"I’m more just mad at myself for getting too caught up in the record and not caught up enough in the sprint finish," the former BYU runner said about taking second in the Houston Half.

America’s best in half-marathon now goes through the Conner Mantz zone. Mantz checked in at 59 minutes, 17 seconds in the Houston half marathon to help the U.S. Olympian and Cache Valley native shatter the 18-year American record in the event by 26 seconds Sunday.

“For the second consecutive year, Weini Kelati improved on the American record at the Houston Half Marathon,“ Runner’s World reported. ”The 28-year-old finished second in 1:06:09, 16 seconds faster than the time she ran at the race last year.”

While competing in the Houston Marathon on Sunday, Jan. 19, long-distance runner Conner Mantz stamped his name into history books. For 17 long years, Ryan Hall has held onto the American half marathon record.

In a thrilling, nail-biting finish, Olympic marathoner Conner Mantz shattered the long-standing American record in the half marathon, running 59:17 Sunday morning in Houston.