Grant Fisher and Nico Young lead eight under Olympic 10,000 threshold – Orange County Register

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — For American distance running star Grant Fisher and his coach Mike Scannell, Saturday night's eponymous event at The Ten was a checkpoint on the way to the Paris Olympics later this summer. It was something like that.

“This was a debrief as we are at the end of our first training block season,” Scannell said. “How are you doing these days? Let's say you want to check everything. Check the box.”

So what was the answer?

“Everything is fine,” Scannell said before flashing a big smile.

The same can be said for American long-distance running.

Fisher, the four-distance American record holder, led a field of eight boys under the Olympic 10,000-meter qualifying standard of 27 minutes, winning in 26 minutes, 52.04 seconds at J.Serra High School.

Right behind him was Northern Arizona's Nico Young, formerly of Newbury Park High School, who ran a time of 26:52.72, breaking the 14-year-old college record set by Liberty University's Sam Chelanga.

Woody Kincaid, Fisher's former training partner at Nike's Bowerman Track Club, finished seventh in 26:57.52, the second-fastest time in 10,000m history. The only time his 27:00 time was better in a single race was at his 2011 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene (9).

“Our goal was sub-27, and we achieved it,” Fisher said.