Curtis sets new national mark in the 10,000m

Gabriel Curtis, the older of the long distance brother tandem who showed flashes of brilliance at recent CARIFTA Championships, turned it up a level in his most recent outing.

Curtis, 20, broke a long-standing national record in the men’s men’s 10,000 meters (m), running 30:32.11 in an invitational event at the Virginia Challenge at the UVA (University of Virginia) Lanningan Field, in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Florida State University (FSU) freshman was 20th overall, running against top notch collegiate talent in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletics.

Curtis, a two-time medalist at CARIFTA, said he felt good about the run and is looking forward to continued improvement. It was his first official 10,000m run, and he is about three minutes off the Olympic qualifying time.

“This is a 25-lap race, so I just had to pace myself properly. It’s one of those races where you have to learn how to race it and not just survive it,” he said. “I felt like I did pretty good. With more experience, I feel like I will be able to drop my time significantly. I’m looking forward to going up against different competition and just continuing to improve.”

Curtis’ teammate, Adriaan Wildschutt, of South Africa, a senior, ran a new meet and facility record of 28:25.11 for the gold medal. Canadian Ehab El-Sandali, a junior for the Iona College Gaels, finished second in a personal best run of 28:50.66. American JP Trojan, a senior for the Syracuse Orange, finished third in 28:55.00.

As for Curtis, his 30 and a half minute run was almost a full minute faster than Philip Watkins’ 34-year-old national record that he set in 1987 in Jackson, Missouri. That former national record was 31:23.00.

The new men’s 10,000m mark is the only outdoor long distance national record on the books that is not held by Bahamian marathon runner O’Neil Williams, who welcomed the Curtis brothers to his training base in Iten, Kenya, a few years ago. The brothers, Gabriel and Curtis, were able to build off their experience from training with the world’s best distance runners in Kenya. Now back in the United States, in his first official year at FSU, older brother Gabriel said he just has to keep working hard to achieve the ultimate goal of being the top collegiate runner in the NCAA.

“Right now, I’m just training hard with the FSU cross country team and working hard every day. The goal is to be the top collegiate long distance runner in the nation,” he said. “I feel like I’m in good shape and just looking forward to 

continuing to improve. I just want to work hard and continue to stay on that path to becoming number one. I’m looking to continue to drop times and get regional marks for the NCAA and qualify for the NCAA Championships.”

The Bahamian standout collegiate runner is set to compete in the University of North Florida (UNF) Invitational this Thursday on the campus of UNF at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. He will run in the men’s 5,000m – an event in which he holds a personal best time of 14:33.99 that was done at the Pepsi Florida Relays at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida, earlier this month.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships is set for May 13-15 at the Paul Derr Track & Field Facility in Raleigh, North Carolina (NC) – the home of the NC State Wolfpack; the NCAA East Preliminaries will be held May 27-29 at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville – the home of the UNF Ospreys; and the NCAA Division I Championships is scheduled for June 9-12 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon – the home of the University of Oregon Ducks.

Curtis, who along with younger brother Mitchell, set numerous school and Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) top marks for the Mount Dora Christian Academy Bulldogs in Mount Dora, Florida, and leading them to back-to-back state cross country titles in 2017 and 2018, said he’s looking forward to continued improvement this season and eventually representing The Bahamas at senior international meets as well.

On the junior level, he represented The Bahamas at both the 2018 and 2019 CARIFTA Track and field Championships, winning medals each time, in Nassau, The Bahamas and George Town, Cayman Islands, respectively; and also the 2019 Pan American Under-20 Championships in San José, Costa Rica.

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