Matsatsa joins Webb as the only two U.S. prep athletes in history to achieve a sub-4 mile and run under 1:48 in the 800, completing a sweep of New Balance indoor and outdoor titles; Gorriaran gets girls 800 crown, with Hodge winning 200

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by John Nepolitan

PHILADELPHIA – With so much focus on the pursuit of sub-4 miles from one of the deepest senior classes in U.S. high school history, Tinoda Matsatsa and Andrew Regnier wanted to offer a reminder Sunday at New Balance Nationals Outdoor that there are still plenty of elite opportunities in the 800 meters as well.

After Cade Flatt of Marshall County High in Kentucky and Will Sumner from Woodstock High in Georgia combined for six of the top eight all-time outdoor prep 800 performances last year, Matsatsa and Regnier wanted to add their names to the legacy of the event at Franklin Field.

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Matsatsa, a Georgetown-bound senior at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Maryland, completed the sweep of New Balance indoor and outdoor national 800 titles by clocking a lifetime-best 1 minute, 47.61 seconds, with Regnier – a North Carolina commit from Waunakee High in Wisconsin – also achieving a personal-best 1:47.95 to place second.

Matsata elevated to the No. 8 all-time prep performer, with Regnier equaling the No. 15 outdoor competitor. Matsatsa prevailed March 11 in 1:48.27 to secure the crown at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston.

Matsatsa rebounded from a fourth-place finish June 14 in 1:48.50 at the Brooks PR Invitational in Washington, adding an impressive 800 performance to his 3:58.70 effort June 1 to take third at the HOKA Festival of Miles in Missouri.

Regnier was right in front of Matsatsa at Brooks PR, taking third in 1:48.49, as another Wisconsin standout, Nathan Cumberbatch of Shorewood, prevailed in 1:48.20, with Daniel Watcke of Hinsdale Central High in Illinois placing second in 1:48.24.

Matsatsa joined Alan Webb as the only other athlete in U.S. prep history to achieve both a sub-4 mile and run under 1:48 in the 800.

Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown School in Rhode Island, a Harvard commit, is no stranger to elite 800 fields, but hadn’t faced a lineup the caliber of the New Balance final yet during the outdoor season.

Gorriaran prevailed in 2:04.59 to capture her first New Balance outdoor crown, with 2,000-meter steeplechase champion and national high school record holder Angelina Napoleon from Allegany-Limestone in New York placing second in 2:05.53 and Isis Symone Grant of Sandy Creek High in Georgia taking third in 2:05.98.

Ali Ince, the reigning New Balance indoor champion and three-time 800 winner at Brooks PR representing Normal Community High in Illinois, finished sixth in 2:06.42.

Also completing a sweep of New Balance indoor and outdoor 200-meter championships was junior Adaejah Hodge of Montverde Academy in Florida, who was unfazed by the false start charged in the final to primary competitor and 100-meter high school record holder Shawnti Jackson of South Granville High in North Carolina.

Hodge ran a wind-legal 22.64 seconds, with Madison Whyte of Heritage High in Virginia placing second in 22.94. Laila Campbell, the 100 champion from Spring Grove Area in Pennsylvania, took third in 23.26.

Hodge, representing the British Virgin Islands, set both national high school and World Under-20 indoor records March 12 in Boston by running 22.33.

Christian Miller of St. Johns Striders, representing Creekside Christian in Florida, triumphed in the boys 200 final in a wind-aided 20.45 seconds.

Camden Bentley of Ohio Speed Track Club and Gahanna Lincoln High, prevailed in the girls 100-meter hurdles final in a wind-legal 13.41 seconds. Myla Greene from Bullis School, who contributed to four relay titles, placed second in the 100 hurdles in 13.63.

Joshua Mooney from Stonington High in Connecticut, representing the Bownes Bears Track Club, emerged victorious in the boys 110-meter hurdles final in a wind-legal 13.48 seconds.

Abdoul Sy-Savane from ATL Zoom Athletics, who won the indoor 60 hurdles crown March 12 in 7.59, placed second in the 110 hurdles final in 13.52.

Isaac Graber, Ethan Walls, Magnus Manley and Steven Hergenrother of Ridgefield High in Connecticut won the boys distance medley relay in 9:58.08, taking over as national high school leader and becoming the 30th prep boys program to eclipse the 10-minute barrier.

Indiana produced a pair of national champions, with Greensburg High junior Emarie Jackson securing the shot put crown with a third-round effort of 47-9.25 (14.56m) and Cody Johnston of Hobart grabbing the pole vault title with a first-attempt clearance at 16-8.75 (5.10m).

Pennsylvania swept both javelin titles, with Peter Bellomo from Jersey Shore Area High achieving a fourth-round performance of 208-8 (63.60m) to earn the boys championship and Blue Mountain junior Rosa Gergely completing the entire meet by winning the girls crown with a 155-1 (47.27m) effort in the third round in a competition that concluded more than an hour after the final race of the day.

Damarion Potts of South Brunswick High in New Jersey cleared 6-9 (2.06m) on his third attempt to outlast the field in the boys high jump final.

Tyler Collins of West Carteret High achieved a first-attempt clearance of 5-10 (1.78m) to prevail in the girls high jump final, before running less than 30 minutes later with her Patriot Track Club teammates on the 4x400-meter relay, which finished fifth in their section and 29th overall in 3:59.11.

Dillon Morlock, a junior from Norwayne, Ohio, held off reigning New Balance indoor champion Hayden Dixon of Schuyler County High in Missouri to capture the outdoor title.

Morlock, who was sidelined most of the fall and early winter with a broken fibula suffered during football season, produced an opening-round mark of 65-0.75 (19.83m) to edge Dixon and his sixth-round performance of 64-8.75 (19.73m).

Junior Avery Lewis of Friends’ Central in Pennsylvania also completed an indoor and outdoor sweep of New Balance long jump championships, soaring to 20-9.75 (6.34m) in the third round.

DJ Fillmore of Legend Bound Track Club, representing Licking Heights High in Ohio, enjoyed a wind-legal leap of 25-4.75 (7.74m) in the fifth round of the long jump to secure the championship by nearly a foot.

Archbishop Carroll of Washington D.C. completed its sweep of boys 4x100 and 4x200 relays, with Dezmone Starks, Nyckoles Harbor II, Damil Bostic and Marcus Brown clocking 40.97.

North Track Club, representing Toms River North in New Jersey, triumphed in the boys 4x400 relay in 3:14.90, with Jacob Kiyler, Teddy Wilson, Lowrentzky Ambroise and Mamadi Diawara joining forces to capture the title.