ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, June 06 — The HOKA Festival of Miles offered a buffet of drama for fans of prep 4-lap action on a warm, calm, perfect-for-racing night at St. Louis University High: In one championship race, you had an all-time great battling the clock for yet another record, while the other came down to a phalanx of sub-4 aces fighting for the podium and to surpass a still-magical barrier.
As for the first, Jane Hedengren has been the story in high school girls’ distance running since November, winning championships and breaking records with a power, grace and ease rarely seen at any level. The BYU recruit returned to the mile for the first time since Nike Indoor Nationals, trying to beat her own absolute HSR of 4:26.14 and also pursuing Mary Cain’s fastest-ever American Junior (U20) mark of 4:24.11.
(Cain’s time was ratified as the Indoor AJR by USATF, but the federation doesn’t recognize the “Absolute” concept so the on-the-books U20 mark in Hedengren’s target range was Polly Plumer’s 4:35.24 from ’82.)
If those who have watched the Timpview graduate the past 6 months have learned anything, it’s this: the clock always loses.
Despite a somewhat uneven pace and having to hold it together in the final lap, Hedengren broke the tape with room to spare and left a bracing new standard of 4:23.50 for future racers to dream of. As she smiled and raised her right fist triumphantly through the line, it was clear she knew at once she’d achieved her goal.
Such was the disparity between Hedengren and the elite field chasing her that there was not one, but two pacers set up by organizers. Runner-up Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery, Santa Rosa, California), the Golden State 1600 champ, crossed the line 12 seconds after the winner — yet she was still rewarded with a big 4:35.63 PR, just outside the top 10 all-time.
Afterward, although Hedengren told DyeStat.com that she was “stoked” for a 4:23-level of performance, it was her typical modesty and serenity that shone through. She said that simply hitting “maximum effort” allows her to do run the times she has clocked and expressed gratitude for “this body and the gift this is” and her opportunities.
“[It was] just coming into the race with an open mind, childlike belief and just ready to go smash it and have some fun.”
Hedengren — who split 64.98 for the first 409m then 2:11.26 and 3:16.47 for the next two laps — said it was “really awesome” to have a pacer out there, noting “It really allows you to shut your brain off a little bit in the early stages of the race and just focus on your rhythm… I did not look at the clock.”
The 4:23.50 was not only a HSR and AJR, but also placed her at No. 3 on the World Junior ATL with the No. 5 mark. Her 1500 split of 4:04.68 was just 0.06 shy of Cain’s HSR and No. 3 on the American U20 ATL.
The boys’ championship was a completely different animal, starting at the gun as the field of 16 tried to crowd to the inside too fast, knocking some runners into the infield while Matthew Shelly took a tumble, badly injuring his shoulder. After a delay of several minutes, the race was off again, but no one was interested in rushing out to draft on pacer Derek Holdsworth’s 58-second tempo.
The Crater (Central Point, Oregon) duo of Josiah Tostenson and Tayvon Kitchen, who ran 3:57.47 and 3:59.61 indoors back in February in becoming the first teammates to break 4:00 in one race, were always near the front, along with Corbin Coombs (Organ Mountain, Las Cruces, New Mexico). Coombs’ sub-4 (3:59.23) came less than 2 weeks ago. Coombs led the pack behind Holdsworth through 409m at 60.01, then Kitchen took them through the next two laps at 2:02.93 and 3:03.01.
Tostenson pushed ahead with 300 to go in what looked like it could be the deciding move. But coming on the outside to surge past into the final curve was Quentin Nauman. The Western Dubuque (Epworth, Iowa) junior’s sub-4 three weeks ago (3:59.60) was of the 1600m variety, but came at the end of a stunning 3-day state meet 3200 (8:57.97), sprint medley (1:47.50 800 split), 800 (1:49.41), 1600 quadruple that made jaws drop from coast to coast.
