Kyle Merber

Last updated
Kyle Merber
Kyle Merber.jpg
Personal information
Nationality American
Born (1990-11-19) 19 November 1990 (age 32)
Bronxville, New York
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight138 lb (63 kg)
Website http://kylemerber.com/
Sport
Event(s) Mile, 1500 metres
College team Columbia
Texas
ClubNew Jersey*New York Track Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 800 meters : 1:47.23 [1]
1500 meters : 3:34.54 [1]

Kyle Merber (born November 19, 1990) [2] is a former American mid-distance runner who specialized in the mile and the 1500 metres. He was sponsored by Hoka One One and competed for the New Jersey New York Track Club before retiring from the sport in 2021.

Contents

Running career

High school

In 6th grade, Merber began sprint training with Charlie Bell, a local high school coach from New Jersey. [3] He would practice sprinting with a bungee cord tied to him for strength development. [3] Merber attended Half Hollow Hills West High School in New York, where he competed in cross country and track. [3] During high school he was successful in a wide range of events, posting personal bests of 1:53 in the 800 meters and 9:06 in the 3200 meters. [3]

Collegiate

Merber first attended Columbia University, where he specialized in the mile and 1500. At Columbia, Merber set the Ivy League indoor mile record when he finished in 3:58.52 at the 2010 Columbia Last Chance meet at the Armory. [4] That summer, however, Merber stepped on a piece of glass during a training run near his home on Long Island, which put him out of competition for a year. [5] Merber had a resurgent senior year, and in May 2012, at the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet, he outkicked Nate Brannen to set an American collegiate 1500 meter record in 3:35.59. [5] He graduated from Columbia in 2012. [6]

The following school year, Merber enrolled in a masters program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he used his remaining year of NCAA eligibility resulting from his missed junior season at Columbia. [7]

Professional

After graduating from UT in 2013, Merber joined the New Jersey*New York Track Club under coach Frank Gagliano. He is also sponsored by HOKA ONE ONE. [8] He was a member of the United States' distance medley relay team which set the world record of 9:15.50 at the 2015 IAAF World Relays in Nassau. [9]

Merber has been a resident of Clinton, New Jersey. [10]

Merber announced his retirement on instagram on January 4, 2021. [11]

Personal bests

SurfaceEventTimeDateLocation
Outdoor
1500 m3:34.54May 30, 2015Greenville, SC
Mile3:54.57August 5, 2016Raleigh, NC
Indoor
Mile3:52.22February 26, 2016Boston, MA
3000 m7:49.39January 28, 2017New York (Armory), NY
RoadMile3:53.5September 13, 2014New York, NY

[1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Rowbury</span> American middle-distance runner

Shannon Solares-Rowbury is an American middle-distance runner from San Francisco, California. After competing collegiately for Duke University, she turned professional in 2007. Rowbury has represented the United States at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. She also represented the United States at the World Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, winning the bronze medal in the 1500 meters in 2009. In 2015, Rowbury helped set the world record with the U.S. team for the distance medley relay event, and set a then-American record for 1500 meters on July 17, 2015, breaking Mary Slaney's 32 year-old mark with a time of 3:56.29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Coburn</span> American middle-distance runner

Emma Jane Coburn is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000-meters steeplechase. She holds the distinction of being a world champion, world silver medalist, Olympic bronze medalist, three-time Olympian and 10-time US National Champion in the steeplechase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donn Cabral</span> American steeplechase runner (born 1989)

Donald Cabral is an American cross country and track runner from Connecticut who went on to star at Princeton University. He has been most successful in the steeplechase, but has also been a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American in cross country and the 5000 meters, as well as the Ivy League champion at the 3000 meters. He is a former American collegiate steeplechase record holder and was the 2012 NCAA steeplechase champion. He competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics in the steeplechase. At Princeton, Cabral was an eight-time NCAA All-American and ten-time individual Ivy League champion. He was a long distance running champion in high school for Glastonbury High School, winning two Class LL championships as a sophomore and then open state and New England championships as a junior and senior.

Mary Cecilia Cain is an American professional middle distance runner from Bronxville, New York. Cain was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter event. She is the youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a track and field World Championships meet after competing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow aged 17 years and 3 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Martinez</span> American middle-distance runner

Brenda Martinez is an American middle-distance runner and Olympian. Born in Upland, California, she won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow and finished first in the 800 meters at the 2014 Diamond League Final. She represented the US at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 1500 meters. Martinez twice set the world record in the Distance Medley Relay at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston; first on February 7, 2015 and then breaking her own record on January 28, 2017. In 2016, Martinez qualified for the U.S. Olympic team competing in the 1500 meters after beating Amanda Eccleston by 0.03 seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Higginson</span>

Ashley Higginson is an American middle-distance runner who has made the U.S. team for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in the 3000 meter steeplechase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanelle Price</span> American middle-distance runner

Chanelle Price is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800-meter run. She has a personal record of 1:59.10 for the distance. She was the gold medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Cheserek</span> Kenyan American distance runner

Edward Cheserek is a Kenyan distance runner. He is a 17-time NCAA champion collegiate distance runner for the University of Oregon. Cheserek was the most highly recruited high school distance runner in the nation out of Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in New Jersey where he was named the Gatorade 2012-2013 National Cross Country Runner of the Year. In 2013, Cheserek became the first freshman in Oregon history to win the NCAA National Cross Country Championships. Cheserek repeated this feat in his sophomore and junior years at Oregon before coming in third in the race in 2016 during his senior year. In total, Cheserek has 17 NCAA National Titles, including two indoor distance medley relays and one cross-country team title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Torrence (athlete)</span> Peruvian-American middle-distance runner

