Devan Kipyego did not waste any time on Saturday.
Establishing a quick, early pace, the Saint Raphael senior beat a strong field this past weekend at the HOKA Ocean State Invitational to capture the featured Championship race with a course record of 14 minutes, 57.7 seconds. Kipyego forged to the front at the gun and blazed the opening 800 meters in 2:08 and passed through the mile mark at 4:30. With a sizable 9-10 second gap at that point, the Saints’ star was able to simmer down a bit and maintain his cushion by the time he reached the finish line where he erased the one-year-old mark of 14:58.7 by Conard (CT) grad and Stanford freshman Gavin Sherry.
“Overall, I think it was a great day, just to get a good time on the board right now,” he said. “Gavin, who had the record, finished third at nationals last year. I think I am definitely going to be one of the top guys at nationals this year.”
Kipyego certainly backed up the validity of that statement with his victory at Ocean State against the level of talent he faced. .The SRA runner, who was last year’s R.I. state champion, posted a nearly 13-second win over runner-up Paul Bergeron of Westford Academy, who was timed in a PR of 15:10.4.. Placing third overall was Uxbridge’s Aidan Ross at 15:15.3. He was followed by St. John’s Prep’s Nathan Lopez (fourth, 15:22.4) and Westford Academy’s Jack Graffeo (fifth, 15:31.6). Lincoln’s Nathan Evans (eighth, 16:04.1) and East Greenwich’s Nick Martin (ninth, 16:07.5) also cracked the top 10.
Kipyego and Ross, a sub 15-minute 5K runner and last year’s MIAA Division 3 state titlist, occupied the front two spots in the early stages. But it wasn’t long before Kipyego was able to turn the race into his own.
“I was feeling good,” he said. “I had Aidan Ross on my side. It’s much easier when you’re working with somebody. When he started to fall off, I started to slow down just because it’s hard running by yourself. I was just grinding the hills and getting out there.”
After eclipsing Sherry’s mark on Saturday, Kipyego is focused on another record run in two weeks when he travels to Van Cortlandt Park in NYC for the annual Manchester Invitational. He’s hoping to knock off the 2011 mark of 11:55.39 by former St. Benedict (NJ) star Edward Cheserek, a 17-time national champion while at Oregon.
“I think a 4:46 (per mile) is very doable right now,” he said. “We are just going to keep on training and hopefully and hopefully do the best stuff we can.”
