New Balance Nationals Indoor Highlights

Last week, the nation’s best high school track and field athletes congregated in Boston for another edition of the New Balance Nationals Indoor.

The four-day event featured multitudes of season-best performances, some new meet records and new US-top marks in several events.

Let’s dive into some of the best moments from this year’s championship event:

Quincy Wilson shines in the 400-meter dash

As expected, Wilson pulled through and won the 400 in a blazing time of 45.71 seconds, holding off Virginia Beach Flames sprinter Andrew Salvodon. Wilson’s high school teammate Cameron Homer finished third with a time of 46.66 seconds.

Wilson, a generational talent out of Potomac’s Bullis School, became the youngest American Olympic male track and field athlete when he was named an alternate on the eventual gold medal-winning 4x400-meter relay team in Paris.

The title at New Balance is business as usual for the 17-year-old phenom.

Thrilling 800 finishes

The top times in the boy’s and girl’s 800-meter races were separated by mere fractions of a second.

Cole Boone took home the title in the boy’s race with a time of 1:48.29. Robin Lefebvre finished in second at 1:48.63, while Carter Smith was third at 1:48.66.

Smith, a junior out of central Pennsylvania's Mifflin County High School, continues to be a fascinating story. A former baseball athlete, Smith switched to track and field as a high school freshman, immediately bursting onto the running scene.

Smith was a state medalist in last year’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Outdoor Track and Field Championships while winning two Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor state titles in the 800. In addition, Smith won a cross-country state title in the fall in his first-ever season.

In the girl's 800-meter final, Emmry Ross ran a new meet record and US No. 1 time in 2:03 flat, while Makenna Herbst ran the US No. 2 time in 2:03.83.

Tayvon Kitchen dominates in the 5,000-meter

The fastest high school 3,000-meter runner in history dusted the field in the 5,000. Kitchen ran a new personal best and US No. 1 time of 14:01.14, 12 seconds ahead of Hayden Boaz, who finished in second place.

As Oregon natives, Kitchen and Boaz represent a rich tradition of distance running in the Beaver State.

4x800-meter relays steal the show

IMG Academy dominated the girl's 4x800 relay, running a meet record and US No. 1 time of 8:46.04. Raleigh Catholic finished second in 9:05.01.

The boy's race reaped a much different result as the top five teams all finished within a second of each other. The DC Cadets finished first while running a new meet record and US No. 1 time in 7:37.52. Bentonville cross-country finished with a US No. 2 time in 7:37.95.

Boys jumps don’t disappoint

Competing with Sky’s the Limit Track Club, junior Ryan Buskey jumped a new meet record of 7-1 in the high jump. The leap was just an inch shy of Buskey’s personal best.

Kenneth Owen and Joachim Johnson finished behind Buskey with 6-10 1/4 leaps.

Quincy Isaac, a senior out of Canton High School, won the long jump with a new meet record distance of 24-11 1/4 inches. Isaac recently broke the Michigan indoor state record with a leap of 25-1, 3/4 inches.

Senior Micheal Ahoua finished second, 11 inches behind Isaac’s leap.

Jake Odey-Jordan and Jesse Myers break 21 in the 200

Odey-Jordan, a junior out of Archbishop Carroll, won the national title in the 200-meter dash in 20.9 seconds after dropping a time of 21.12 seconds in preliminaries. Odey-Jordan’s mark of 20.9 is this year’s US No. 1 time.

Running with Nittany Valley Track Club, State College High star Myers dropped a time of 20.99 seconds in the championship race. Myers, a commit to the University of Florida, is a PIAA state champion and silver medalist in the 200 from last year’s USA Track and Field U20 Championships.

New Balance Outdoor Nationals are slated for June 19-22 in historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In last year’s event, four high school national records were set, along with one middle school national record, one world record and 59 meet records.

Isaac Hallock is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email idh5055@psu.edu