Following disappointing results at Brooks PR Invitational, St. Raphael Academy senior and Ventura sophomore secure mile victories in Philadelphia; Asinga runs wind-legal 10.05 to take 100 title, Lewis and Underwood prevail in 400 finals, with Bullis School grabbing two more girls relay crowns

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

John Nepolitan photos

PHILADELPHIA – For all the state titles, record-setting achievements and elite national efforts on the respective resumes of Sadie Engelhardt and Devan Kipyego, their performances Saturday night in the mile championship races at New Balance Nationals Outdoor were a testament to mental toughness, resilience and courage.

Engelhardt and Kipyego both raced Wednesday in Washington at the Brooks PR Invitational.

Engelhardt, a sophomore at Ventura High in California, dropped out of the girls 2-mile competition in the final kilometer, and Kipyego – an Iowa State-bound senior from St. Raphael Academy in Rhode Island representing Saints Track Club – went from leading the boys mile race with 200 meters left to being clipped and losing his balance, resulting in an eighth-place finish.

LIVE WEBCAST INFO | EVENT VIDEOS | BIG BOARD | INTERVIEWS | JOHN NEPOLITAN PHOTOS | RESULTS

Engelhardt’s ambition was rewarded Saturday by leading from the gun and holding off late surges from Claire Stegall of Nolensville High in Tennessee and Jessica Secor from DuPont Manual in Kentucky to complete her sweep of New Balance indoor and outdoor mile titles, clocking 4 minutes, 38.96 seconds.

Stegall (4:39.94) and Secor (4:40.98) both lowered their own state records to place second and third, respectively, with seven athletes running under 4:42, one shy of the record eight from last year’s Brooks PR Invitational.

Kipyego’s patience paid off, deciding to lay off the early pacing of Kole Mathison from Carmel High in Indiana, before making a decisive move in the final 600 meters and never relinquishing control to triumph in 4:04.78.

Kipyego secured his second national victory in a three-week span, following a 4:03.65 performance May 27 at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama.

Connor Ackley of Hilliard Davidson High in Ohio closed with a 58.86-second split to move from seventh to second on the final lap by clocking 4:06.06, with Marcus Reilly of Northbridge High in Massachusetts taking third in 4:06.12.

Less than an hour later, Kipyego was back on the track, running the 800-meter anchor leg for Saints Track Club in the 1,600 sprint medley relay, which secured sixth in its section and 51st overall in 3:37.36.

There was a similar sense of satisfaction of taking care of some unfinished business for Issam Asinga, a Texas A&M-bound senior at Montverde Academy in Florida, who was finally able to lower his top wind-legal performance in the 100-meter dash to 10.05 seconds to prevail against an elite field and capture the title.

Asinga, who is next scheduled to race June 24 at the USATF New York Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium, has produced the top three all-conditions efforts in U.S. prep history by running wind-aided marks of 9.83, 9.86 and 9.89, but his performance Saturday improved on his 10.10 wind-legal effort from April 1 at the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville.

Nigel Ancrum of Viking Track Club, representing Spring Valley High in South Carolina, placed second in 10.15 and Brody Buffington from Catoctin High in Maryland was third in 10.16.

Laila Campbell, a junior at Spring Grove Area High, was victorious in the girls 100 final in a wind-legal 11.42, with another Pennsylvania standout, Avery Lewis of Friends Central and Phoenix Track Club, placing second in 11.52. 

Bullis School from Maryland added two more relay victories, with Kennedy Flynn, Myla Greene, Gabby White and Kassidy Hopkins prevailing in the 4x100 shuttle hurdles in 55.97, giving the Bulldogs four of the top 10 all-time prep efforts, trailing only Western Branch of Virginia with five performances.

Bullis also triumphed in the 800-meter sprint medley relay, with Payton Payne, Jade Ofotan, Tatum Lynn and White holding off IMG Academy of Florida by a 1:42.60 to 1:42.88 margin.

Guilderland Track Club of New York produced one of the biggest highlights of the third day in the four-day event, with Megan Swan, Saida Assabahi, Kendall Barnhart and Addison Vellekoop winning the girls 1,600-meter sprint medley relay in 3:57.66, with Motor City Track Club – representing Oak Park High in Michigan – the only other lineup to eclipse the 4-minute barrier by finishing second in 3:59.28.

Warhill Track Club from Virginia relied on a 1:48.75 anchor split from Leo Davis to rally for the 1,600 boys sprint medley.relay title in 3:24.84. Davis joined Ayden Stewart, Andrew Piccataggi and Elijah Epps to capture the championship.

Pennsauken Track Club from New Jersey emerged victorious in the boys 800 sprint medley relay.

Elijah Jennings, Bronze Whitmore, Premier Wynn and Bryce Tucker clocked 1:30.31 to remain ahead of Roman Catholic Track Club of Pennsylvania (1:30.69), with athletes representing the Philadelphia-based Roman Catholic program.

Ian Hopkins, Justice Larkin, Ameen Zubair and Nathaniel Rayan of Scotch Plains-Fanwood Track Club in New Jersey triumphed in the boys 4x110 shuttle hurdle relay.

Tavon Underwood of Mead High in Colorado, a senior representing Real Training, won the boys 400 title in 45.82, with Bullis School freshman Quincy Wilson finishing second in 45.99. Underwood produced the Colorado prep record May 20 with his 45.36 performance at the Class 4A state final. 

Lauren Lewis of Prosper High in Texas, a senior who ran 51.17 on June 3 at the Great Southwest Classic, delivered another dominant effort to secure the girls 400 championship in 52.41. Bullis School sophomore Sydney Sutton was runner-up in 53.88.

Lewis is expected to be part of a girls 200 final Sunday that is scheduled to include Shawnti Jackson of South Granville High in North Carolina and Adaejah Hodge from Montverde Academy in Florida.

Christian Toro of Lincoln Senior High in Rhode Island closed out his hammer throw series in impressive fashion with back-to-back 228-6 throws (69.66m and 69.64m) to capture the title, with Parker Kim of Syosset Track Club in New York finishing second at 222-8 (67.86m).

Jordan Koskondy from IMG Academy in Florida prevailed in the girls hammer throw with a sixth-round effort of 171-2 (52.19m) to hold off Jillian Leahy of Lincoln Senior at 167-8 (51.12m).

Tesaira Williams of Springfield Gardens High in New York captured the girls pentathlon championship with 3,622 points.

Brian Walsh from West Morris Mendham in New Jersey secured the boys pentathlon title with 3,394 points.

Maine Racewalkers swept both boys and girls national titles to open the day, with junior Rowan McDonald of Bonny Eagle High completing the indoor and outdoor championship sweep, covering the mile distance in 6:55.38.

Ashlyn Poulin of Gardiner Area High won her first girls mile racewalk national title by clocking 7:16.97.