On This Day: Falcon Breaks O’Mara’s 1,500m school record
Racing in the 1,500m at the Arkansas Tyson Invitational on this day, April 16, 1988, Razorback junior Joe Falcon produced an early season world-leading time of 3:35.84 as he challenged the collegiate record.
With an eye on Olympic Trials and NCAA qualifying standards, Falcon covered the final two laps with splits of 56.2 and 55.1 after the early pace was established by former Razorback Liam Looney.
In producing the fastest mark that early in the season, Falcon just missed eclipsing the collegiate record of 3:35.30 set by Villanova’s Sydney Maree in 1981.
However, the effort bettered a pair of Arkansas milestones. Frank O’Mara held the Razorback school record with a 3:37.71 from 1983 while the track record of 3:40.41, set in 1985, belonged to Arkansas’ Paul Donovan.
Razorback head coach John McDonnell marveled over Falcon’s performance. The following quote is from an Associated Press article: “He was simply awesome. He has been for years and still amazes me. What he did today was unbelievable.
“He broke Frank O’Mara’s school record by almost two seconds, and O’Mara is one of the best in the world.”
Finishing second to Falcon in the race was senior teammate Matt Taylor, who clocked a 3:41.35, while Auburn’s Brian Jaeger placed third in 3:41.55. All three collected Olympic Trials and NCAA qualifiers.
Falcon’s time currently ranks equal fifth on the all-time collegiate list while Maree’s collegiate record was broken by New Mexico’s Josh Kerr with a 3:35.01 on April 20, 2018.
A month earlier, Falcon and Taylor finished first and third in the mile at the 1988 NCAA Indoor Championships. Falcon posted a winning time of 3:59.78 and became the second Razorback champion in the event joining Donovan’s title from 1985 when the race covered 1,500m indoors.
Falcon also defended his NCAA Indoor title in the 3,000m that season as the Razorbacks defeated Illinois by five points for the national team title, the fifth NCAA championship for Arkansas amid a run of 12 consecutive indoor titles.
At the 1988 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Falcon captured the national title in the 1,500m after winning the 10,000m title in 1987. He again became the second Razorback to claim a NCAA Outdoor 1,500 title, joining O’Mara from 1982.
The longevity of Falcon’s time as the Razorback facility record reinforces what amazed Coach McDonnell that weekend. It became the oldest facility record at Arkansas after a 1985 400m mark of 44.67 by Razorback Roddie Haley was surpassed by a 44.60 from South Carolina’s Quincy Hall in winning the 2019 SEC title.
Of the 12 standard running events contested at conference and national championships, all the Arkansas facility track records currently have dates in the 2000s. Four marks (10k, 400H, 4×100, 4×400) were set in 2009 at the NCAA Championships while another three (400, 800, 110H) were updated in 2019 when the facility hosted the SEC Championships.
