It was once widely regarded as an unbeatable time, but sophomore Aidan McCarthy and junior Xian Shively of Cal Poly Track and Field broke the improbable time of four minutes in the mile run at the Boston University Last Chance Invite on Sunday, Feb. 26.
McCarthy and Shively etched their names as the only Cal Poly athletes to break the four-minute mark. McCarthy led the way with the new school record of 3:59.42, with Shiveley behind him at 3:59.74.
For McCarthy, this time seemed to be inevitable, as the 2022 Big West 800-meter champion had been flirting with the time the last couple of meets. Most recently, he ran a 4:00.16 at the UW Invitational on Jan. 28.
Shively, on the other hand, shaved nearly three seconds off his personal best time to beat the four-minute mark. He last ran a 4:02.72 at the UW Invitational.
They finished in second place and fourth place in heat four and 31st and 33rd overall in a national field of over 120 runners.
The renowned BU Track & Tennis Center is widely known as a fast track, with the world record in the men’s mile (3:47.01) recorded there in 2019. Proving this point, 34 men ran sub-four-minute miles Sunday.
Sophomore Spencer Pickren and freshman Carson Smith ran, with Smith being the rabbit setting the pace. Pickren entered the meet eyeing the four-minute mark, but came up short (4:06.44) and finished in 51st place.
The rest of the Mustangs were back in San Luis Obispo gearing up for the official beginning of the outdoor season with the Cal Poly Open on Friday, Mar. 3 at the Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex.
