Paul Bergeron got his outdoor season off to a fantastic start on Saturday night.
The Westford Academy junior traveled out west this weekend to participate in the prestigious Arcadia (CA) Invitational. It was there that he was part of a record-setting 3,200-meter race where a total of 42 runners broke nine minutes!
Bergeron led in the late stages of the seeded section en route to an eventual fourth-place finish with a time of 8 minutes, 52.78 seconds. Utah’s Simeon Birnbaum of Rapid Stevens won the overall title by capturing the Invitational 3,200m with a new national record of 8:34.10. That race saw 17 dip under 8:50 for the eight-lapper!
Bergeron’s effort converts to about an 8:55 for the two-mile distance. The current state mark for the deuce is 8:50.82 by Newton North’s Chris Barnicle from the now-defunct Hartford Invitational in 2004.
