NEW YORK CITY, March 10–12 — The Armory’s season-ending prep showcase lost some luster when New Balance moved its well-established national championship to Boston, but Nike’s Big Apple affair still featured multiple notable performances. Irene Riggs (Morgantown, West Virginia) led the way with a win in the girls mile, over what was arguably the strongest field of the weekend.
After moving to the front shortly past the halfway, Riggs used a 31.9 final lap to seal the victory, clocking 4:38.23, ahead of Karrie Baloga (Cornwall Central, New Windsor, New York) in 4:39.96. Sophia Gorriaran (Brown, Providence, Rhode Island), who had won the 800 (2:07.30) a day earlier, took 3rd (4:41.94).
“I did feel pretty controlled the first 800, so I needed to start speeding up so I could try to set myself up for the last lap,” said Riggs, last fall’s Nike Cross Nationals winner, who moved to No. 8 all-time.
“I’m super pleased with that time. I’ve done pretty much all base-training this winter,” said the Stanford-bound Riggs, who won the USATF U20 XC title in January, then helped the U.S. Junior team take bronze at the World Championships in Australia in February. “I’ve not really done much speedwork, so that’s really exciting for me to hit a time like that indoors.”
Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego, Oregon) came into the weekend as the HSR holder in the 200. But her 22.89 from February was taken down twice by Adaejah Hodge (Academy, Montverde, Florida) in Boston. Still, Brahe-Pedersen won a convincing sprint double at the Armory, winning the 60 (7.37) and 200 (23.35).
“I’m happy with how this weekend went, there are definitely things that can be cleaned up,” the 11th-grader told RunnerSpace, adding that she missed two weeks of training with various injuries in the past month.
Brahe-Pedersen was gracious in surrendering the HSR. “Adaejah is very talented, I’ve known this for a long time,” she said. “I’m glad it got broken. Obviously having a record is nice, but records are made to be broken — and broken again and again. Eventually I might do it again. I have a whole other season, and so does Adaejah, and I’m looking forward to going head-to-head with her.”
Club teammate Sophia Beckmon (Oregon City) was 2nd in the 200 (23.77) as well as the long jump, jumping 19-9½. The long jump was won by Skylynn Townsend (Rock Hill, Frisco, Texas) who hit 20-1½ a day after winning the triple jump in a list-leading 43-6½.
The boys triple jump also saw a new HSL. Jaden Lippett (Winter Haven, Florida) bounded out to a PR 50-8¼, to edge out Sterling Scott (Starkville, Mississippi), who hit 50-2.
Hunter Jones (Benzie Central, Benzonia, Michigan) won a 2M/5000 double in 8:51.40 and 14:20.54, the latter moving him to No. 8 all-time indoors.
NIKE BOYS RESULTS
60: 1. Carlmelo Martin (Boiling Springs, SC) 6.65 (6.21); 2. Peyton Lewis (Salem, Roanoke, Va) 6.73.
200: 1. Rodrick Pleasant (Serra, Gardena, Ca) 21.41; 2. **Kendrick Jones (Temple, Tx) 21.50.
400: 1. Tavon Underwood (Mead, Longmont, Co) 47.32; 2. Aidan Dixon (Atlantic, Port Orange, Fl) 47.34; 3. Christian Parker (Southwest Guilford, High Point, NC) 47.51.
800: 1. Nathan Cumberbatch’ (Shorewood,, Wi) 1:51.54; 2. Kaleb Nastari (United, Hanoverton, Oh) 1:51.83; 3. Justin Gottlieb (Jefferson, Shenandoah Junction, WV) 1:52.66.
Mile: 1. *Knox Young (Greenville, SC) 4:11.49; 2. William Heslam (Roosevelt, Portland, Or) 4:13.19; 3. Micah Lawson (Rahway, NJ) 4:13.73.
2M: 1. Hunter Jones (Benzie Central, Benzonia, Mi) 8:51.40; 2. Noah Jenkins (Herriman, Ut) 9:00.04; 3. Young 9:07.62.
