PHOTO CREDIT : Victah Sailer
By Ricky Quintana

The Nike Indoor Nationals concluded on Sunday, but the memories, they’ll last for a long time. The Nike Track and Field Center at The Armory lived up to its billing as the Fastest Track in the World as four national, six national class records, twenty meet, and five Armory records were set over the four day event. Here are a few of the outstanding performers of the meet.

- Arguably, the performer of the meet was Jane Hedengren (Provo, UT), a BYU signee. The senior has not lost since finishing fourth at The Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, September 21, 2024. That’s ten cross country and track races in all. On opening night, she flew to a new US High School and US U20 record of 15:13.26 in her first race over the 5,000 meter indoors or outdoors. The win wasn’t easy as Rylee Blade (Corona, CA), the fastest US 3-mile cross country runner in high school history (15:20.3), took the lead with six laps to go. Hedengren was able to put Blade away with a 67.3 to Blade’s 71.0 over the last 400 meters to secure the win. Blade finished under the previous U20 record with her 15:16.72. It was Blade’s, an FSU signee, second race over the distance on the track. The last being a 16:18.17 to win the Nike Outdoor Nationals in June. 

Sunday, Hedengren put an exclamation point on her historic weekend as she obliterated the field and the national record with her solo 4:26.14 win in the mile. That put her under Sadie Englehardt’s (Ventura, CA) record of 4:27.97 set in finishing 11th in the Millrose Wanamaker mile on February 8, 2025. Enroute, her 1,500 meter time of 4:07.68 set an indoor national record and placed her fourth fastest indoors or outdoors in US HS history. Rylee Blade finished third in a new personal best of 4:42.74 after leading her team off to a DMR Championship on a 3:31.31 1,200m opening leg.

On the docket for the recently Nike NIL-signed Hedengren is the 2-mile at the Arcadia Invitational on April 12 and the 5,000 meter at Bryan Clay Invitational on April 17.

Jane Hedengren Interviews
with Oliver Hinson 1 mile 5k
with Ricky Quintana
Rylee Blade Interviews 1 mile 5k

- Junior Tate Taylor (San Antonio, TX) thrust himself into the national limelight with a scorching US HS record of 20.46 win in the 200m. He was chased to the line by another junior, Brandon Arrington Jr (Spring Valley, CA), who finished in 20.49. However, Arrington was DQ’ed for a lane violation. The previous record of 20.62 was set by Jaylen Slade (IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL) in 2021. 

Earlier, Tate finished second in the 60m at NIN in 6.64, which tied him for the fourth-fastest junior of all time.
Taylor was not a household name coming into NIN, but he will be now. His resume includes a first place in the 200m 20.66 (-1.3) and second in the 100 meter, 10.23 (+2.0) last summer at the USATF JO.
Interview

- Dana Wilson (Greensboro, NC) cemented herself as the best 60m and 200m in US History with her 7.16 and 22.81 performances. On Saturday, she lowered Tamari Davis’ (Gainesville, FL) 2018 meet record of 7.25 to 7.23 in the morning and in the afternoon, came back to lower the 2016 meet record of 23.23 set by Lauren Rain Williams’ (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village, Ca) to 23.19.

On Sunday, she lowered the 60m mark once again to 7.21 before shattering that mark with a 7.16 win in the finals. That tied her season best and tied her for US #2 All Time. Sixty-two minutes later, she lowered the 200 meter meet record again with a 22.81 in the finals. That moved her to US #3 All Time. She finished her indoor season with three of the top ten 60 meter marks in US history and two of the top ten 200 meter marks in US History. She extended her win streak in prelims, semis and finals in the 55m, 60m, 100m, and 200m to 41 races dating back to 2024.
Interview

- Cooper Lutkenhaus (Justin, TX) used a sizzling 52.00 opening 400 meters to a 1:47.83 win in the 800 meters to post a US #3 All-Time performance. The time shattered the meet record of 1:49.46 seconds set by Cameron Cooper (Oak Park, IL) in 2017.

