Drew Hunter lifts team to DMR title

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

NEW YORK -- All eyes were on Loudoun Valley, Va. and anchor Drew Hunter during Friday night's distance medley relay and for good reason. In two previous trips to The Armory this winter Hunter broke four minutes in the mile and broke the national record in the event twice.

For New Balance Nationals, Hunter is all about helping his friends and teammates have a good time and bask in the sun. Hunter made up a seven-second gap to propel his team to a winning time of 10:03.42, good for No. 6 on the all-time list. 

"It's so much fun," Hunter said. "I don't really care about time, I don't really care if we'd run 11 minutes and still won, I'd be thrilled. I just wanted to come here and let these guys experience what's so special about the Armory and I think they enjoyed and we've got one more race (4xMile) tomorrow." INTERVIEW

Hunter split 4:05.26 and a couple of other guys in the race showed that they have wheels, too.

Runner-up River Dell (NJ) clocked 10:03.98 as 1,600-meter leg Will Daly showed some guts as he was passed by Hunter on the final lap but did his best to stay with the sub-four minute miler, making it an interesting and exciting finish. Daly split 4:12.86.

Third-place finisher Patriot Athletics of Concord MA (Concord-Carlisle) was led by the top 1,600 leg of the night as Thomas Ratcliffe clocked 4:04.00.

“I was just trying to focus on the next guy,” Ratcliffe said. “I got in a pretty good spot with 400-600 (meters) to go.” 

Van der Els shares his win 

On a night where the spotlight should have been directly on Eric van der Els, the senior from Brien McMahon High still managed to find a way to share it.

The senior distance runner from Norwalk, Conn. used a strong final two laps to win the 5,000-meter Indoor National New Balance crown in 14 minutes, 42.41 seconds. 

“I'm just so proud of my coach and team to put me where I am,” he said. “It feels really great to promote the track team.”

It was van der Els' first national title of his career as he also broke the Connecticut state record of 14:44.16 set in 2008 by Donn Cabral. He is also the first runner from his school to win a national title. 

“He sacrificed a lot for the team,” Brien McMahon head coach Patrick Bradley said. “He deserves this individual accolade.”

Van der Els wound up with his first national title after a grueling indoor season that saw him run the 1,000, 1,600 and 3,200 at the conference, divisional and state levels, three straight weeks.

At the State Open in late February, the UConn-bound senior tripled to score 30 points and carry his team to a runner-up finish. He felt the affects of that task a week later at New Englands in the 2 mile. But that didn't matter too much for him.

“I think it says a lot about his character. It shows a lot about his determination,” Bradley said.

Those were two qualities that were both on full display Friday. Van der Els led from the gun, establishing a quick pace, and then fell back in a comfortable spot in the lead pack. 

“The first mile I just wanted to make sure it was solid, aggressive pace,” he said. “The strategy was to  just relax, stay focused … you got a lot of time.”

Van der Els executed that plan perfectly as he overtook the lead with about 800 meters left and didn't let up as he crossed the line.

“I think he's still feeling a little the affects of the weeks before, but for that last 800...he just put it into gear,” Bradley said.

Aaron Groff of Cherry Hill East (NJ) was runner-up in 14:43.10, while Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman (Pa.) finished third (14:45.09). 

“One K to go, I was just like, 'Wow, this is really hurting right now,'” van der Els explained. “It was really tough, but then I was like, with five laps to go, suck it up … take it home.”

Van der Els is also signed up for the mile on Sunday, but is yet to be decided if he'll run. For right now, he'll be able to celebrate his first individual national title.

“It felt really great crossing the line first time breaking the tape. It was kind of a good experience,” he said with a smile.