Zach Kinne moved up to PA No. 2 all-time in the 5,000 meters on the track, with a strong performance down in Texas.
At the Texas Distance Festival, the North Allegheny senior placed sixth in the elite boys' field, clocking a 14:38.43. For the second straight year, Kinne journeyed to the annual meet to compete with some of the best distance runners in the country. He went 14:47.01 for eighth, so he lopped off about 9 seconds off that previous best. Alex Maier of Flower Mound (TX) won in 14:26.95.
Saturday's performance places Kinne behind only Carlisle's Noah Affolder on the all-time PA list for the track 5K. Affolder ran 14:18.26 at the Texas Distance Festival two years ago in 2017, where he placed third.
His outdoor debut race down south comes on the heels of a strong end to Kinne's indoor season that saw him win the 3,000 meters (8:33.83) at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships and then placed 16th at New Balance Nationals Indoor (9:11.49), both PRs.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Maier | 12 | Flower Mound | 14:26.95 | 3 | |||
| 2 | Ryan Schoppe | 11 | La Porte | 14:27.58 | 3 | |||
| 3 | Graydon Morris | 11 | Aledo | 14:27.95 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Haftu Knight | 12 | Tyler Lee | 14:33.48 | 3 | |||
| 5 | Colin Baker | 12 | Academic Magnet | 14:35.53 | 3 | |||
| 6 | Zachary Kinne | 12 | North Allegheny | 14:38.43 | 3 | |||
| 7 | Anthony Monte | 11 | Austin Vandegrift | 14:39.29 | 3 | |||
| 8 | Jarrett Kirk | 11 | Flower Mound | 14:40.95 | 3 | |||
| 9 | Cole Lindhorst | 11 | Katy Tompkins | 14:41.80 | 3 | |||
| 10 | Myles Richter | 12 | Lewisville Hebron | 14:45.69 | 3 | |||