The tactics were unlike the ones he had used before. In previous races, he would sit back and then sprint over the last 200m. Here, he tried a different tactic that paid dividends. He now owns the US #1 and #3 indoor marks in US History.

The age 15 world, US High School and freshman record holder, 1:46.86, extended his high school winning streak to 14 races. He hasn’t lost a middle school or high schooler in an 800-meter race since June 14, 2023.

Cooper Lutkenhaus Interviews
with Oliver Hinson
with Ricky Quintana

- Sophomore Marcelo Mantecon (Miami, FL) continues to rewrite the history books in his young career. Last spring, he lowered the US HS outdoor 3,200m freshman record to 8:50.02. On opening night, and in the first indoor race of his career and the first 5,000 meters on a track, he lowered the sophomore indoor record to 14:14.38 winning the 5,000m. The halfway was reached in ~7:16.6 before the pace picked up significantly. Using a final 1600m of 4:23.5, final 800m in 2:06.8, and final 400 meter in 60.0 [final 3,200m in 8:59.32], he sealed the win - the first ever by a sophomore. The time was US #11 All Time. The previous indoor sophomore class record of 14:49.76 was set by Hunter Jones (Benzie Central, Benzonia, MI) in 2021.
Interview

He was not done.

On Friday, he finished sixth in the 2-mile in 8:49.78. His time was just shy of the age 16 outdoor 2-mile record of 8:45.8 set by Alan Scharsu (Fitch, Austintown, OH) in 1977 and outside of Edward Cheserek’s (St. Benedict’s Prep, Newark, NJ) 8:42.66 soph indoor record.
Interview

He was not done.

In the Boy’s 4 x 1 Mile Championship, Mantecon’s Miami Havana team was third, 3.42 seconds behind after a 4:20.88 leg from Justin Ruiz and a 4:19.62 carry by Marco Preiguez. Mantecon received the baton and moved past leader Buchholz TC (Gainesville, FL) and battled with North Idaho Distance Project’s (Coeur d'Alene, ID) Wyatt Carr before sprinting the last 400 meters in 57.96 to put his team up by 2.49 seconds. His leg, 4:11.24, was the fastest of all the legs in the 4 x mile. Miami Havana extended its lead to 3.97 seconds for the win on Tiago Socarras’ 4:14.76 leg.

He was done.

Interview

- Mantecon’s achievements may not last long. Freshman Ruel Newberry (Denton, TX), who turned 15 on March 5, ran phenomenally. On opening night in the 5,000 meters, the pace lagged as the pack hit the 800 meter split in 2:22 (14:36 pace). Newberry took the lead and began to click off ~34 second laps and covered the next 1600 meters in 4:36.1. He held his own as he finished the last 3,200m in 9:10.7 and his last 1600m in 4:33.3 to claim fifth in 14:24.62. He was shy of the 14:18.42 frosh class record set by Lukas Verzbicas’ (Lincoln Way Central, New Lenox, IL) in 2019 and was under the US age 15 outdoor record of 14:32.8 set by legendary Eric Hulst (Laguna Beach, CA) in 1973 and the frosh outdoor record of 14:33.51 set by Caden Leonard (Southlake, TX) in 2023.

In Friday’s 2-mile, Newberry set a new personal best of 9:07.86 to finish 24th. He will run the 5,000 meter on Saturday, March 22, at the Texas Distance Festival.

Interview

- Kameron “Killer Kam” Bethea (Buford, GA) is rocketing toward the record books. As a 14-year-old, he came painstakingly close to breaking the world record with his 10.59 (+1.3) at the USATF JO Championships in July. He was beaten by 14-year-old world record-setting Dillon Mitchell’s (Houston, TX) 10.45. He followed that with a 21.70 (-1.7) fourth-place finish, which was a bit slower than his personal best of 21.50 (+0.8) at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.

