Donald Speas
Jan 2412 min
Written by Donny Speas, questions and edits via Garrett Zatlin
We are nearing the end of January, meaning that we are (very roughly) around the halfway point of the indoor track season (gosh, that went by fast). As such, we wanted to get all of our readers caught up on the top names and performances happening within the high school distance scene.
That's why we called up our recruiting/high school writer, Donny Speas, and threw a large handful of questions at him. Here is what he said...
Isabelle Walsh (Middletown, DE)
Have you ever heard of Isabelle Walsh? If you've only been following high school national meets, it's understandable if her name hasn't come up.
Admittedly, Walsh hasn't achieved many flashy finishes at those meets with her best result being 39th in the mile back in 2022. When it comes to cross country, she's a consistent performer with a solid personal best of 18:24 (5k), but she's not quite at the national level during that season.
However, this winter, Walsh made a breakthrough with two impressive performances. In late December, she clocked a time of 4:50 in the mile (currently US #7 for high school) followed by an impressive mark of 2:11 over 800 meters (currently US #5 for high school).
Achieving top-10 marks in multiple events is really encouraging, especially given that we haven't even reached the month of February. Kudos to Villanova's coaching staff for recognizing Walsh's potential and signing her.
Colin Abrams (Bullis School, MD)
Another notable athlete is Colin Abrams, a Bullis School athlete who transferred from his local high school at the end of the previous track season. And in retrospect, it seems like Abrams made a smart move as he recently contributed to the Bullis SMR team that broke the national record with a time of 3:23.
However, since we focus on distance running on this website, let's discuss Abrams's achievements in longer distances.
One remarkable performance stands out is his nation-leading 2:27 time over 1000 meters. That's a monster mark which should translate to a brilliant 800-meter effort in the near future -- and he already boasts a 1:52 PR!
Given that we're still on the earlier side of the winter months, I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to improve upon his times even further by the end of the season. He has already strung together a large handful of wins this season, many of which were plenty fast.
Keep an eye on Abrams going forward. As a junior, he will likely excel over 800 meters, potentially reaching the 1:50 mark, and contribute to top-notch relay teams at the national level for the next few track seasons.
Olivia Cieslak (Haverford Township, PA)
Just like the other two athletes who I’ve already detailed, Olivia Cieslak is strongest in the middle distance events. And while I’m not too surprised that Cieslak has emerged as a top performer this winter (she did, after all, place 7th at New Balance Nationals this past spring), I’ve still be very impressive with how fast she opened up her season and who she has managed to beat.
Cieslak opened up her indoor track season with a nation-leading 2:09 (800) mark and perhaps more importantly during that race, she took down Gwen Hamilton, a 2022 All-American over 800 meters.
That performance alone is certainly impressive, but just for good measure, Cieslak came back one week later to run 1:32 for 600 meters (US #2). This means that Cieslak is ranked in the top-two for different events in the country, the only distance or middle distance athlete to achieve such a feat so far this season.
It's one thing to have run fast in prior seasons, but Cieslak has now seemingly found greater control of her fitness and has further refined her tactical acumen.
Josiah Tostenson (Crater, OR)
The first long distance performance that I thought was deserving of recognition comes from a Crater (OR) athlete running a fast 3k at the college section of the UW Indoor Preview. And if you're getting deja vu, then just know that I'm not talking about Tyrone Gorze.
Josiah Tostenson opened up his indoor track season with a blazing 8:08 (3k) mark, good for a US #1 spot. Not only was that good for the top 3k time in the country, it was also the third-best junior class 3k time in United States history!
After a strong cross country season that saw Totstenson pick up his first All-American honor, he’s surely hungry for another one and looks to be in a great position to not only finish this winter as an All-American, but potentially battle for a national title as well.
Miles Ramer (Ravenwood, TN)
Miles Ramer was incredibly close to qualifying for NXN this past fall, coming just two seconds away from punching a ticket to the national meet.
However, at the time of writing, things are looking pretty good for the University of Tennessee commit. After opening up his season with a modest (but still solid) 4:13 mile in Boston, Ramer put his name on the national leaderboard at the Commodore Classic in Nashville where he came away with a new personal best of 4:06.97, a new US #1 time, in the collegiate section.
That is a huge performance for Ramer. In a year where there seemingly isn't a national title favorite in the boy’s mile, Miles Ramer looks like he could soon be entering that conversation. We already liked him quite a bit when crafting our top-50 recruit rankings, but this performance gives us tons of excitement about what he could do March and eventually June.
