PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, June 18–21 — Wrapping up an undefeated season in which he led the nation at both the mile and two mile, Jackson Spencer wanted to finish with a bang at the New Balance Nationals while giving his Herriman (Utah) teammates the best boost he could in the relays.
At Franklin Field, the plan worked, at least as much as the weather would allow. In Thursday night’s 5000, Spencer had thought a 13:40 might be possible in ideal conditions. But temperatures in the mid-80s combined with strong winds made for rough going. He even grabbed water in the opening laps once he assessed the challenge.
“It was me versus the conditions more than me versus other people,” he told Dyestat. A quick opening kilometer of 2:44.05 soon gave way to a slower tempo. He passed 3K in 8:24.74, already leading by nearly 100 meters. His final time of 14:08.02 was a meet record, though well off his PR. He won by nearly 20 seconds.
Running without Spencer in the 4 x Mile relay less than an hour later, the Mustangs captured the win in 17:20.80, the event they had finished 2nd in last year.
The next day, in the 4 x 800, Spencer watched as third leg Trevin Lounsbury brought the team to a big lead with his 1:50.02. He was able to finish it off with an unpressed 1:49.51 for the successful title defense in a list-leading 7:29.44.
On the last day, Herriman’s stalwarts lined up again to defend their title in the distance medley. This time, after legs of 3:01.99 by Caleb Brown, 51.91 by Krew Olson and 1:52.22 by Lounsbury, Spencer got the stick with over a 2-second lead. A 4:04.51 did the job, their 9:50.63 winning by 4 seconds over Mifflin County (Lewiston, Pennsylvania), which used a 4:02.06 split by sub-4 runner Carter Smith to close fast at 9:54.67.
Zamarii Sanders (Newman, West Palm Beach, Florida) keyed the speed side of the meet in defending his sprint double from last year. The Tennessee recruit, who lost the 100 at his state meet, won the dash on Friday in 10.32 before taking Sunday’s 200 in a 20.56 on the tight turn.
“My confidence is up again,” said Sanders. “I had the confidence to win it all.”
Quincy Wilson flew back after his runner-up finish in the USATF U20s on Friday to help out his Bullis teammates in the 4×4. Earlier in the year, the squad had won Arcadia with a 3:09.14 and then captured a historic Penn Relays crown. Here, however, they came up against a stoked Archbishop Carroll squad, led off by hurdle winner Schmar Gamble and anchored by Keenen Davis, who flew East after breaking the 400H HSR at U20s.
By halfway, Carroll had a notable 0.54 lead over Bullis. A 47.70 leg by Austin Smith made the margin much bigger, and anchor Keenen Davis set out on the final lap with a huge 2.29 lead over Wilson. Wilson dug deep, but the weekend had taken its toll. His 46.33 not only fell short of the win, it also was slower than Davis’s inspired 46.16.
In other races, Nicholas Mazzeo (Lower Merion, Ardmore, Pennsylvania) won the 2K steeple in a HSR 5:37.60, slashing more than 3 seconds off the old best of 5:40.72 that Ohio’s Nathan Mountain set in ’21.
Philip Cupial (North, Downers Grove, Illinois) closed in 55.20 to take the mile in 4:01.15 over Carter Smith’s 4:01.72. Henry Birge (Patriot, Nokesville, Virginia) went wide and passed much of the field in the final stretch to win the 800 in 1:48.32.
On the field, Jake Early (Cary, North Carolina) hurled the hammer to a PR of 234-0 to move to No. 2 on the national list. Anthony Mason (Crofton, Gambrills, Maryland) threw a meet record 209-5 in the discus.
NEW BALANCE BOYS RESULTS
100(1.2): 1. Zamarii Sanders (Newman, West Palm Beach) 10.32; 2. **Braden Pickett (Pearl, Ms) 10.42.
200(2.0): 1. Sanders 20.56; 2. Pickett 20.77; 3. *Cameron Homer (Bullis, Potomac) 20.84.
400: 1. *Jordon McNeill (Southwest Guilford, High Point, NC) 46.38; 2. Cameron Tucker (Robinson, Conford, NC) 46.66; 3. Seven Garcia (Hackensack, NJ) 46.94.
800: 1. Henry Birge (Patriot, Nokesville, Tn) 1:48.32; 2. Cole Boone (Pulaski, Dublin, Va) 1:48.67; 3. Baylor Miller (Northridge, Middlebury, In) 1:48.81; 4. Josh Sharp (Upper Darby, Drexel Hill) 1:49.11; 5. Philip Cupial (North, Downers Grove, Il) 1:49.80.
