Wolfsmith wins 3,000 at Stanford with best time in U.S.
STANFORD — Lance Wolfsmith on Friday went into the final turn of the 3,000 meters in a foot race with Novato’s Eric Olson, who holds the state’s best prep time in the mile this season. Trailing only steps behind them were Nathan Mathabane, a top-ranked runner in Oregon, and Petaluma’s Sterling Lockert, an All-NorCal honoree.
At the moment, resumes didn’t matter to Wolfsmith, nor did the feeling his legs weren’t going to carry him through the final 200 meters. Wolfsmith discovered a new gear at the Stanford Invitational — and some of the top distance runners in the U.S. discovered him.
The Sobrato senior pushed away from Lockert and Mathabane, then blew past Olson in the final 100 meters to win in eight minutes, 28.54 seconds, the nation’s fastest prep time in the 3,000 this year.
Olson previously held that record.
“He came up to me after and said, ‘Where did you come from?’ ” Wolfsmith said Monday. “It felt awesome, especially having such a rough cross country season. It was sick to be back on top.”
Wolfsmith tore cartilage in his knee during cross country season, an injury he said he is still recovering from. Doubt crossed his mind Friday when he entered the final three laps.
“Mathabane set a really tough pace, and I was just hanging on,” said Wolfsmith, who also holds the best two-mile time in the CIF-Central Coast Section this year. “I was really feeling it, like my legs were going to give out. Once I saw there was 800 laps to go, I kept thinking ‘hang on until that last lap. Hang on until the last 200.’ The last lap was all mental.”
Olson settled for second place, finishing in 8:29.03. Mathabane was third at 8:29.62, and Lockert took fourth in 8:30.58.
Redwood’s Justin Vilhauer, the top two-miler in Southern California at the time of the meet, placed fifth (8:35.40) ahead of Connor Peloquin (8:41.84) and Eric Fitzpatrick (8:43.76), who are the top-ranked prep distance runners in Washington and Idaho, respectively.
“Stanford is, by far, the most prestigious track and field meet on the West Coast, so this definitely was one of Lance’s biggest wins ever,” Wolfsmith’s father and coach, Dave Wolfsmith, said. “He goes into every race expecting to win. He had a lot of confidence before his injury, and I think he’s getting it back.”
The possibility of Lance winning a state title in the 3,200 meters in spring seems that much more likely. His expectation, though, didn’t change after Friday.
“I definitely like my chances, but I can’t say it’s gonna be me,” he said. “There’s four or five guys that are running as fast as me, and they’re separated by only a couple seconds. I’m just focusing on my next race.”
Wolfsmith will be back on the track Thursday when Sobrato hosts Santa Teresa in a Santa Teresa Division dual meet.
