Dunbar Third in Junior 5K

Erik Wander/KMXT

Kodiak’s own Trevor Dunbar capped off a highly successful high school running career Sunday by capturing third place in the junior men’s 5,000-meter race at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Next up for Dunbar is preparing for what looks to be a promising career as a collegiate runner. KMXT’s Erik Wander has more.

Running against mostly college freshmen, and one of only a small group of high school runners in the race, Dunbar finished the 5,000 meters with a time of 14 minutes, 43.98 seconds, nearly 10 seconds off his personal best, and 12 seconds behind winner Colby Lowe of Oklahoma. Another college freshman, Sean Keveren of Virginia, was second, finishing six seconds ahead of Dunbar. Reached on his way to Portland International Airport for his trip home, Dunbar said he’ll take the third place finish, but felt like he could have run better a better race in the hot and windy conditions.

— (Dunbar 1 41 sec. "I found myself in second place … it was a decent race.")

The race marked the final time Dunbar would compete as a high school runner. He reflected on a brilliant high school running career and said he’s looking forward to competing at the collegiate level.

— (Dunbar 2 33 sec. "Putting a lot of emphasis … which I’m really excited for.")

Dunbar, who finished as the top high school runner in Sunday’s race, said competing against collegiate runners was a good experience as he prepares for his college running career.

— (Dunbar 3 32 sec. "I was the first high school … into college next year.")

Sunday marked just the fourth time Dunbar has run 5,000 meters on a track. He said looks forward to doing so more often because the distance tends to play into his strengths.

— (Dunbar 4 25 sec. "I like getting in that rhythm … it’s an awesome feeling.")

On his way back to Kodiak for the summer, Dunbar said he plans to take some time off before running again.

— (Dunbar 5 12 sec. "Start to get in better and … good solid runners on my team.")

Dunbar’s accomplishments as a high school athlete include multiple state track and field and cross country titles. He’s also won races at national events in the past year, such as the Nike Outdoor Nationals and the Adidas Cross-Country Classic. He begins his college running career this fall at the University of Portland.

I’m Erik Wander.

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