A historic night went down inside the Skydome on Friday night in Flagstaff as Nico Young, the NCAA's current leader in the 3K, became the first man in history to clock a sub-4 mile at nearly 7,000 feet of elevation, hitting the finish line in 3:57.33 at the Lumberjack Team Challenge. 

The Northern Arizona junior's performance converts to an altitude-adjusted time of 3:48.71, which currently leads the NCAA, and he led two other NAU teammates under the elevation-adjusted sub-4 barrier, including sophomore Colin Sahlman and Theo Quax. 

For perspective, that altitude-adjusted time by Young would be the eighth-fastest mile in history by an American. Young's previous best at the mile distance came in 2022 at the UW Invite when he ran 3:56.00 on a 300 meter oversized track. 

Friday's performance came on a similar 300 meter oval, though Flagstaff sits at 6,821 feet of elevation. In the NCAA, the performance was unprecedented -- the closest comparison, perhaps, is Joe Klecker and Olli Hoare's performance for On Athletics in 2020 when they ran 3:56.8 and 3:58.4 at 5,430 feet of elevation in Boulder, becoming the first men in history in Colorado to achieve that feat.

Young's last five 300 meter splits were 43.77, 44.57, 44.61, 44.0 and 43.68, while he ran the opening 109 meters in 16.67.

Young opened up his indoor campaign in December in Boston, clocking an NCAA No. 1 time of 7:37.73 and a 5K effort of 13:22.96. He's also coming off a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. 

Young's last indoor season saw him finish the year with a fourth-place finish in the 5K at NCAAs.