Best of 2010: Kyle Merber Runs Sub-Four Minute Mile
12/24/2010 11:00:00 AM | Track and Field
During the final weeks of 2010, gocolumbialions.com will highlight some of the best moments of 2010, highlighting the outstanding accomplishments of our student-athletes, coaches and teams in random order
March 5, 2010
The Columbia Last Chance Meet was an opportunity for Division I and III schools from the Northeast Region to come to the Armory and attempt to qualify for the NCAA Indoor National Track & Field Championships one last time. And that happened for many athletes at the meet. But the highlight was host school's athletes, as Columbia runners set four school records and two all-time Ivy League records, including sophomore Kyle Merber, who ran only the second sub-four minute mile in Ivy League history.
It's hard to imagine that there could be a bigger story than an Ivy League record, but on this night, there was. Sophomore Kyle Merber became only the second athlete in Ivy League history to break four minutes in the mile indoors. Merber won the event in a time of 3:58.52, improving on his lifetime best by four seconds. The mark was a new school record, and broke the Ivy League record of 3:58.70, which was set in 1991 by Princeton's Bill Burke. That time was well below the NCAA automatic qualification of 3:59.00, and gave Merber the seventh fastest mile time in the entire nation.
"Crossing the finish line and looking up at the clock was an unbelievable feeling," Merber said in an email interview with HepsTrack.com. "That moment was everything that I could have dreamed of and more. The fact that I was able to break such a barrier at this point of my career is beyond my wildest dreams. Running at our own home meet in front of all my teammates and my parents made this experience that much more valuable. I really owe a lot of thanks to my coaches, all my teammates and everyone that has supported and helped me reach this point. Right now I am just excited to be able to get a chance to compete on the national level and represent our program, Columbia, and the Ivy League."
Merber had also won two Ivy League titles just days before, taking top honors in the 3,000m run with ease, and also running anchor leg on the championship Distance Medley Relay squad. The sophomore finished the indoor track & field season at the 2010 NCAA championships, where he finished 15th overall in the men's mile.
Players Mentioned