David Torrence was a Peruvian-American middle-distance runner and indoor American record holder in the 1000 meters (active). Born in Okinawa, Japan, Torrence was raised in Tarzana, California. After graduating from Loyola High School in 2003, he went on to run for the University of California, Berkeley and Hoka One One. Torrence represented Peru at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Kemoy Campbell is a retired Jamaican distance runner who competed in various events from 800 meters to 5000 metres. Since competing in the American collegiate circuit, he has developed a reputation for having remarkable range, having competitive experience from the 800 meters to the 10K. Campbell holds multiple Jamaican records in athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory McGee</span> American middle-distance runner, Olympian

Cory Ann McGee is an American professional middle distance runner and Olympian from Pass Christian, Mississippi. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games she finished 12th in the 1500-meters. She was the 2011 Pan American U20 Champion and 2011 USA Juniors Outdoor Champion in the 1500-meters. In May 2022 she ran a personal best of 4:00.34 in the 1500-meters to move to 16th place on the US fastest all-time list.

Emily Infeld is an American long-distance runner. She regularly competes in the 5000 m and 10,000 m distances during her professional career; in her college career she regularly competed in the 4 × 800 meter relay and 1500 m on up to 5000 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen Quigley</span> American middle- and long-distance runner

Colleen Quigley is an American middle-distance runner, steeplechase specialist and an Olympian from St. Louis, Missouri. She is the current World Record holder in the 4x1500 meters relay. Competing in the 3000 meters steeplechase, she finished 8th at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and 12th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. She was the 2019 US National Indoor Champion in the one-mile event running 4:29.47 to capture the title and was the 2015 NCAA Champion in the 3000 meters steeplechase. In 2023, Quigley announced that she would start competing in triathlon events, but that she still plans to race track and field through 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Grace</span> American middle-distance runner

Kate Grace is an American middle-distance runner. A multiple All-American runner for Yale University, she turned professional in 2011. Grace competed for the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it to the final of the 800 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Blankenship</span> American middle-distance runner

Ben Blankenship is an American middle distance runner. He is a world record holder as a member of the 2015 USA Distance medley relay team, of which he ran the 1600-meter anchor leg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drew Hunter</span> American middle-distance runner

Andrew James Hunter is an American middle distance runner from Purcellville, Virginia, who competes professionally for Adidas on the running group Tinman Elite. He set the national indoor mile record for high school boys in 2016. He was named Gatorade National Cross-Country Runner of the Year in 2016. He committed to the University of Oregon on November 12, 2015 but instead decided to pursue a professional career by signing a 10-year contract with Adidas on July 8, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelby Houlihan</span> American middle distance runner (born 1993)

Shelby Houlihan is an American middle distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the 4x1500m relay who is currently serving a ban. Houlihan competed in the 5000m final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, finishing 11th. She is a 12-time US National Champion winning seven indoor and five outdoor titles in middle-distance events. While at Arizona State University she won the 2014 NCAA 1500m championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Palmer</span>

Ford Palmer is a professional middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters and the mile. He ran in the men's 1500 meters at the 2016 US Olympic Trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Hiltz</span> American middle-distance runner

Nikki Hiltz is a mid-distance runner from Aptos, California. Hiltz attended Aptos High School, where, in 2012, they won the CIF California State Championship in the 1600 meters. Hiltz is a 6-time NCAA Division I All-American. Hiltz is openly gay and came out as transgender and nonbinary on International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Gagliano</span> American track and field coach

Francis Xavier Gagliano, often referred to as Gags, is a longtime professional track and field coach. He currently coaches the New Jersey-New York Track Club.

References

  1. 1 2 3 IAAF. "IAAF: Kyle Merber - Athlete Profile" . Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  2. "Kyle Merber" . Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Anna Hiatt (April 11, 2012). "Runner's World: Kyle Merber is Back on Track" . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  4. http://columbiaspectator.com/2010/03/08/sophomore-merber-breaks-ivy-record-358-mile Gregory Kremler. Columbia Spectator: Sophomore Merber breaks Ivy record with 3:58 mile. March 8, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2016
  5. 1 2 Peter Gambaccini (May 16, 2012). "Runner's World: Brief Chat: Kyle Merber's Breakthrough" . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  6. "AitN: July 13, 2020". Columbia College Today. 13 July 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Rachel Wenzlaff (October 14, 2012). "The Daily Texan Sports Updates" . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  8. Christopher Chavez (June 4, 2013). "Flotrack: Kyle Merber joins New Jersey New York Track Club" . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  9. "USA "Motley Crew" Caps Distance Relay Sweep With Wild World-Record Victory In Men's DMR". 4 May 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  10. Staff. "For Kyle Merber, it’s all about running and promoting the sport he loves", USA Track & Field, May 16, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2019. "A 25-year-old resident of Clinton, New Jersey, Merber is recognized as a talented runner specializing in the mile and 1500 meters, whose love affair with track and field began years ago."
  11. "Kyle Merber on Instagram: "Well, I knew I'd have to make this post eventually: I'm not done running, I'm just done getting paid for it. Sometime in the last couple years I realized that I was no longer getting nervous before races. At first I thought it was due to health issues or a lack of fitness. But then I found those things and it was only the fire that was missing. 2020 was a blessing in the sense that it gave me time to fully explore those emotions. I don't like to say I am retiring — Real runners don't retire. I'm merely rearranging priorities. So what's next? I'm in the process of trying to figure that out myself. Thank you @njnytc @flynnsports @hokaoneone @feetures @polarglobal @xendurance for the opportunity to live out this dream."".