GMUBuzz: Mason Things That Catch My Eye

Here is my annotated version of this report about Leo Manzano’s 1,500 meter silver medal.

LONDON — At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, the iconic miler Jim Ryun [who attended Edison High in Alexandria, my school] won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters. For 44 years, his medal stood as the last one for an American in the event, but an American born in Mexico changed that Tuesday night in London.

Leo Manzano, who was born in Dolores Hidalgo and moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 4, kicked furiously down the homestretch to go from sixth place to a silver medal and history. [Manzano’s coach is John Cook, who coached at Edison in the ’70s and then at Mason; he’s 71 and coaches runners in Austin.]