5000: 1. Jones 14:20.54 (HSL) (4, 5 HS);
2. Maximus Haynia (Westhampton Beach) 14:49.19; 3. **Will Sheets (Covington, Park Hills, Ky) 14:51.42.
60H: 1. Alexander Chukwukelu (North, Forney, Tx) 7.72; 2. Nathaniel Rayan (Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Scotch Plains, NJ) 7.79; 3. Joseph DeRosier (Old Mill, Millersville, Md) 7.95.
MileW: 1. Clayton Stoil (Langley, McLean, Va) 6:47.37; 2. *Colin Graham (Dumont, NJ) 7:43.02.
Relay Events
4 x 200: 1. Salem 1:28.40; 2. Smith, Chesapeake, Va 1:29.36; 3. Calvert Hall, Towson, Md 1:29.69.
4 x 400: 1. Loughlin, Brooklyn 3:18.83; 2. Karr, New Orleans, La 3:19.11; 3. Abington, Pa 3:19.48.
4 x 800: 1. Lancaster, Oh 7 48.84; 2. Chaminade, Mineola 7:48.84; 3. Monroe-Woodbury, Central Valley 7:51.01; 4. St. Anthony, South Huntington 7:51.47.
4 x Mile: 1. Monroe-Woodbury 17:30.76 (HSL);
2. Menlo, Atherton, Ca 17:36.76; 3. McCallie, Chattanooga, Tn 17:37.37.4. Lancaster, Oh 17:39.68.
SpMed: 1. Huntington 3:33.08; 2. Freeport 3:33.13; 3. Mepham, North Bellmore 3:33.74.
DisMed: 1. Episcopal, Newtown Square, Pa 10:08.93; 2. Monroe-Woodbury 10:09.06; 3. Rahway 10:12.57.
4 x 55H: 1. Fordham, Bronx 30.93; 2. Rahway 31.63.
Field Events
HJ: 1. *Kameron Franklin (Heritage, Frisco, Tx) 6-10¼.
PV: 1. Cody Johnston (Hobart, In) 17-1; 2. ***Isaiah Whitaker (Central Catholic, Bloomington, Il) 16-4; 3. Matthew Gray (Swain County, Bryson City, NC) 16-0; 4. *Kenneth Byrd (East Burke, Connelly Springs, NC) 16-0.
LJ: 1. *Juriad Hughes (Irondale, New Brighton, Mn) 24-11; 2. Miles Jones (Lake Ridge, Mansfield, Tx) 24-8½; 3. Tyson Adams (West Forsyth, Cummings, NC) 23-9½.
TJ: 1. *Jaden Lippett (Winter Haven, Fl) 50-8¼ (HSL);
2. Sterling Scott (Starkville, Ms) 50-2; 3. Zavien Wolfe (Central, Memphis, Tn) 49-5½.
SP: I–1. *Matthew Rusch (Fond du Lac, Wi) 61-5¾; ٢. Javaris Ambrose (Thornton, Harvey, Il) 60-11¼; 3. *Junior Payton-Kimble (Northeastern, Elizabeth City, NC) 59-5¾.
II– 1. Jordae Edwards (Grassfield, Chesapeake, Va) 59-11.
Wt: 1. Max Herman (Marietta, Ga) 78-11¾; ٢. Christian Toro (Lincoln, RI) 77-6; 3. Matthew Auble (Warsaw 72-10; 4. Parker Kim (Syosset) 71-10¼.
Pent: 1. Aiden Carter (Brentwood, Tn) 3691; 2. Benjamin Blomqvist (Champion, Boerne, Tx) 3585; 3. Goran Saric (Northern Valley, Old Tappan, NJ) 3375.
NIKE GIRLS RESULTS
(60: 1. *Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego, Or) 7.37; 2. **Dana Wilson (Day, Greensboro, NC) 7.40; 3. *Indya Mayberry (North Crowley, Ft Worth, Tx) 7.45.
200: 1. Brahe-Pedersen 23.35; 2. Sophia Beckmon (Oregon City, Or) 23.77; 3. **Skyler Franklin (Somerset, Hollywood, Fl) 23.91.
400: 1. Akala Garrett (Albemarle, NC) 54.08; 2. Anissa Moore (Hempstead) 54.96.
800: 1. Sophia Gorriaran (Brown, Providence, RI) 2:07.30; 2. Sorcha Shiu (Can) 2:08.14; 3. Madison Shultz (Niwot, Co) 2:08.69.