On Friday, he set a freshman meet record of 6.84 seconds in the 60 meter, which was just off J-Mee Samuels’ (Mount Tabor, Winston Salem, NC) age 15 world record of 6.74 in 2003 and the frosh record of 6.75 set by Jamier Averette-Brown’s (Wayne, Huber Heights, OH) set in 2024.

On Sunday, he set another freshman record in winning the 200 meter Emerging Elite division in 21.44 which was 0.26 seconds behind Kendrick Jones’ (Temple, TX) indoor freshman record of  21.18. 

- Angelina Alder (Provo, UT) continued the family tradition of winning as she won the girl's middle school mile in 4:57.63, a new personal best and meet record. She’s an 11-year-old sixth grader and just missed the age 11 world record of 4:56.08 set by Imogen Stewart in 2018. Her sister, Carmen Alder, now a BYU senior, won the freshman mile in 4:59.67 in 2018 and her sister Lily, a junior at Timpview HS(Provo, UT), won the 2023 freshman mile in 4:57.29.
Interview

- Eighth grader Melanie Doggett (Fayetteville, GA), has set nine world records in the 60 meter, 100 meter and 200 meter dashes in the 11, 12, and 13-year-old age groups. Her 60m WR, 7.17, and 200 meter WR, 23.33 could challenge females much older than her. She won the 60 meter prelim in a new meet record of 23.64 and then won the final in 23.66.

- Carrington Harris (Buford, GA) lowered the middle school meet record of 57.01 set by Kylie Walden (West Collierville, TN) a year ago to 56.16. She was second in the middle school 400 meters championship at Nike Outdoor Nationals with a then-best 56.64.

- Hannah Grace (Wilmington, NC), a University of Tennessee signee,  came in with a US #5 All-Time pole vault of 14-06. In the girls’ pole vault championship final, she made her first attempt at 13-04.25 and cleared it to take the lead. Another first jump clearance at 13-08.25 put her in the driver's seat. However, she missed on her first attempt at 14-00 and Jaicee Jasmer (Sulphur Springs, TX) cleared on her first attempt, putting Jasmer into the lead. Grace passed her two attempts and a clearance at 14-03.50 on her second attempt, and three misses by Jasmer secured the win. Grace had the bar set at 14-07.25, but missed on all three attempts. The previous record of 14-03.25 was set by Jathiyah Muhammad (Tracy, CA) last year.

Interview

- Janessa Brown (Buford, GA) improved the freshman meet record by ten inches with her 19-01.25 long jump win. The previous record of 18-0.3.25 was set by Arianna Montgomery (Middletown, DE) in 2023.

- Sophomore Malik Mohammed (Newark, NJ) had a sensational performance. As a freshman his best high jump mark was 6-02.75. In the Emerging Elite final,  he cleared his first attempt of 6-00.75, and he subsequently cleared each successive height on his first attempt through his winning height of 6-10.75.

The previous record of 6-08.25 was set by Isaiah Kyle (East Morristown, TN) in 2014.

- Aiden Opore (Marietta, GA) leaped to a new freshman meet record and personal best long jump of 23-00 on his fifth attempt. He was 12.25 inches better than Brooklyn Bailey’s (Highland Ranch, CO) 21-11.75 mark set in 2024.

Additional notes:

- Several relay records were set coming from four different teams.

4x400m Club F Jackrabbit TC Lawrenceville, GA 3:41.42
4x200m EE M North Point Waldorf, MD 1:29.16
4x200m Club M The House-DC Washington, DC 1:26.34
4x400m Club M AP Ranch Fort Worth, TX 3:12.78

- Jonathan Simms (Allen, TX) was nursing a groin strain and competed in the record setting 4 x 400m Club Championship. His 46.74 anchor propelled  the  AP Ranch TC- TX  to a meet record 3:12.78. The fastest split in the 4 x 400 meter relay club championship was 46.68 run by Andrew Wright who finished fifth in the Boys 400 meter Championship final.

- Jackson Cantwell (Nixa, MO) scratched because of an injured hand the week of the meet.