Chris Moen took a big step forward in his running career this past weekend at the Boston University Terrier Invitational. A graduate of Appalachian State, Moen is a 2nd year ZAP-Reebok athlete who saw big personal bests in the 3000m steeplechase last spring and the 1,500m run, and this past weekend Moen saw another personal best. This time it was over the flat 3,000m distance, and his performance of 7:58.67 qualified him for his first every US Championship. The run was an 8 second personal best for Moen, and garnered him a 2nd place finish in the race. The rabbit pulled the field through in the 1,600m mark in 4:16, perfect pace for the US qualifying standard of 8:00. After that Moen took the lead through 2,000m in 5:21 before he was passed by the eventual winner, a Canadian athlete. Moen found himself out on his own, distanced from the rest of the pack in 2nd place for much of the final kilometer and was able to rally the final 600m to close well and dip under the qualifying standard to punch his ticket back up to Boston for the US Indoor Championships in 4 weeks.
Also joining Moen in Boston was 1st year athlete John Simons. Simons took another step forward in his first track season in a ZAP-Reebok uniform with a 4:04 performance in the mile, and after missing time this winter due to sickness Simons is looking forward to competing against some of the world’s best athletes in the 2 mile at the historic Millrose Games on February 14th.