This weekend, the 107th Millrose Games was held in New York City, and one of the meet’s premier events, the High School Boys’ Mile, was won by Port Jefferson senior James Burke. Burke, who won the event in 4:11.25, was probably not the favorite heading into the race, which featured many talented athletes, including last year’s champion Luke Gavigan, Pennsylvania favorite Sam Ritz, and New Balance Outdoor National Champion Mikey Brannigan. It’s not as if Burke lacks talent (he’s run 1:53 and 2:26), but he certainly doesn’t have therésumé of some of the other guys who toed the line on Saturday. Being a New York native, I’ve known Burke for a while, as heran 4:16 and 9:25 (thanks Dylan) as just a freshman. He’s got great closing speed, as he won by finishing in 58 seconds at Millrose. So after this huge win for Burke, shouldn’t he be the favorite for the 1600m (he ran the 1600m at his State Qualsmeet) at the New York State Championship later in March?After all, Millrose featured a lot of his competition for the title, and he has shown he can beat all of them. Well, despite thisincredible result, I think Burke will have to battle to crack into the top 5 at states.
I know that New York stuff may not be as interesting for you PA fans out there, but I’ve been following track in this state closely for about four years, and I can promise you, year after year, New York has some of the most talented guys in the country. This year is no exception, and like previous years, the depth is pretty incredible as well. Once all the state qualifier meets are finished, I’ll try to break down all the events 300m-3200m, including relays, but for the sake of this piece, I’m going to stick with James Burke and the 1600m. Right off the bat, despite his obvious talent, I give Burke maybe a 5% chance at winning a state title, indoor or outdoor. Although he had a really poor showing at Millrose, I think Luke Gavigan will be the state champ at 1600m. Yeah, he ran 4:26 at the Armory this weekend, but let’s just ignore that for a second. Last year during indoor,Gavigan used a massive kick to cruise to the Millrose title over afield that included Tony Russell. Ever heard of him? Here’s a link to that race if you don’t believe it: http://www.usatf.tv/?do=videos&video_id=104559?utm_source=millroseorg&utm_medium=results&utm_campaign=videolink. Gavigan went on to beat Burke at the indoor state meet in the 1600m by .6 seconds. During outdoor, Gavigan won the mile at Penn Relays, another massive race which included Burke and Ritz. Finally, at the state meet, Gavigan out-leaned Brannigan at the line to win by .02 seconds in the 1600m. What does all this mean? It means that Luke Gavigan is a gamer. The dude shows up in the clutch, and one poor performance should not cloud all of his other accomplishments. Gavigan will defend his title in the 1600m. You heard it here first.
Now I know you’re all saying “But you said he would struggle to place top 5!” I know what I said, and here’s why I said it: After Gavigan, Mikey Brannigan is also due to run the 1600m at states, and would you pick against a guy who’s run 4:07 and 8:53 (even if he’s on the double)? After that, there is Jeremy Spiezo, who finished second to Burke at Millrose, who’s run 4:09 for a full mile so far this indoor season. We can’t forget about Conor Lundy (4:12 full mile PR), Marco Pompilj (4:13 PR, closed a 4:16 in 2:04 recently (thanks again Dylan)), or John Rice (4:13 full mile PR). You see what I’m saying about New York now?!
Now I’m not saying that it’s out of the question that Burke finishes top 5; in fact, I think fourth or fifth is probably where he’ll finish. After his win at Millrose, I’m certain a lot of peopleunfamiliar with New York runners will expect Burke to take home a state title, but given the amount of talent in the field, all the guys, Burke included, will have their work cut out for them. While the outcome of the 1600m (and most of races at New York’s State Meet) will be highly contested and difficult to predict, one thing is for certain: I cannot wait to watch how this race plays out!
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