Hopkins running strong

Sean Hopkins graduated from Marist and the Running Program more than half a decade ago now – 2005, to be exact. But his presence and influence on our team remains strong.

He is one of most loyal and ardent followers of our program. Now a graduate student at West Virginia who sometimes travels with their women’s track/cross country program, our paths have crossed at meets. He knows our team, and follows our team closely … and with good reason: As a St. Anthony’s grad, he has direct connections to two current team members: Senior captain Timmy Keegan and freshman distance star Kenny Walshak – both proud Friar alums as well.

Hopkins remains passionate about the sport. And lately, the dude has been running lights-out strong on the indoor circuit. Who knew Hopkins had such wheels?

Specifically, Hopkins nailed two major PRs at meets at the University of Akron, which has an indoor 300-meter Mondo track. At the Akron Invitational on Feb. 11, he ran 8:47.68 for 3km. And at last Friday’s Akron Zips Open College Meet, our guy ran a mind-bending 4:21.6 for the mile! Wow! Where did THAT come from?

Well, at my request, I asked Hopkins for the details. Here’s what he wrote to me in an email about his stellar indoor races:

The first race I ran was a 3k at the Akron Invitational held on February 11th. I don't have much in the way of splits because the guy I traveled with was warming up while I raced. I know I came through the first 800 in 2:22 and the next split I was able to figure out was the 1500 in 4:25, after that it was game on knowing I had a chance to break 8:50. I finished the race having run 8:47.68, 9th out of 20. My PR previous to this race was 8:54.05 which I ran at the Terrier Invitational my sophomore year of college.

The second race I ran was the mile this past Friday at the Akron Zips Open College Meet. I went into this race thinking that if the stars aligned and all was right in the world I'd run 4:23-24. Coming into this race I knew I was in over my head as the majority of the people seeded were sub 4:20. The gun went off, I went immediately to the back and just held on for dear life. My splits were as follows: 400 - 64.? 800 - 2:11, 1200 - 3:17, mile - 4:21.6. I crossed the line placing 10th out of 13 having caught the last three guys over the last 600 meters. I crossed the line and thought my eyes had deceived me when I saw the time. My PR previous to this race was 4:26.7 which I ran at the St. Anthony's Invitational my senior year of high school.

Nicely done, bro!

Next up for Hopkins is a shot at approaching 15 minutes for 5,000 meters indoors. Stay tuned.