Eccleston, McDonald Triumph at HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. – A lively crowd, competitive fields and near perfect race conditions led to exhilarating finishes Wednesday evening at the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile, as Amanda Eccleston and Morgan McDonald kicked to victory in their respective mile races at Bay Shore High School.

Watch the races on-demand on RunnerSpace HERE.

From the gun, the rabbit for the evening’s race shot to the lead, but it was apparent early on that the field was content to run a more relaxed pace. While the rabbit ran hard to lead the field through in a quick 66 seconds, the entire field packed together and came through in 69 seconds.

Through the first lap Heather Kampf, Katie Mackey and Emily Lipari led the way, while at 600 meters it was BAA athlete Lauren Johnson moving to the lead and starting to push the pace a bit. 

Johnson continued to lead as the runners came through the half way point in 2:19, while Kampf and Lipari in tow. 

The third lap shaped the rest of the race. Johnson continued to set the pace, while Kampf, Eccleston, Mackey and Lipari ran off her shoulder, as the quintet separated themselves from the rest of the field. At the bell, the lead five remained the same, but it seemed only a matter of time before one of them made a more decisive move.

With 250 meters to go, Mackey shot past Kampf and Johnson, into the lead and started her drive towards the finish. Mackey led with Kampf and Eccleston on her heels as they rounded the final turn and as Kampf and Eccleston swung wide, they passed Mackey and it was a two woman battle with 100 meters to go. 

Stride for stride Kampf and Eccleston ran, both looking as if they might have the edge with 50 meters to go, but it was Eccleston with one more burst of speed to pass Kampf and cross the finish, arms raised and a smile on her face. Eccleston ran 4:32.58 to Kampf’s runner-up finish of 4:32.79.

Mackey charged home and hung on for a third place finish in 4:33.28, just ahead of Emily Lipari and Angel Piccorillo, who finished fourth and fifth in 4:33.61 and 4:33.68.

Canadian Kate Van Buskirk finished sixth in 4:34.27, Eleanor Fulton took home seventh in 4:35.70, Megan Mansy placed eighth in 4:36.58, while Heidi See and Lianne Farber came home in ninth and tenth place in 4:37.49 and 4:37.56 respectively.

Unlike the relatively conservative start to the women’s race, IAAF World Championship qualifier Andy Bayer made sure Wednesday’s men’s race was off to an honest pace. Following the rabbit closely, Bayer came through the first 400 meters in 57.5 seconds, then led the field through the half way mark in 1:57.8, with McDonald and David Ribich in tow.

The trio would continue to set the tone, as well as pull away from the field, the quick early pace challenging the rest of the pack. Bayer pushed the pace, showing the speed that made him one of the nation’s best middle distance runners while at Indiana University. 

At the bell, the three men charged through in 2:58.5, a good pace, but also one that a furious kick was sure to launch from. The three continued to grow their lead until 250 meters to go, when McDonald, a multi-time champion this past NCAA season at the University of Wisconsin, shot to the lead and put in a move that was clearly not going to be covered by anyone else in the field.

Making his finish look nearly effortless, McDonald charged down the homestretch, the fans in lane four and the infield wildly cheering him on, powering across the finish in 3:54.63.

Behind McDonald, Robert Domanic was able to outkick the rest of the field in the final 50 meters, taking home a well-earned runner-up finish in 3:57.41. Domanic held off a late charge by Riley Masters, who ran arguably his best non-5000m race of the year, placing third in 3:57.59.

Dillon Maggard of the Brooks Beasts also broke 3:58 by placing fourth overall in 3:57.76, while Tripp Hurt rounded out the top five with a 3:58.04 showing. 

A half stride behind hurt was Jeff Theis, who ran 3:58.07 to earn sixth overall, while Maggard’s Brooks Beast teammate Ribich finished seventh in 3:58.53. Travis Mahoney and Tim Gorman also broke the four minute barrier, finishing eighth and ninth respectively in 3:58.84 and 3:49.83, while Daniel Herrera concluded the top ten with a 4:00.36 performance.