FLORIDA PREP Christian Miller (Creekside, St. Johns) didn’t get the best 100 start at the USATF Juniors (U20), but his finish made history, as he broke the World Youth (U18) Record with his 10.06.
It was Tyler Azcano who had the best getaway. In a gap year before starting at Florida A&M, he had a commanding lead from lane 3. Miller, a lane to his left, had his work cut out for him.
“He had a great first 60,” said Miller, “so I knew I had to start playing catch-up. Some people when they’re trying to catch up, they start breaking form when they start trying harder and harder and strain to catch. But really, all I did was just continue to step down and just increase my stride frequency just a little bit more.”
It worked. Miller finally caught Azcano at 80m and he leaned across the line just inches ahead. His time of 10.06 knocked down the old WYR of 10.09 by Thailand’s Phooripol Bunson last year, as well as the AYR of 10.15 set by Anthony Schwartz in ’17. It also makes Miller the No. 4 prep ever. The wind was the maximum allowable 2.0. Azcano, 19, crossed in 10.09.
Miller only turned 17 in May. He said, “I didn’t think it would be that fast, but after how I felt the race was, I definitely knew a fast time was going to come from it. It just shows that all the hard work definitely paid off and now that I’m at the top I can’t just let up. I have to continue to go to practice, get better and stronger and try to improve on that time even more.”
It’s been a big season for Miller, who started the year with PRs of 10.47 and 20.82. At the end of March he lined up against Montverde star Issam Asinga at the Florida Relays. Asinga won with a PR 10.10 and Miller held on for a best of his own, 10.22.
“Racing Asinga definitely taught me that as fast as you think you are, there are people out there who are faster and that you have to continue to compete with and try to catch back up to,” he said.
While Asinga didn’t contest the Florida prep tournament, Miller did. He won the 4A in 10.31, and then defended his 200 title with a 20.57. Then he switched to his club uniform, competing during the summer for the St. Johns Striders with longtime coach Ricky Fields, as he has since age 9.
At New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field, he placed 4th in the 100 in 10.26 as Asinga won in 10.05. A day later, Miller took the 200 in 20.45w.
Then came his breakthrough in Eugene. Said Fields, “We knew if we were close to someone [fast] in the lane draw, we could run a 10.1. I thought we could do that.”
A day later, Miller lined up for the 200. A solid start put him in the lead in the turn, but it was only when he came off it that he started padding his margin. He won in 20.51 with no wind registering on the gauge.
“I was happy,” he said. “It was a new legal-wind best. I definitely wanted it to be a little bit faster. But I was like, ‘Well, I came away with the win and I had a good PR so I can’t be too mad at it.’”
What’s next? Miller said he’s undecided if he will run at the Pan-Am Junior meet in Puerto Rico: “I’m not 100% sure. If I don’t run anything else this season, I’ll just be going into my off-season where I start to train and get better and better and then come back next season and produce even faster times.”
He recalls a moment when he was 10 or 11: “I started looking at the top guys at that time and I was like, ‘One day I’m going to catch up to them.’ I’m pretty sure I’m fast as them right now.”
A classic 800 brought together the three fastest preps of the year for a race against Simeon Birnbaum (Stevens, Rapid City, South Dakota), already the list leader at 1500, mile and 2M, who had run in the senior 1500 heats two days earlier.
New Balance champion/national leader Tinoda Matsatsa (St. Andrew’s, Potomac, Maryland) took charge, leading past halfway in 53.06. Birnbaum, only 7th at that point (54.41), had the biggest last lap, a 53.56 that challenged Matsatsa, who won 1:47.76–1:47.96. Daniel Watcke (Central, Hinsdale, Illinois) scored 3rd in 1:47.99.
JUNIOR MEN’S MEDALISTS
(affiliations are as entered in the meet)
100(2.0): 1. Christian Miller (StJStr) 10.06 WYR, AYR (old WYR 10.09 Phooripol Bunson [Tha] ’22; old AYR 10.15 Anthony Schwartz [FlHS] ’17) (4, 5 HS; =7, =9 AJ);
2. Tyler Azcano (unat) 10.09; 3. T’Mars McCallum (unat) 10.26.
200(0.0): 1. Miller 20.51; 2. Garrett Kaalund (Nb) 20.65; 3. Jazonte Levan (unat) 20.72.
400: 1. Judson Lincoln (VaT) 45.47; 2. Jacob Andrews (RSGo) 45.91; 3. Jayden Davis (unat) 46.01.
800: 1. Tinoda Matsatsa (unat) 1:47.76; 2. Simeon Birnbaum (unat) 1:47.96; 3. Daniel Watcke (unat) 1:47.99.
1500: 1. Rheinhardt Harrison (Or) 3:48.30; 2. Tayson Echohawk (OremTC) 3:50.28; 3. Evan Thornton-Sherman (MeO) 3:50.57.
St: 1. Benjamin Balazs (Or) 8:49.64; 2. Caleb Jarema (Mi) 8:50.49; 3. CJ Singleton (NDm) 8:50.58.
5000: 1. Andrew Rogers (Mo) 14:57.55; 2. Liam Tilton (Rut) 14:57.86; 3. William Ryan (Ia) 14:57.87.
10,000: 1. Ethan Coleman (NDm) 31:37.75; 2. Austin Hall (PurdFW) 32:31.92; 3. Aiden Smith (Or) 32:43.76.
110H(0.9): 1. Nathaniel Rayan (unat) 13.40; 2. Blaise Atkinson (NC) 13.42; 3. Alexander Chukwukelu (MajImpTX) 13.45.
400H: 1. Gage Gose (unat) 51.67; 2. Damon Frabotta (BC) 51.89; 3. Bryce Tucker (ScarK) 52.00.
10W: 1. Ryan Allen (Shore) 46:17.65; 2. Clayton Stoil (unat) 48:47.78; 3. Rowan McDonald (MeRW) 50:14.62.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Brion Stephens (Louis) 7-½ (2.15); 2. Grant Campbell (unat) 7-½ (2.15); 3. Arvesta Troupe (Ms) 6-8¾ (2.05).
PV: 1. Jack Mann (TxAM) 17-4½ (5.30); 2. Cody Johnston (unat) 17-¾ (5.20); 3. Zach Bingham (unat) 17-¾.
LJ: 1. Elias Ajamu Reed (SJSt) 25-2 (7.67); 2. Juriad Hughes (TrMnE) 24-11 (7.59); 3. Ashton Torns (unat) 24-8½ (7.53).
TJ: 1. Kyvon Tatham (unat) 51-0 (15.54); 2. Sir Jonathan Sims (Az) 50-6 (15.39); 3. Sterling Scott (unat) 49-8¼ (15.14).
SP: 1. Gary Moore (Bay) 65-¾ (19.83); 2. Michael Pinckney (UCLA) 63-¼ (19.21); 3. Nicholas Godbehere (Cal) 62-1¼ (18.93).
DT: 1. Seth Allen (Pur) 197-11 (60.32); 2. Brendon See (unat) 192-6 (58.68); 3. Rory Devaney (CalPoly) 186-6 (56.85).
HT: 1. Pinckney 219-11 (67.03); 2. Rory Devaney (CalPoly) 218-11 (66.73); 3. Moore 218-4 (66.56).
JT: 1. Dash Sirmon (Nb) 232-6 (70.87); 2. Mike Stein (Ia) 215-11 (65.81); 3. Blake Orr (FlIntl) 204-5 (62.30).
Dec: 1. Aiden Carter (unat) 6915; 2. Koby Kessler (unat) 6872; 3. Ryan Gregory (unat) 6762.
