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Lukas Verzbicas

Lukas Verzbicas
Personal information
Nationality Lithuanian
American
Born (1993-01-06) January 6, 1993 (age 24)
Kaunas, Lithuania
Sport
Sport Track, Triathlon
Event(s) Mile, Cross country events, Triathlon
College team Oregon
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) Mile: 3:59.71
2-mile: 8:29.46
Indoor 5000-m: 14:06.78

Lukas Verzbicas (born Lukas Veržbickas January 6, 1993 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian-American triathlete. A prominent high school track and cross country runner, Verzbicas holds the U.S. high school national record in the 2 mile with a time of 8:29.46. He was also the fifth of only nine American high school boys to run a sub four-minute mile, running 3:59.71 at the end of his senior year of high school.

Verzbicas was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and moved to the US with his mother and stepfather at age nine. The family lived in Orland Park, Illinois where Verzbicas attended Carl Sandburg High School, graduating in May 2011. Verzbicas graduated at age 18 after attending high school for just 3 years. His mother is a former Lithuanian record-holder at 3,000 m.

In May 2009, Verzbicas won the Pan American Triathlon Confederation Junior Championships. In September 2009, Verzbicas won the Duathlon World Junior Championships. In December 2009, he won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in a time of 15:08. In June 2010, Verzbicas won the 2010 Adidas High School Boys' Dream Mile in New York City in a time of 4:04.

In the fall of 2010, Verzbicas finished 4th in the ITU World Junior Triathlon Championships. Shortly afterwards, Verzbicas won the 2010 IHSA Class 3A state championship in the 3 mile run with a time of 13:53.7, only 3 seconds off the state record held by world cross country champion and three time Olympian Craig Virgin. In December 2010, he won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships a second time, this time in a time of 14:59 as well as the Nike Cross Nationals invitational in a time of 15:59 becoming the first runner to win both FLCC and NXN in the same year and the third to win FLCC in consecutive years.

In an interview following his 2010 FLCC victory, Verzbicas stated that after high school he would pursue either running or triathlon, not both, and that his decision would be based primarily on his running performance during the remainder of his senior year. In February 2011, Verzbicas signed a national letter of intent to run for the University of Oregon beginning in the fall of 2011. Verzbicas told the Chicago Tribune he had a passion for running which he didn't have for triathlon.


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