Nauman’s 800 speed indeed was the best in the field and he led powerfully into the final straight. Tostenson pulled back even in the final 50, but couldn’t hold his form in the final 25. The Oregon recruit’s reward was a junior-class record 3:58.65 (57.41 final lap), just ahead of Tostenson’s 3:59.00. Nauman became the 30th schoolboy to break 4:00.
“That’s really hard,” the winner said when asked to compare his new PR with his state meet performance. “No one had broken 4:00 for 1600 on our Drake track, so that one’s very sentimental. [But] this one’s amazing, to put myself on the scene nationally. I’d say this one’s maybe just a little bit better, but my home 1600 was just unreal after three events. I’m happy I got to run a fresh mile [here]; it’s really cool to do that!”
FESTIVAL OF MILES RESULTS
Boys Events
800: 1. Bryson Nielsen (Eastmark, Az) 1:49.53; 2. Owen Wolfe (Dowling,West Des Moines) 1:49.92.
Mile: 1. **Benjamin Adams (Mountain Vista, Co) 4:02.56; 2. *Caleb Ten Pas (Christian, Des Moines) 4:03.01; 3. Soheib Dissa (Newtown, Ct) 4:03.26; 4. Graham Stevener (Kirkwood, Mo) 4:03.31; 5. Will Sheets (Covington, Ky) 4:03.35; 6. Braden Lofquest (Gretna East, Nb) 4:03.52;7. *Rocco Culpepper (Niwot, Co) 4:03.80; 8. Benjamin Bouie (Crystal Springs Uplands, Ca) 4:04.71; 9. Henry Acorn (Rockhurst, MO) 4:05.55; 10. **Andrew Beroset (Gulf Breeze, Fl) 4:05.89.
Elite Mile: 1. *Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque, Ia) 3:58.65 (out HSL) (junior class record—old 3:58.83 Conor Burns [Southern Boone County, Ashland, Missouri] ’22) (61.21, 62.79 [2:04.00], 59.94 [3:03.94], 54.71);
2. Josiah Tostenson (Crater, Or) 3:59.00 (55.85); 3. TJ Hansen (Freeland, Mi) 4:00.69; 4. Robin Lefebvre’ (Can) 4:01.61; 5. Jack Anstrom (Seaforth, NC) 4:02.44; 6. *Jackson Spencer (Herriman, Ut) 4:02.56; 7. Tayvon Kitchen (Crater, Or) 4:02.56; 8. Benjamin Anderson (Mountain Vista, Co) 4:02.98; 9. Corbin Coombs (Organ Mountain, NM) 4:03.29; 10. Charlie Vause (Rio Rancho, NM) 4:04.02; 11. *Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll, Tx) 4:04.08; 12. Joseph Socarras (Belen, Miami) 4:04.31.
Girls Events
800: 1. Elyse Wilmes (Tolton, Mo) 2:04.05; 2. Paige Stuart (Blue Springs, Mo) 2:05.92.
Mile: 1. Jane Hedengren (Timpview, Ut) 4:23.50 AJR, HSR (old AJR 4:35.24 Polly Plumer [CaHS] ’82; old HSR 4:26.14i Hedengren ’25) (3, 5 WJ) (4:04.68—3, 3 AJ) (64.77—409m, 66.49 [2:11.26], 65.21 [3:16.47], 67.03);
2. Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery, Santa Rosa, Ca) 4:35.63; 3. ***Elin Latta (Home, Tx) 4:36.74; 4. *Chiara Dailey (La Jolla, Ca) 4:39.14; 5. Chloe Huyler (Lakeridge, Or) 4:39.54; 6. **Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville, NJ) 4:39.63; 7. Libby Castelli (O’Gorman, SD) 4:43.22; 8. Rosie Mucharsky (Denver East) 4:44.48.
Elite Mile: 1. ***Gianna Rahmer (Eldorado, NM) 4:43.24; 2. *Mary Nesmith (Marietta, Ga) 4:43.30; 3. Mia Williams (Fossil Ridge, Co) 4:43.97; 4. **Abigail Anstett (Visitation, DC) 4:44.34; 5. *Annika Swan (St Ignatius, Chicago) 4:44.43.
