Michael Slagowski Has Left Penn State


Michael Slagowski, who last year became the ninth high school boy to break four minutes in the mile, is no longer at Penn State. He does not currently have plans to transfer to another school.

The freshman from Meridian, Idaho is no longer listed on the Nittany Lions' roster. Both Slagowski and PSU head coach John Gondak confirmed that he is no longer enrolled at Penn State.

Slagowski said via text message that he has not yet decided what his next move is.

"I currently don't have plans to transfer to another school, but I'm keeping my options open. I'm thinking of training in Boise with my high school coach and possibly a training partner, and just taking classes at a school in the area."

Slagowski raced once this season, unattached, in the 1K at the Penn State National in January, where he took third place in 2:28.51. He redshirted during both the cross country and indoor seasons, and was recovering from injury during most of the fall.

As a senior at Rocky Mountain High School, Slagowski broke four minutes twice. He ran 3:59.53 in a high school-only race at the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays, then 3:59.78 in a professional section at the Prefontaine Classic. His en route 1500m split of 3:42.4 makes him the fourth-fastest prep performer ever, and he is the second-fastest miler in prep-only competition behind only Jim Ryun.

​UPDATE: 

​Slagowski says that "The overall transition, including the changes in training, was difficult. I was also struggling with recovering from my injury which kept coming back and is keeping me from running for another few months. My potential plan is to take as much time as I need to get healthy, and then work with my high school coach to create a training plan that includes what I did last year, while adding certain elements/progressions that are more focused on building my aerobic fitness."

We filmed Slagowski and the PSU men in January for this Workout Wednesday: