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Yesterday, declarations for the NCAA D2 Outdoor Championships were released. Notably absent from the entries was Lee's Christian Noble, a Division Two superstar who holds multiple NCAA records in the distance events.
Despite rampant speculation about Noble's absence, it took only one day for the country to receive some clarity. On Tuesday, Noble announced via Instagram that he will be turning pro and signing with New Balance.
Noble has signed with Global Athletics & Marketing for representation and will be joining the professional training Team Boston, a predominately woman-centric group headlined by coach Mark Coogan. Team Boston features standout American stars such as Heather MacLean and Elle Purrier St. Pierre.
800 meter specialist Drew Piazza was the only known male middle/long distance athlete on Team Boston's roster until Noble's announcement.
Noble's focus will now shift to the 1500 meters at the Prefontaine Classic where he'll attempt to chase the world standard, something that has been a priority of his this season, he says.
Noble may go down as the greatest Division Two distance runner ever. Noble has amassed three national titles which have contributed to his seven All-American honors. He has run 1:49 (800), 3:36 (1500), 3:56 (mile), 7:50 (3k), 13:24 (5k) and 8:35 (steeple).
His mile PR and his 3k PR were both collegiate records and they were run just 90 minutes apart. His 3:36 mark for 1500 meters comfortably took down the old D2 record and his 5k result from earlier this season gave him the NCAA #2 all-time mark in the division. In the steeplechase, Noble currently sits at NCAA #7 all-time in D2.