Mile: 1. Irene Riggs (Morgantown, WV) 4:38.23 (8, 9 HS) (4:21.09 HSL—9, 11 HS);
2. Karrie Baloga (Cornwall Central, New Windsor) 4:39.96 (4:21.69); 3. Gorriaran 4:41.94 (4:21.83); 4. Sophia Kennedy (Park Tudor, Indianapolis, In) 4:45.60; 5. Abbey Nechanicky (Wayzata, Plymouth, Mn) 4:45.65.
2M: 1. Brooke Wilson (Valor, Highland Springs, Co) 10:15.95 (HSL);
2. ****Sophia Rodriguez (MS, Dallastown, Pa) 10:20.68 (8th-grade record); 3. ***Addison Ritzenhein (Niwot, Co) 10:21.03.
5000: 1. **Lillie Bogdan (Frontier, Hamburg) 17:01.63; 2. Rose Coats (Prospect, Brooklyn) 17:14.83; 3. ***Shannon Ziugelder (Starpoint, Lockport) 17:26.55.
MileW: 1. *Talia Green (Oakland Prep, Oakland, Ca) 7:14.05; 2. Farrah Wengler (West Babylon) 7:54.87; 3. ***Samantha Benson-Tyler (Schreiber, Port Washington) 7:55.36.
60H: 1. Akala Garrett (Albemarle, NC) 8.25 (HSL) (7.67 HSL);
2. Aaliyah Berry (Spring Valley, Columbia, SC) 8.48; 3. Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park, Ferdinand, In) 8.51.
Relay Events
4 x 200 1. Hoover, Al 1:40.81; 2. Smith, Chesapeake, Va 1:41.14; 3. South County, Lorton, Va 1:41.30.
4 x 400: 1. Hoover 3:50.67; 2. Rustin, West Chester, Pa 3:52.60; 3. Kellam, Virginia Beach, Va 3:54.44.
4 x 800: 1. Niwot, Co 9:00.25; 2. South Lakes, Reston, Va 9:07.54; 3. Cornwall Central 9:17.52.
4 x Mile: 1. Saratoga Springs 20:02.50 (HSL)(6 HS);
2. Wayzata, Plymouth, Mn 20:18.67; 3. Jesuit, Portland, Or 20:47.37.
SpMed: 1. Hoover 4:06.08; 2. Overlea, Baltimore, Md 4:10.20; 3. Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Scotch Plains, NJ 4:12.33.
DisMed: 1. Niwot 11:41.46; 2. Saratoga Springs 11:44.67; 3. Hunter, NYC 12:16.43
4 x 55H: 1. Smith 33.06; 2. Cardozo, Oakland Gardens 33.71.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Kya Crooke (Heritage, Indianapolis, In) 5-8¾.
PV: 1. *Emily Romano (Glen Allen, Va) 13-¼.
LJ: 1. *Skylynn Townsend (Rock Hill, Frisco, Tx) 20-1½; 2. Beckmon 19-9½; 3. Humphries 19-6¾; 4. Tajaina McKenzie (Northrop, Ft Wayne, In) 19-6¾.
TJ: 1. Townsend 43-6½ (HSL) (=5, =9 HS) (junior-class record);
2. Asia Phillips’ (Can) 43-6; 3. Taylor Fingers (Timberview, Arlington, Tx) 40-11¾.
SP: I–1. Mensi Stiff (Academy, Brentwood, Tn) 51-0; 2. Skylar Soli (Douglas, Douglasville, Ga) 45-4¼; 3. *Abigail Russell (Allen Park, Mi) 44-7½.
II–1. Stiff 50-6¾.
Wt: 1. Angela Schykerynec (Orland, Ca) 57-10¼; 2. Soli 56-10¾; 3. Adrianna Coleman (Kings, Shoreline, Wa) 56-10¼.
Pent: 1. Heidi Hudson (Sumrall, Ms) 3628; 2. Tesaira Williams (Springfield Gardens) 3585; 3. Evie Culbreath (Baylor, Chattanooga, Tn) 3571.
Mixed-Sex Event
4 x 400: 1. Union Catholic 3:35.30 (10 HS); 2. South County 3:40.66. ◻︎