RENTON, WASHINGTON, June 14 — While both the boys’ and girls’ 2M races at the Brooks PR Invitational, just south of Seattle, were the best quality races of the day, the eyeballs on the track were sharply focused on the summit meeting that was the girls’ 100.
Shawnti Jackson (South Granville, Creedmoor, North Carolina), the sprint phenom who had claimed the national record in the 100 on June 3 with her 10.89, flew across the country to face off against Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego, Oregon), who ran 11.00 at her State Meet.
Jackson got off to a quick start, and maintained her lead over Brahe-Pedersen to take the win in 11.00, just short of the meet record — and HSR at the time — 10.98 set by Candace Hill in ’15. Brahe-Pedersen clocked 11.09. They claimed all-time performances =4 and 9.
“The game plan was to learn from what I did when I ran 10.8 and build from that”, said Jackson. She was happy with the time, despite the cloudy and cool mid-60s conditions. She’ll race next at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia before coming back west to Eugene for the USATF Juniors.
Simeon Birnbaum (Stevens, Rapid City, South Dakota), who last year became the first in meet history to break 4:00 in the mile, moved up in distance to contest the deuce against Connor Burns (Southern Boone, Ashland, Missouri), Rocky Hansen (Christ, Arden, North Carolina), and Tyrone Gorze (Crater, Central Point, Oregon).
Hansen took to the front early, taking the field past the mile in 4:22 prior to ceding the lead to Gorze before the 2000 meter mark. Gorze led for the next 800 before Birnbaum — winner of a showdown over 3200 at the Arcadia Invitational in April — took the lead for good with 2 laps left, stringing together circuits of 62.75 and 55.95 to seal the win in 8:34.10.
Birnbaum’s time is the second-fastest ever by a high schooler behind Lukas Verzbicas’ 8:29.46 at the ’11 Prefontaine Classic, and is the fastest ever in a high school-only race.
Burns, who will join Birnbaum at Oregon this fall, finished 2nd in 8:34.33, the third-fastest all-time, while Hansen was 3rd in 8:35.22, the number 5 mark all-time. Gorze was 4th in 8:39.61.
The girls’ 2M saw Ellie Shea (Belmont, Massachusetts) push the pace early with Leah Stephens (Good Counsel, Olney, Maryland) on her heels. Shea outsprinted Stephens on the final straight to win 9:53.36–9:54.34, as the top 5 broke 10:00.
In the boys’ 800, Nathan Cumberbatch (Shorewood, Wisconsin) took the yearly list lead, nosing out Dan Watcke (Central, Hinsdale, Illinois) 1:48.20–1:48.24.
Jane Hedengren (Timpview, Provo, Utah) used a big finish to win the girls’ mile in 4:35.69, breaking the meet record set by Juliette Whittaker last year, with Tatum David (Richland, Olney, Illinois) 2nd in 4:35.87, and Bethany Michalak (Air Academy, Air Academy Colorado) 3rd in 4:37.39.
Akala Garrett (Albemarle, NC) won the 100H in a meet record and year-leading 13.13 that moved her to No. 10 on the all-time list.
The final race of the day, the boys’ mile had a chaotic finish, as Devan Kipyego (St. Raphael, Pawtucket, Rhode Island), 3rd last year, went from 1st at the bell to 8th in the homestretch, as he was clipped from behind, forcing a number of runners to swing wide. Jackson Heidesch (Dowling, West Des Moines) emerged to take the win in 4:04.20.
BROOKS BOYS RESULTS
100(-1.0): 1. Jacob Andrews (Sehome, Bellingham, Wa) 10.64; 2. Amari Turner (Seminole, Sanford, Fl) 10.64; 3. Robert Stitts (El Cerrito, Ca) 10.70.
400: 1. Tavon Underwood (Mead, Longmont, Co) 45.78; 2. **Jonathan Simms (Allen, Tx) 45.90; 3. Jayden Davis (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix) 46.28; 4. Nayyir Newash-Campbell (Plainfield, In) 47.04; 5. **Sidi Njie (Westlake, Atlanta) 47.12]
800: 1. Nathan Cumberbatch’ (Shorewood, Wi) 1:48.20 (HSL);
2. Dan Watcke (Central, Hinsdale, Il) 1:48.24; 3. Andrew Regnier (Waunakee, Wi) 1:48.49; 4. Tinoda Matsatsa (St Andrew’s, Potomac, Md) 1:48.50; 5. Carter Cutting (Wilsonville, Or) 1:48.98; 6. *Tyler Mathews (Red Mountain, Mesa, Az) 1:49.58; 7. Alex Leath (Vestavia Hills, Al) 1:49.84; 8. Miguel Pantojas (Hagerty, Oviedo, Fl) 1:50.24; 9. Aaron Sahlman (Newbury Park, Ca) 1:52.16.
Mile: 1. Jackson Heidesch (Dowling, West Des Moines, Ia) 4:04.20 (3:48.59); 2. Tayson Echohawk (Orem, Ut) 4:04.48 (3:49.74); 3. Collin Boler (Delbarton, Morristown, NJ) 4:06.03 (3:50.19); 4. Kole Mathison (Carmel, In) 4:06.21 (3:49.76); 5. *Clay Shively (Trinity, Wichita) 4:07.17 (3:50..68); 6. *JoJo Jourdan (Olympus, Salt Lake City) 4:08.30 (3:50.96); 7. Tyler Sainsbury (Meridian, Id) 4:11.67; 7. Devan Kipyego (St Raphael, Pawtucket, RI) 4:17.60.
