7/4/2023 0 Comments Download garry bjorklundThe hoped-for matchup with Pre never came on the track, but at the 1971 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Bjorklund followed with the second-fastest time by a collegian at the AAU meet in 27:28.2. In April, Bjorklund set a collegiate record of 27:24.6 at the Drake Relays, then led a fast race at the NCAA, running 27:43.1 as the first eight broke the existing meet record. While Pre concentrated on the three-mile in during the 1971 track season, the six-mile became Bjorklund’s domain. Bjorklund withdrew from the 1970 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships (won by Pre) after an emergency appendectomy – three days after winning the Big Ten title with a “pain in his side.” Many looked for another duel with Pre, but it would have to wait. In the next four weeks he ran three more races – two at 10,000 meters in identical 28:50.4 efforts some 10 seconds off the all-time collegiate best. team, which traveled Europe for three international dual meets. The performance amazed even his coach, USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Roy Griak, who told Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Tribune, “There doesn’t seem to be any limit on how good Bjorklund can be.” The very next day Bjorklund – then still only 18 – jumped in the first six-mile track race of his life at the AAU meet and finished third in 27:30.8 – merely the fastest ever clocked by a collegian. Some 10 days later, they ran again in the AAU national championships, Pre just ahead as they finished 5-6. In that 1970 NCAA three-mile, Pre won over Bjorklund as the first five broke the meet record. Part of that historical finish of youngsters can be explained by the NCAA first allowing freshmen to compete on varsity squads, but nothing can explain how a frosh 1-2 has never happened again in meet history – in any men’s or women’s race at 1500 meters or longer.ījorklund and that other freshman – Oregon’s Steve Prefontaine – enjoyed fast racing. In his first year, Bjorklund was part of the first freshman 1-2 finish in any distance race in NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships history in the 1970 three-mile. For someone who never raced longer than two miles in high school, Garry Bjorklund took an immediate liking to even longer distances when he arrived at Minnesota.
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