Mile: 1. Cupial 4:01.15; 2. Carter Smith (Mifflin, Lewistown, Pa) 4:01.72; 3. *Jay McDonald (Summit, Frisco, Co) 4:04.30; 4. Mike Mohoric (Newburyport, Ma) 4:04.55.
2M: 1. Kavi Gibson (Academy, Cary, NC) 8:50.00; 2. Benjamin Berman (Science, Bronx) 8:50.76.
5000: 1. Jackson Spencer (Herriman, Ut) 14:08.02; 2. Nicholas Mazzeo (Lower Merion, Ardmore) 14:27.32.
2000St: 1. Nicholas Mazzeo (Lower Merion, Ardmore, Pa) 5:37.60 HSR (old HSR 5:40.72 Nate Mountain [Xavier, Springfield Township, Oh] ’21);
2. Ibrahim Ford (Arkport, NY) 5:40.34 (2, 2 HS);
3. William Zealand (Home, Lynchburg, Va) 5:45.67 (9, 10 HS).
110H(1.7): 1. Schmar Gamble (Carroll, Washington, DC) 13.66; 2. Steven Schwartz (Sealy, Tx) 13.79.
400H: 1. Ian Hill (Iowa Colony, Tx) 50.81; 2. Nyan Brown (Mallard Creek, Charlotte) 50.82.
MileW: 1. **Nolan Moore (Noble, North Berwick, Me) 7:03.13.
4 x 100: 1. St. James, Springfield, Va 40.50 (39.91h); 2. Bergen, Oradell, NJ 40.83; 3. Dudley, Greensboro, NC 40.84.
4 x 200: 1. Bergen 1:23.50; 2. Carroll 1:23.83.
4 x 400: 1. Carroll 3:08.79; 2. Bullis 3:11.25.
4 x 400 (mixed): 1. St. James 3:26.33 HSR (old HSR 3:27.65 Hamilton Southeastern [Fishers, In] ’25) (**Malcolm Brown, *Annette McGrath, *Amir Duff 48.24, ***Demiya Wilson 54.19);
2. Bullis, Potomac, Md 3:26.99 (2 HS).
4 x 800: 1. Herriman 7:29.44 (HSL) (4 HS) (Spencer 1:49.52);
2. Union Catholic 7:34.50; 3. Pioneer, Ann Arbor 7:35.61.
4 x Mile: 1. Herriman 17:20.80; 2. Hendricken, Warwick, RI 17:22.86; 3. Council Rock North, Newtown, Pa 17:24.23.
SpMed: 1. Episcopal, Newtown Square 3:24.20; 2. Hackensack, NJ 3:25.13.
DisMed: 1. Herriman 9:50.63 (HSL (6 HS) [Spencer 4:04.51);
2. Mifflin, Lewistown, Pa 9:54.67 (Smith 4:02.06); 3. Gainesville, Va 9:55.64.
4 x 110H: 1. Deptford, NJ 58.42 (HSL);
2. Egg Harbor Township, NJ 58.91.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Ethan Rowe (Bloomfield, Ct) 6-11¾; 2. *Declin Doroh (Lakeshore, Stevensville, Mi) 6-10¾.
PV: 1. *Luke Schneiber (Country Day, Cincinnati) 16-8¾; 2. Sean Cinzori (Plymouth, Canton, Mi) 16-4¾; 3. *Cade Shellhaas (Ansonia, Oh) 16-4¾.
LJ: 1. Nethan Verger (Orange Park, Fl) 25-4¾ (HSL);
2. *Raymond Hawkins (Flanagan, Pembroke Pines, Fl) 24-10½; 3. Aaron Rich (Wallingford, Ct) 24-6½.
TJ: 1. *Amar Skeete (Catholic, West Roxbury, Ma) 50-7¼.
SP: 1. *Nicholas Askjaer (Cohasset, Ma) 64-1.
DT: 1. *Anthony Mason (Crofton, Gambrills, Md) 209-5; 2. Jackson Werling (Allen East, Harrod, Oh) 202-3.
HT: 1. Jake Early (Cary, NC) 234-0;.
JT. **Alex Corley (Oceanside, Mt Pleasant, SC) 206-3.
Dec: 1. Nathaniel Johnson (Jay-East Fishkill, Hopewell Junction, NY) 7217; 2. *Gunner Benedix (Prep, Malvern, Pa) 7026.
