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Nelson’s record is still intact
TRACK AND FIELD: Former Burbank star in attendance at state event to watch runner come close to breaking the 29-year-old national mark.
By Jeff Tully
BURBANK — In a two-mile race on May 6, 1979 at the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA, Jeff Nelson achieved distance-running immortality.
In the meet, the Burbank High athlete found himself competing against top collegiate and Olympic-caliber athletes.
“When I was about to run the race, [Burbank] Coach [Dave] Kemp came over to me and whispered in my ear ’You’re going to run 8:35 today,’ ” said Nelson in a 2004 interview with the Leader. “He thought I could really do it."
Nelson took to the track and finished third in a stunning time of 8 minutes, 36.3 seconds. The mark shattered Craig Virgin’s national prep outdoor record of 8:40.9, and propelled Nelson to running stardom.
Almost 30 years later, the record is yet to be eclipsed.
Even though the two-mile race has since been replaced by the 3,200 meters, no runner has been able to best Nelson’s record when the time is converted to two miles.
Saturday, Nelson was at the CIF-California Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College. Like many fans in attendance, he was anticipating an assault on his record.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Senior German Fernandez finished first in the boys’ 3,200 with an amazing 8:34.23.
After running seven laps in record fashion, Fernandez — from the small Northern California school of Riverbank — needed a last lap of 60.5 to set the new mark.
Fernandez ran the first 200 in 31.4 and finished with a final 200 of 30.1 for a fantastic result, which was the fastest time ever run in high school competition.
However, the effort just missed Nelson’s mark, as Fernandez’ converted time put him at 8:37.24 over two miles.
Fernandez might have been able to break Nelson’s mark if he had concentrated on just the 3,200 in Saturday’s meet. However, the senior also competed in the 1,600.
In the 1,600, Fernandez ran to an amazing 4:00.29 result to easily win the race and pull off one of the most remarkable doubles in high school track and field history.
Much like Fernandez, Nelson didn’t disappoint in his final high school race. Competing in the two-mile race — which was changed to 3,200 meters the next year — in 1979 at the same Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College, Nelson put on an amazing display.
Running in temperatures over 100 degrees, Nelson came around the first mile in a blistering pace of 4:27.8. During the second mile, the Burbank runner maintained his pace until Nelson took off on a dizzying pace for the final few laps of the race.
Nelson clocked a 4:20 over the final mile to win the race with a huge eight-second margin in 8:47.4.
It was Nelson’s second straight state championship in the two-mile, as he won the 1978 event in 8:59.29.
After high school, Nelson ran for the University of Oregon, a school known for churning out talented distance runners. As a freshman in 1979, Nelson was the fifth man on a Ducks’ men’s cross-country team that finished second in the NCAA championships.
However, after suffering a stress fracture in his ankle, coupled with problems with an Oregon coaching staff that continued to push him despite the injury, Nelson left Eugene and returned to Burbank.
He enrolled at GCC and led the Vaqueros to a state community college title at Griffith Park. During the 1981 track and field season, Nelson ran a 4:04 anchor leg in the mile to help GCC set a national record in the distance medley relay.
Unfortunately, Nelson’s competitive career didn’t end the way he would have liked, as injuries forced him leave the Vaquero program, and stop running all together.
In the meet, the Burbank High athlete found himself competing against top collegiate and Olympic-caliber athletes.
“When I was about to run the race, [Burbank] Coach [Dave] Kemp came over to me and whispered in my ear ’You’re going to run 8:35 today,’ ” said Nelson in a 2004 interview with the Leader. “He thought I could really do it."
Nelson took to the track and finished third in a stunning time of 8 minutes, 36.3 seconds. The mark shattered Craig Virgin’s national prep outdoor record of 8:40.9, and propelled Nelson to running stardom.
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Even though the two-mile race has since been replaced by the 3,200 meters, no runner has been able to best Nelson’s record when the time is converted to two miles.
Saturday, Nelson was at the CIF-California Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College. Like many fans in attendance, he was anticipating an assault on his record.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Senior German Fernandez finished first in the boys’ 3,200 with an amazing 8:34.23.
After running seven laps in record fashion, Fernandez — from the small Northern California school of Riverbank — needed a last lap of 60.5 to set the new mark.
Fernandez ran the first 200 in 31.4 and finished with a final 200 of 30.1 for a fantastic result, which was the fastest time ever run in high school competition.
However, the effort just missed Nelson’s mark, as Fernandez’ converted time put him at 8:37.24 over two miles.
Fernandez might have been able to break Nelson’s mark if he had concentrated on just the 3,200 in Saturday’s meet. However, the senior also competed in the 1,600.
In the 1,600, Fernandez ran to an amazing 4:00.29 result to easily win the race and pull off one of the most remarkable doubles in high school track and field history.
Much like Fernandez, Nelson didn’t disappoint in his final high school race. Competing in the two-mile race — which was changed to 3,200 meters the next year — in 1979 at the same Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College, Nelson put on an amazing display.
Running in temperatures over 100 degrees, Nelson came around the first mile in a blistering pace of 4:27.8. During the second mile, the Burbank runner maintained his pace until Nelson took off on a dizzying pace for the final few laps of the race.
Nelson clocked a 4:20 over the final mile to win the race with a huge eight-second margin in 8:47.4.
It was Nelson’s second straight state championship in the two-mile, as he won the 1978 event in 8:59.29.
After high school, Nelson ran for the University of Oregon, a school known for churning out talented distance runners. As a freshman in 1979, Nelson was the fifth man on a Ducks’ men’s cross-country team that finished second in the NCAA championships.
However, after suffering a stress fracture in his ankle, coupled with problems with an Oregon coaching staff that continued to push him despite the injury, Nelson left Eugene and returned to Burbank.
He enrolled at GCC and led the Vaqueros to a state community college title at Griffith Park. During the 1981 track and field season, Nelson ran a 4:04 anchor leg in the mile to help GCC set a national record in the distance medley relay.
Unfortunately, Nelson’s competitive career didn’t end the way he would have liked, as injuries forced him leave the Vaquero program, and stop running all together.
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