Cristian Soratos

Last updated
Cristian Soratos
USATF day 3 2018 (42073853905).jpg
Soratos at the 2018 USA Outdoor Track Championships
Personal information
Nickname(s)"Buzzard"
Born (1992-09-26) September 26, 1992 (age 29)
Salinas, California, U.S.
Sport
Sport Track, Ballin' on Twitch
Event(s) 1500 meters, mile, 800 meters
College team Montana State, Hartnell College Panthers
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 1500m : 3:36.73 [1]
Mile : 3:54.23i [1] 1
Updated on February 3, 2018.

Cristian Soratos (born September 26, 1992) is an American professional middle-distance runner. Born in Salinas, California, he first took up competitive running at Salinas High School. He then ran at Hartnell College where he eventually became All-State, after which he was recruited to Montana State University. After running several races at high altitude, Soratos ran his first sub-4 minute mile in 2015, and went on to emerge as one of the fastest collegiate runners in the United States. On June 25, 2015, he became a professional runner when he signed a contract to be sponsored by Adidas. [2]

Contents

Running career

High school

Soratos attended Salinas High School in Salinas, California. He was known to have been a runner of small stature. As a senior in high school, Soratos recorded a personal best 1600 meter time of 4:23.26. [3] He was not subsequently recruited to a track program, and continued his post-high school running career voluntarily.

Collegiate

"My coach and I joke around when we see the trailers for the movie McFarland, USA and call it ‘Hartnell, USA’ because that’s what the culture was like...There was a heavy Hispanic presence there, and it was comfortable. I wanted to keep running."

Cristian Soratos, March 2015 [4]

Soratos first attended Hartnell College, where he began training for cross country and track under coach and former La Habra standout Chris Zepeda. [4] Soratos broke school records on the track. [5] At Hartnell, Soratos pursued a high-mileage training program which at one point involved running 80 miles per week. [4]

In his sophomore year at Hartnell, Soratos won four Coast Conference titles and recorded 3:47 at the 2012 California Community College Athletic Association state track and field championships in the 1500 meters, [6] and subsequently transferred to Montana State University at the insisting of MSU coach Lyle Weese, who was once a standout MSU steeplechaser, professional runner, and Hartnell coach. [7]

In one of MSU's home meets, on January 16, 2015, Soratos ran a 4:05 indoor mile, which the NCAA converted to a 3:56 result due to Bozeman's altitude of approximately 4,400 feet above sea level. [8] It was the first race in which Soratos wore his Sonic the Hedgehog long socks, which attracted much attention in the sport. [9]

Commentary from enthusiasts and experts alike was overwhelmingly skeptical of the NCAA-converted result. [8] However, the following month, Soratos garnered national attention when he ran the indoor mile of at the 2015 University of Washington Huskey Classic, whose venue was much closer to sea level, with a time of 3:55.27. [10]

The result automatically put Soratos in first place in the collegiate men's national leaderboard for the indoor mile, and also qualified him for the NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field Championships.

At the 2015 NCAA DI Indoor T&F Championships, Soratos placed second in an extraordinary indoor mile finals race behind Edward Cheserek, during which Soratos, after running the first three laps at approximately 64 seconds per 400 meters, exploded into the lead after the third lap with a 53.36 second 400-meter split in the middle of the mile race. [11] Although Soratos finished behind Cheserek, a running website, Letsrun.com, called the race "a mid-race surge for the ages" in reference to Cristian's mid-race burst. [11]

Professional

On the morning of June 25, 2015, Soratos signed with Adidas, and later in the same day ran in the men's 1500 meters of the 2015 USA Outdoor T&F Championships, where he finished 24th overall. [2] On September 9, 2015, Soratos ran Hoka One One's Long Island Mile in New York in a time of 3:58.70, placing fourth overall. [12] On June 2, 2016, Soratos raced at the Festival of Miles in St. Louis, finishing in third place with a time of 3:57.39. [13]

On February 11, 2017, Soratos made a significant breakthrough when he finished in first place in the men's invitational mile at the 2017 Millrose Games. He finished in a new personal best time of 3:54.23. [14]

On August 3, 2018, Soratos ran 3:59.16 for the men's mile at the loaded 2018 Sir Walter Miler, finishing in last place. [15] All 13 men in the race ran under four minutes, with Lopez Lomong winning in 3:53.86. [15]

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
representing Adidas
2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Eugene, Oregon 24th1500 m 3:49.50 [16]
2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Portland, Oregon 7th1500 m 3:48.33 [17]
2017 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Albuquerque, New Mexico 2ndMile3:59.56 [18]
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Sacramento, California 5th1500 m3:44.49 [19]
2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Des Moines, Iowa 8th1500 m3:44.12 [20]

Notes

^1 The "i" next to a result indicates an indoor performance.

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References

  1. 1 2 IAAF. "IAAF: Cristian Soratos - Athlete Profile" . Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Gabriel Parker (June 25, 2015). "Soratos signs with adidas, finishes 24th in first pro race" . Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ Athletic.net - Cristian Soratos
  4. 1 2 3 Christopher Chavez (March 12, 2015). "Cristian Soratos finds stride at Montana State".
  5. ↑ Hartnell's Leon to Montana State California Community College Athletic Association. December 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ 2010-2012 Cristian Soratos Hartnell College cross country and track and field results TFRRS. June 2012.
  7. ↑ Matthew Hoffman (March 5, 2015). "Cristian Soratos, The Unlikely NCAA Mile Leader".
  8. 1 2 Jeff Welsch (March 12, 2015). "Who's No. 1? At MSU it's Soratos, by a mile".
  9. ↑ Letsrun.com (March 13, 2015). "Is It The Socks? Cristian Soratos Reveals He First Wore Sonic The Hedgehog Socks When He Ran His 3:56.87 Mile Equivalent".
  10. ↑ John Devine (February 22, 2015). "County Clipboard: Salinas High, Hartnell grad Cristian Soratos runs nation-leading time in mile".
  11. 1 2 Letsrun.com (March 14, 2015). "Cristian Soratos Goes For It But Edward Cheserek Runs 2:19 Last 1k To Win Men's Mile at 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships".
  12. ↑ Runnerspace.com: Hoka One One Long Island Mile Results (September 9, 2015). Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  13. ↑ MileSplit: Nike Festival of Miles - Mens 1 Mile Run. Results by TRXC Timing, LLC. June 2, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  14. ↑ ArmoryTrack.com (February 11, 2017). "RunnerSpace: ArmoryTrack.com - 110th NYRR Millrose Games Results" . Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Runnerspace.com: Sir Walter Miler - 2018 Results". August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  16. ↑ "2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Results". USATF . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ "2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Results 3/11/2016 to 3/12/2016 Portland Convention Center -- Portland, Oregon". USATF . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  18. ↑ "2017 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships Results - 3/5/2017 Albuquerque, New Mexico". USATF . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ "2017 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results - 6/22/2017 to 6/25/2017 Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, California". USATF . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  20. ↑ "2018 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results - 6/21/2018 to 6/24/2018 Drake Stadium". USATF . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
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