31.0 for 3,000—on his way to a stunning time of 14:18.42 for 5,000 meters to set a new national high school record breaking the old mark of 14:29.80 set by Brad Hudson (South Eugene, Eugene, Or.) in 1984. The tall, wirily built Verzbicas, who was born in Lithuania and moved to the U.S. before he began competing in high school, opened up with a 64.0 and 2:13.0 to leave only the clock for competition. His splits were 4:29.0 for 1,600, 9:05.0 for 3,200 and 13:46. for 4,800. The kilo progression was 2:46.0, 5:38.0 (2:52.0), 8:31.0 (2:53.0), 11:25 (2:54.0) and 14:18.4 (2:42.4). Max Straneva (Binghamton, N.Y.) was second for most of the way before being passed by Sean Curry (Bishop Ludden, Syracuse, N.Y.) in the last kilometer, 15:01.69 to 15:10.98. Nick Ross (East Greenwich, R.I.) was fourth at 15:13.13. Brandon Freyer (Pawling, N.Y.) won the B race in 15:17.31 and Brian Faherty (Roosevelt, Greenbelt, Md.) won the C race in 15:12.00. Verzbicas will now take a break from track (or was he taking a break from the triathlon?) when he competes for the United States Triathlon team in the Pan-American Junior championship in May.
My guess is that if he develops as a runner it will be be a good thing for running. Their is so much more money in running than tri its hard to picture loving tri so much that you give up a top level running career for a tri career.
He competed in cross country and was considered one of the favorites for the state title until he got hurt a little past the mid point of the season. He then opted to skip high school track, someone said it was so he could train for the triathlons as that is his primary interest.
Anyone know how long Lukas has been competing in triathlons??? Has he only experience w/ running or what? That’s great if he’s gonna compete in the junior championships!
With a 14:18…no way is he going to focus on triathlon anytime soon. That kid is going to a top-flite track school and into the running mill. Maybe we’ve seen a glimpse of the next American capable of sub-13 (which there have been far too few of…). But that is likely a few years off.
Any thoughts of snagging him for triathlon would be downright criminal at the moment.
Well he was the national champion last year in the USA TRIATHLON Youth Elite (13-15 yrs) Nationals and also won the HyVee Youth Elite Race. He’s with the Multisport Madness Kids TRIATHLON program out of IL and will be aging up to the Junior (elite) division this year. He’ll be racing the PATCO junior triathlon champs in OK City middle of May to qualify for Junior Worlds. He’s a triathlete.
With a 14:18…no way is he going to focus on triathlon anytime soon. That kid is going to a top-flite track school and into the running mill. Maybe we’ve seen a glimpse of the next American capable of sub-13 (which there have been far too few of…). But that is likely a few years off.
Any thoughts of snagging him for triathlon would be downright criminal at the moment.
Yeah runners at this point in time probably make more $$$. That’s years on down the road. Who knows, a shoe company may slide him a chunk of cha ching even if he does triathlon. But suppose he does go sub 13. He’ll still potentially get his ass kicked and never medal in the games. We get one American under 13, the Africans will probably get 30+. I know people are running faster off of the bike, but this kid could dream crush a lot of people into the pavement.
Sub 13 is pretty rare. If you have sub 13 credentials you can realistically think about medalling in a championship meet. Plus I would thin anyone who sets a record as a freshamn isn’t limiting themselves at this point. Ultimately I hope he does what he wants, but their will likely be way more money in track than in tri. Starting with a scholarship to a top flight school.
I don’t know anything about this kid, but let me provide possibly the closest example how thing could look for him going forward…bearing in mind everyone is different and I’m not suggesting any limits be placed on where he may go…but the sky is the limit.
Probably the best ‘white’ long distance runner in the World is an Aussie called Craig Mottram. He was a National Schools champion in both Triathlon and Running when he was in high school, running an 8:20 or thereabouts for 3k whilst running ‘part-time’ when he was still at school!
He was offered a mountain of cash to take up running which he did and has some amazing results…including a World Champs Bronze medal for 5k. But he probably realises now that winning a Gold at the Olympics is going to be near impossible. Whilst he’s financially secure (which triathlon does not provide)…he wants to win a gold…and realises Triathlon was probably that ticket. I heard a whisper the Aussies in charge of Tri down there are trying to now dangle that carrot in front of his face…so watch out if he decides to take up their offer, cause this guy was going to be as good as Simon Lessing!
Whichever way this young guy goes…he’s going to be a champion either way.
Well…now that you’ve opened THAT bucket…Craig Mottram is at the point where I would think looking at triathlon is the right choice. As you note, he’s probably maxed his running potential, including income.
This kid should look at Craig’s example for his athletic trajectory. Then again…he may surpass expectations and truly challenge for higher glory. But he’s still REALLY young and will probably grow quite a bit. No telling how that is going to affect his running. Craig’s no small guy, though.
