Zach Panning Helped Drive The Pace Into The 23rd Mile, But Conner Mantz and Clayton Young Encouraged One Another To Finish Line As BYU Teammates Go 1-2

By David Woods for DyeStat

Logan Hannigan-Downs Photos

ORLANDO, Fla. – At a distance that is often unpredictable, the marathon at these U.S. Olympic Trials followed the script Saturday.

Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, training partners who were the two fastest qualifiers, finished first and second. Leonard Korir, who was fourth in 2020, finished third.

There is your team, assuming Korir makes it when World Athletics announces the Paris Olympics cut in May.

On a morning that began with the temperature at 61 and rose to 70 at the finish, conditions weren’t as oppressive as some had feared. Indeed, for nearly two hours, Zach Panning appeared intent on meeting the 2:08:10 standard and towing others along with him.

POST-RACE VIDEOS | DAVID HICKS GALLERY

Panning effectively led from the sixth through the 23rd mile of 26.2. He finished sixth but won over skeptics and critics, and certainly the respect of peers.

“Honestly, my heart breaks for Zach for taking sixth,” Young said. “He is what made that race happen today.”

Panning passed the half-marathon in 1:04:07. From the 16th through 20th mile, he ran miles of 4:48, 4:44, 4:52, 4:53 and 4:51. At that checkpoint, he was on 2:07:38 pace.

Panning, Young and Mantz slowed to 4:59 in the 21st mile but were still 16 seconds ahead of everyone else. At the start of the final eight-mile loop, Young and Mantz slapped hands as if to signal their control of one-two.

Mantz crossed the line in 2:09:05. Young deferred, putting his hands down as if to infer “you first,” and was second in 2:09:06. Both were just off the trials record of 2:09:02 set by Ryan Hall in November 2007.

“There was absolutely no rehearsal,” Mantz said. “I was just trying to get to the finish line as soon as I could because I thought I might collapse and not finish.”

Panning, 28, a Fort Wayne, Ind., native who was a three-time NCAA Division 2 champion at Grand Valley State, conceded his inexperience showed. He slowed to 6:03 in his 26th mile.

“Maybe I got a little antsy just a little early. Just maybe a pinch too excited,” he said. “Hindsight is 20-20. I’m really proud of how I raced. I think I did everything I could.”

Korir, a 37-year-old born in Kenya and representing the U.S. Army, passed two runners in the last two miles to claim a provisional hold on the third spot in 2:09:57.

Elkanah Kibet, 40, also Kenyan-born and a four-time World Championships marathoner, was fourth in 2:10:02 – an American masters record. CJ Albertson was fifth in 2:10:07, and Panning clocked 2:10:53.

Commonalities for Mantz, 27, and Young, 30, are numerous.

Both are Utah natives who went on Mormon missions after high school. Both went to BYU to be coached by Ed Eyestone, a two-time Olympic marathoner. Both are NCAA champions, Mantz in cross country and Young at 10,000 meters. Young joked their partnership is almost like marriage.

Near the finish, Young said, he told Mantz:

“Let’s do this. We’re doing it. Stick on me. Relax. Enjoy it. Soak it in, soak it in.”

Mantz veered off course with the intent of grabbing an American flag, but a race official said runners were not to be given flags if the race was close – which this one was.

Young was nowhere close to the front in his first marathon. He was 136th at the trials in 2020.

“You look back on it, it was probably a little bit stupid,” he said. “It was a terrible debut. I look back now and know that paid off in my preparation and my performance today.”

Two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp, 37, winner of the past two trials marathons, finished 16th in 2:14:07.

Among the DNFs: five-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, 47, after eight miles, two-time Olympic track medalist Paul Chelimo, 33, after 17 miles; Sam Chelanga, 38, after 18 miles.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007