2M: 1. Simeon Birnbaum (Stevens, Rapid City, SD) 8:34.10 (HSL)(2, 2 HS) (8:05.11—9, 10 HS); 2. Connor Burns (Southern Boone, Ashland, Mo) 8:34.33 (3, 3 HS) (8:05.32); 3. Rocky Hansen (Christ, Arden, NC) 8:35.22 (5,5 HS) (8:05.13—10, x HS);
4. Tyrone Gorze (Crater, Central Point, Or) 8:39.61 (8:06.67); 5. *Daniel Simmons (American Fork, Ut) 8:41.10 (8:06.84); 6. Hunter Jones (Benzie Central, Benzonia, Mi) 8:43.71 (8:10.30); 7. Zack Munson (Sehome, Bellingham) 8:52.70; 8. Noah Jenkins (Herriman, Ut) 8:54.00; 9. Tyler Downs (Mountain View, Highlands Ranch, Co) 8:58.89; 10. **Vincent Recupero (Blanchet, Seattle) 9:00.22.
110H(-0.5): 1. Andre Korbmacher (Squalicum, Bellingham, Wa) 13.40; 2. Kalib Branch (Lovejoy, Ga) 13.61; 3. Arevyon Davis (Marshall, Missouri City, Tx) 13.73; 4. Kai Graves-Blanks (Academy, Montverde, Fl) 13.79; 5. *Bradley Franklin (Thompson, Alabaster, Al) 13.81; 6. Donovan Bradley (Summer Creek, Houston) 14.14; 7. Davis Davis-Lyric (Upland, Ca) 14.17.
BROOKS GIRLS RESULTS
100(0.4): 1. Shawnti Jackson (South Granville, Creedmoor, NC) 11.00 (x, =4 HS; x, =13 AJ); 2. *Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego, Or) 11.09 (x, 9 HS);
3. *Avery Lewis (Friends’ Central, Wynnewood, Pa) 11.51; 4. Madison Whyte (Heritage, Newport News, Va) 11.51; 5. *Rachael Uvieghara (University, Palm Harbor, Fl) 11.61; 6. *Sanaa Frederick’ (Druid Hills, Atlanta) 11.66; 7. *Braelyn Baker (Bear Creek, Redmond, Wa) 11.74.
400: 1. JaMeesia Ford (Britt, Fayetteville, NC) 53.52; 2. ***Skyler Franklin (Western, Davie, Fl) 53.57; 3. Michaela Mouton (Killeen, Tx) 54.14; 4. *Josie Donelson (Lake Oswego) 54.43.
800: 1. *Allison Ince (Normal, Il) 2:04.82; 2. Symone Grant (Sandy Creek, Tyrone, Ga) 2:04.83; 3. Gretchen Farley (Park Tudor, Indianapolis) 2:05.59; 4. Madison Shults (Niwot, Co) 2:06.69; 5. *Nicole Humphries (Flower Mound, Tx) 2:06.82; 6. Hannah Riggins (Del Norte, San Diego) 2:07.09; 7. Kate Putman (Cicero-North Syracuse, Cicero, NY) 2:08.18.
Mile: 1. **Jane Hedengren (Timpview, Provo, Ut) 4:35.69 (out HSL) (9, x HS) (4:18.37); 2. Tatum David (Richland, Olney, Il) 4:35.87 (10, x HS) (4:17.95);
3. **Bethany Michalak (Air Academy, Air Force Academy, Co) 4:37.79 (4:19.02); 4. Karrie Baloga (Cornwall Central, New Windsor, NY) 4:37.52 (4:18.25); 5. Jessie Secor (Dupont, Louisville) 4:42.17 (6. *Samantha Humphries (Flower Mound, Tx) 4:42.74; 7. ***Chiara Dailey (La Jolla, Ca) 4:44.47.
2M: 1. *Ellie Shea (Belmont, Ma) 9:53.36 (9:15.91); 2. Leah Stephens (Good Counsel, Olney, Md) 9:54.34 (9:15.87 out HSL); 3. Emma Stutzman (Pomona, Arvada, Co) 9:55.75 (9:17.67); 4. Sophia Kennedy (Park Tudor, Indianapolis) 9:57.09 (9:18.32); 5. Grace Schager (Glenbard North, Carol Stream, Il) 9:59.93 (9:19.38); 6. Ciara O’Shea (Madison Central, Richmond, Ky) 10:18.33;… dnf—**Sadie Engelhardt (Ventura, Ca).
100H (0.6) 1. Akala Garrett (Albemarle, NC) 13.13 (HSL) (10, x HS);
2. Saira Prince (Williams, Gilbert, Az) 13.33; 3. Olivia Powell (Woodward, College Park, Ga) 13.43; 4. **Aleesa Samuel (Miami) 13.43; 5. *Kori Martin (Hamilton, Chandler, Az) 13.67; 6. Nonah Waldron (Oak Park, Mi) 13.68; 7. Yvette Harris (Lincoln, Stockton, Ca) 13.76; 8. *Gabriella Cunningham (Grandview, Co) 13.80.