Dream run

FAIRBANKS — It was just as he pictured it.

Palmer senior Jake Parisien lived a dream Friday afternoon, winning the 3,200-meter event of the 2008 4A State Track and Field Championships in record-breaking fashion.

Parisien stormed across the finish line at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks with a time of 9 minutes and 11.27 seconds, shattering the state record by 14 seconds.

“I’ve been dreaming about that moment since January, running through the finish line holding up the fingers,” Parisien said by cell phone on Saturday after helping lead Palmer to a second-place finish in the 4A boys’ team standings. “I’ve been picturing that all week during practice, all night the night before.”

With the win, Parisien also beat Kodiak junior Trevor Dunbar, a friend off the field but longtime nemisis on the track. Dunbar held the old record, a mark of 9:25.26 he set last year.

The talented Kodiak runner, who is also the state’s reigning cross country running champion, had beaten Parisien by at least six seconds in a race earlier this season. But gradually, the Palmer senior kept chewing away the time that seperated him and Dunbar.

Last week, Dunbar and Parisien both broke the Northern Lights Conference record in the 3,200, but Dunbar edged Parisien by two seconds in the conference final.

In that race Parisien clung to Dunbar’s right shoulder for most of the run, but Dunbar used a surge in the final 400 meters to get the confernece title.

Although Dunbar scored the NLC win, running with the region champ gave Parisien the confidence to do what needed to be done in the state meet.

Parisien also said he used a different strategy to beat Dunbar, who finished in second place at 9:13.68.

Parisien, who will run next season at UAA, consulted the Seawolf coaching staff and his future coaches advised him to find the extra gear as he headed into the final lap.

In the past, Parisien said, he would just try to run with Dunbar, and the Kodiak junior would out-kick him in the final leg of the race.

“I didn’t want to go the last 200 with Trevor, he has way-better foot speed,” Parisien said.

So rather than letting Dunbar make the moves, Parisien made his own moves.

“I was going all or nothing,” Parisien said. “The strategy worked perfectly.”

Although Parisien’s win is classified as an upset, Palmer head coach Dale Ewart said he had confidence in his senior distance champ.

“I knew he had it in him,” Ewart said by cell phone on Saturday.

Parisien also helped the Moose post a first-place finish in the 3,200-meter relay. He and teammates Rick LeCheminant, Ryan Cunningham and Kevin Smith used a time of 8:07.88 to edge Colony by just a tenth of a second.

Smith and Colony senior Brad Truax traded the lead throughout the final 400 meters, but the Palmer senior leaned across the finish line to give the Moose the win.

“Kevin found another gear and out-leaned him,” Parisien said. “It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.”

Parisien also scored a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter — finishing second to Dunbar — and was seventh in the 800.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.