AIDEN MONISTERE AND CORBIN COOMBS BATTLE IT OUT IN THE MILE AT THE VA SHOWCASE
In the immortal words of the great philosopher Ric Flair, "To be the man, you have to BEAT the man."
That's is exactly what Parkview Baptist senior Aiden Monistere did on Friday in the invitational Mile at The VA Showcase in Virginia Beach, Va. winning with the invitational mile with a meet record time of 4:07.87--and slaying a few dragons in the process.
1,132 miles away, Louisiana's legendary public address announcer, Mike Boyer, played the role of prophet as he called LSU's home opener--The Purple Tiger Invitational at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse where last Saturday he watched and called Monistere's (4:11) record-breaking 1600m opener which erased Rhen Langley's fieldhouse composite record of 4:13.
Monistere's 4:11 is the fastest 1600m this year on a flat indoor track.
"He is going to break the record," Boyer said on Friday between collegiate races. But Boyer wasn't talking about Tinoda Matsatsa's 2023 VA Showcase meet record of 4:10.87. He was referring to Bobby Beck's all-time Louisiana indoor 4:08 mile.
"You won't find it (Beck's indoor mile record) in the books," Boyer said of Beck's 4:08 indoor mile. "But he ran it. I was there."
What is on "the books" is Ryan Travis' indoor mile time of 4:08.19 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in 1997. After almost three decades at the No. 1 spot, Travis moves to No. 2 on Louisiana's all-time list.
It was a good run for Travis, replaced by an amazing performance by Monistere.
INTERVIEW! AIDEN MONISTERE TALKS ABOUT HIS HISTORIC 4:07.87 AT THE VA SHOWCASE
The aforementioned dragons included Las Cruces, New Mexico's Corbin Coombs, who ran a 4:02 in the 1600m last spring at the HOKA Festival of Miles and Tsedeke Jakovics (4:14.19), who is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation in the indoor mile.
Monistere's time ranks No. 2 in the nation behind Newton High School's (Connecticut) Soheib Dissa, who ran a 4:06.64 at the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge in late December.
"I knew if I was in the right position going into the 600m--that's when I thought it (the race) would start turning up and that's what it did," Monistere said. "I knew if I was close to Corbin it was going to be a fight...whoever was together during that last 400m it would be a rough fight. I knew we were all quick--especially with some 800m runners. So long as I'm close I have a chance. At 400m, he moved away from me for a little bit, but I just kept fighting. It worked out. It was a good time. I'm pretty happy with it."
"Pretty happy" with the No. 1 indoor mile time in La. history? That's as good as you are going to get from Monistere, who never gets too high or too low--despite a high school career that has been plagued with injury. Only in the last year has Monistere found a training regimen, characterized by comparatively low mileage and cross-training, which has served him well on his quest.
During the post-race interview, Monistere was informed about his 57 second final 400m. To say the least, he was surprised.
"I knew it was going to be a fast race," Monistere said. "I wasn't going to be surprised if it was a 4:05 or anything like that. Coming in we were I think 1:02 so we were like a 4:08 pace. I've always had a little kick, but not like last year when I was getting the endurance in me, but I was not expecting to close out that fast. That's kind of surprising. I mean it felt good so we'll see how it goes."
As for Coombs, who referred to his opening race of 2025 indoor season as a "decent start," he gave credit to Monistere.
"Shout out to Aiden for have a great race and getting the win," Coombs said.
LOUISIANA'S ALL-TIME INDOOR MILE LIST!
It was a fantastic finish for both runners, who battled to the end. Coombs' separated for a brief moment with 400m to go, but was passed by Monistere on the bell lap. The trademark Monistere grimace was there over the last 50 meters as Coombs attempted one last push for the tape.
"I tried my best to stay on it and hopefully take it," Coombs said. "But in the end, I just broke down more than he did."
After running a 4:02 last spring and being ranked as the No. 4 returning 1600m Runner in the nation for the 2025 outdoor season, Coombs has invitations in hand to the Milrose Games and Nike Indoor Nationals. Monistere, who wasn't even the top ranked returning miler in Louisiana heading into this season, is hoping that performances like the one he threw down on Friday will lead to invitations and national championships where he will have the opportunity to put even more skins on the wall before closing out his high school career.
Monistere isn't finished in Virginia just yet. He will run in the two mile at the VA Showcase today. The race is scheduled for a