What a great way to kick off the season!
Kenan Dagge (Desert Oasis HS) opened up his senior year with a blazing 8:54.71 in his first meet of the year. Dagge crossed state lines to attend the Buchanan Distance Classic, and was rewarded with a new Nevada State Record in the 3200m.
Prior to Dagge's performance, the state record was 8:54.83, and had been set at the Arcadia Invitational in 2022. That record has been set during the Seeded section of the meet, one tier under the Invitational, and belonged to Kutoven Stevens (Yerington HS). In that race, Stevens placed 4th and was one of nine individuals to go under 9-minutes in that particular race. This weekend, Dagge managed to run just under that time...but solo. The senior from Nevada put almost 40-seconds between him and the runner-up in the race.
It'll be quite interesting to see how the senior approaches this season given his performance from Saturday. Will he opt for a more conservative racing schedule in the time leading up to Arcadia Invitational? Or maybe he'll prefer to race as much as possible in the early stages of the season then settle down towards late April?
Regardless, Kenan Dagge is now a Nevada all-time great because it's not everyday you cut 20 seconds off your P.R on your season opener.