Jacob Nenow grinds out a 3K win for Jesuit — but he still has ‘a long way to go’ to beat Dad

Mark Nenow is a former U.S. national record-holder in the 10,000 meters.

By René Ferrán 

For Jacob Nenow, the longer the race, the better. 

Perhaps that’s fitting for the son of a former U.S. national record-holder in the 10,000 meters, Mark Nenow, who ran on the silver-medal team at the 1981 world cross country championships.

But look at how Nenow, who became Jesuit’s first individual state champion at the Class 6A cross country championships in November, approached the 3,000 final Friday at the OSAA track and field state championships.

The Crusaders senior wanted to grind out 66-second laps over the 7½ laps around the Hayward Field track — a pace he knew he could maintain, and one he hoped would wear out anyone who sought to outkick him at the end.

A look at Nenow’s splits for the race looked downright metronomic. His fastest lap was a 65.6. His slowest? A 66.9.

In the end, it added up to a 3½-second victory over West Salem’s Jack Meier for the University of Tennessee signee in 8:17.07 — the first for a Jesuit 3K runner since Joshua Schumacher’s six years ago.

Nenow, who came back Saturday to finish eighth in the 1,500, gave a lot of credit to his teammates in the race — seniors Joshua Augustine, who placed third, and Gus Clevenger in fourth — for pushing him throughout.

“It really has been all three of us doing some really good workouts,” Nenow said. “We’ve all run fast times, so it’s really special for us and our school.”

So, did Nenow’s victory give him bragging rights at the dinner table with Dad?

He smiled.

“Um, I don’t know, not really,” he said, chuckling. “I still have a long way to go.”