NC State junior Ryan Hill broke the American collegiate record for the 3,000-meter run, smashing the previous record set by Oregon’s Galen Rupp.

Competing in the Flotrack Husky Classic in Seattle, the five-time All-American from Hickory, N.C., ran a time of 7:43.08 at Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Track, beating Northern Arizona’s Diego Estrada by more than 1 ½ seconds.

It’s the fastest indoor 3,000 meters ever run by an American collegiate runner, topping Rupp’s previous mark of 7:44.69. It’s the fourth fastest 3,000 meters ever run by a collegiate runner of any nationality, according to Track and Field News.

It also far exceeds Hill’s previous best in the event: last year at this same race, he broke the NC State and ACC record with a time of 7:50.38.

Heading into the final lap, Hill trailed Estrada by a few strides, as he had most of the race, and was losing distance. The two were running 62 seconds per 400 meters, so they knew the overall time would be close to Hill’s previous best mark. With about 600 meters to go, Hill increased his pace and pulled even with Estrada and the two runners matched strides for a few moments.

“I looked over and saw that he didn’t have a lot left, so I went off on a little kick and pulled away from him,” Hill said.

He wasn’t expecting what he saw on the electronic clock when he crossed the finish line.

“I was pretty shocked,” Hill said. “I went into the race hoping to get the NCAA automatic qualifying time (7:52.00). I did a double take when I saw 7:43 pop up on the clock.

“It was pretty hard to fathom.”

Head coach Rollie Geiger didn’t see his three-time cross country All-American and two-time track All-American break the record. He was with other runners in Boston at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. He knew, however, the magnitude of the accomplishment.

“This is huge for Ryan and huge for our program,” Geiger said. “This is a great accomplishment by a kid from here in North Carolina who has a great future ahead of him.”

– NC State release