West Springfield senior Mike Spooner found himself stuck in a strategic and kicker\'s race in the elite high school mile at New Balance Games halfway through the race. He decided to go for it and shoot to the lead on the back stretch of the banked 200 meter track found at the New York Armory with less than a half mile left in the race. However, Spooner\'s leading duties were short lived as he was over taken a pack of runners on the next lap. He was still able to hold onto a sixth place finish and run an indoor personal best time of 4:20.45 for a full mile (converts to a 4:18.85 1600 meter time). His time ranks third in the state currently behind Axel Mostrag\'s 4:17.76 at Fork Union last Saturday and Peter Dorrell\'s 4:18.85 at Liberty today. Currently the trio are the only Virginians to dip under 4:20 for 1600 meters so far this season.
You can find two great videos of the race on DyeStatCal and ArmoryTrack.TV. Video of Alan Webb\'s 3:56.7 win in the elite men\'s mile is also found on Armory Track TV as well former Virginia high school stars Nikeya Green (Hayfield HS/Wake Forest University) and Keira Carlstrom (Oakton HS/American University).