After breaking 28-year-old Tennessee Vols record, Zach Long says he can run faster
Untapped potential can be the scariest — and, at the same time, most exhilarating — attribute for an athlete.
It’s one of those things that makes Zach Long smile every day on the track.
Long, a junior who is one of the pillars of the Tennessee track and field program, is convinced he has a 10-second improvement somewhere deep inside, heading into the two-day SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships starting Saturday at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
In late January, the floppy-haired distance ace from Grainger High School smashed a 28-year-old Tennessee indoor school record (the race isn’t contested outdoors) and the mental barrier in the 3,000-meter run by being clocked in 7:59.15
That’s good; good enough for the No. 4 seed this weekend. But if Long wants to rub elbows with the SEC’s elite at the finish line, it will take another 10 seconds or so to make that happen.
“I thought I had (a 7:59) in me,” Long said Tuesday. “I honestly think I have more in me.”
No bragging, just fact.
“I feel I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in in my life,” he said. “The sky’s the limit. If I can get in the right race. … I kinda like not knowing what I’m capable of right now.
“I like to take chances in a race. If the pack starts to (push the pace), I’m gonna go. I’ll fight for everything. When a guy is 10 seconds (faster) than me, the little things become that much more important."
Long is taking steps toward success
Long’s journey toward college track’s elite was born out of frustration last year. After a poor showing in the 1,500 at the SEC Outdoor championships, he took out his anger in the 5,000. He hit NCAA Championships qualifying time (13:54.49), then advanced to the finals from the NCAA East prelim.
“I just see (last year) as experience; a confidence builder,” Long said. “When you go race people, you think, ‘Well, I’ve raced the national championship.’ It makes the other meets a little bit smaller. Nerves don’t quite get you as much.”
Once on the main stage, Long placed 12th, earning second-team All-America honors.
"That was a big step forward,” said Beth Alford-Sullivan, Tennessee’s director of track and field. “It proved to him he can compete emotionally and mentally at the highest level.
“He represented Tennessee at the highest level. That means the world to him.”
The 3K is a unique event in indoor
Alford-Sullivan is convinced the 3,000 is a thinking man’s or woman’s race.
“The 3K is a more tactical race than most,” she said. “That helps Zach. He’s humble, coachable. He trusts the system and has a natural feel for tactics.”
It combines speed and endurance, with plenty of opportunities for strategy.
“It’s like a hybrid race,” Long said. “It’s where the milers and the 5K guys come together. You need the strength of the 5K, but then toward the end of the race, when closing in on sub-60 seconds for a lap, that’s where the mile speed comes in.
“You always have to be ready to just shut down all the thinking and take off and go with it.”
More indoor success at UT
Besides Long’s mark in the 3,000, two other school records fell during the indoor portion of the season.
Nathan Strother was clocked at 45.56 in the men's 400 to break Gary Kikaya's 2003 school mark of 45.71.
Stamatia Scarvelis etched her name atop the list in the women's weight throw by reaching 73 feet, 0.75 inches and also in the shot put at 58-3.75.
Al Lesar is a freelance contributor.