By Emma Childs
Stanford freshman Grant Fisher pulled away from the tight pack around the Bowerman curve to win the men’s 1,500-meter Pac-12 title Sunday, in a time of 3 minutes, 54.67 seconds.
Fisher knew he had some fierce competition behind him—there were only four seconds separating him from the last man in the race. The wind was in his favor, he said: “It was nice knowing that I wouldn’t have to be fighting the wind at the end.”
He outraced Blake Haney, a junior from the University of Oregon. Haney finished just a second behind Fisher in a time of 3:55.55. Fisher and Haney have been racing against each other since high school.
Fisher was a decorated high school distance runner, as he was the seventh American high school runner to break four minutes in the mile and represented the United States in the 1,500-meter race at the 2013 IAAF World Junior Championships.
Fisher said that he’s been in the same position as Haney was Sunday. “I think I caught a few people by surprise with my move,” said Fisher. “It’s always tough to kind of claw your way back. I’ve been on the other end of that with Blake before.”
Haney said he was trying to go with Fisher at the end, but just could not catch up to him.
Fisher was not expecting to win. He rested all of indoor season due to a hip flexor injury, but he said coming back healthy has helped build his confidence. His progress showed when he began to outkick all the runners in the pack.
His goal was to get to the front of the pack. Last year he said he repeatedly dropped to the back in races and feels like he has grown into his own. He is focused on getting his presence known in packs.
Fisher did just that on Sunday. “I felt like it was just time to go on that back stretch and just wanted to make it happen,” he said.
He has raced against many of the competitors many times before and said he felt comfortable because he knew the competition.
Fisher said he is always excited to race Haney and Sam Prakel from Oregon: “They bring out the best in everybody.”