Adam Burlison (Lubbock Coronado, TX)
Heading into this year, I primarily thought of Adam Burlison as a mile specialist. I felt like he was someone who was great at the two-mile distance and on the grass, but staked his claim as a miler, especially after a monster 4:03 effort to close out last track season.
However, even as early as this December, Burlison opened up with a 4:09 mile in Boston (currently a US #2 mark). After that race, Burlison once again traveled a long way to seek out high-quality competition, this time traveling to the CYUP Misfits Invite in Chicago. There, he took down a solid field to run 8:55 for two-miles, currently a US #1 time.
With a mark like that underneath his belt, Burlison truly looks like he could be a national title contender in whatever event he chooses. He has the endurance-based strength to pair with national-caliber pedigree in the mile. On paper, that's a dangerous combination.
Mary Bonner-Dalton (Myers Park, NC)
The first athlete who I think who had a truly amazing performance so far this winter is Notre Dame commit, Mary Bonner-Dalton.
The North Carolina native's best performance came at the VA Showcase where she pulled away in the second-half of the race to run a US #1 time of 10:16 for the two-mile.
Unfortunately for us (but certainly good for her), Bonner-Dalton qualified for the USA U20 national cross country team recently and will run at the World U20 XC Championships in Serbia this coming March. This means that we will more than likely miss her at any of the national meets (although that's not necessarily guaranteed) and will have to wait for the outdoor track season before we see a matchup between all the best two-milers in the country.
Logan St. John Kletter (Mount Lebanon, PA)
Logan St. John Kletter has been on an absolute tear during this indoor track season. In fact, she’s been so good that I’ll be talking about her twice in this article!
The PA native's best race came at the VA Showcase on January 13th when she toed the line for the mile. She came away with the win and a new US #1 time of 4:48. But perhaps more importantly, she defeated a handful of impressive names, namely the Cuthbertson duo of Justine Presiano and Charlotte Bell.
With that performance, St. John Kletter not only has the best mile time in the country, objectively, but she may also have the best win of anyone in the nation at this point in the season.
Allison Ince (Normal Community, IL)
While the other two girls on this list achieved outstanding performances at the always-competitive VA Showcase, Allison Ince showed the nation that she could handle herself just fine in a solo race.
On January 14th, Ince soloed a US #2 time over 1600 meters, running 4:46 in a race where nobody was within 11 seconds of her.
Sure, I can understand the argument that a solo race isn’t as impressive or as valuable as a win over top-tier competitors. But personally, I think that Ince probably could have run even faster than that if she had other athletes with her.
The Oregon commit has shown us before that she could win a race in almost any scenario and I’ll be shocked if Ince doesn’t bring home at least one national title this winter.
James Partlow (Governor Thomas Johnson, MD)
Here’s an athlete who I’m shocked hasn’t been picked up by a program yet.
Coming into this indoor track season, Partlow had run the Maryland 5k cross country record with a time of 14:47 and qualified for NXN (where he’d go on to finish in 16th place). And so far this winter, Partlow has wasted no opportunities to prove himself, running a US #4 mark of 9:09 for two-miles and a mile PR of 4:14 just for good measure.
A couple of potential fits that popped into mind were Princeton or Georgetown. Both schools are powerhouses in the Mid-Atlantic region in the distance events. We all know what Princeton is capable of, they routinely send squads to the NCAA XC Championships year-in and year out and the same could largely be said about the Hoyas.
Berkley Nance (Mills Godwin, VA)
One runner who is having a breakout indoor track season is Berkley Nance. Not only is he excelling over multiple distances, but he’s excelling in multiple environments, too.
Nance opened up his indoor track season at the VA Showcase where he won the the two-mile title in a time of 9:05 (US #3).
After the VA Showcase, Nance stayed in his home state and competed at the USTAF U20 XC Championships where he placed 6th in a time of 24:25. That performance earned him a spot on the USA U20 cross country national team where he will represent the US in Serbia this coming March. And due to the timing of the World U20 XC Championships, it will be interesting to see how that affects Nance's postseason endeavors.
Don’t be shocked if Nance tries to capitalize on what limited opportunities he has remaining this winter. I could see him travel somewhere to try to drop a fast time to boost his confidence before leaving for Serbia…
Jacob Redman (Bedford, NH)
Is it just me? Or do athletes that we tend to consider having great range almost always end up being at their best over the middle distances? Jacob Redman is a great example of that, having competed in five different distances on the track this winter with his highlights coming in the form of a 4:19 (mile) mark and a 2:28 (1k) effort.
Based on Redman’s cross country 5k personal best of 15:36, it’s not insane to suggest that Redman could have a much stronger mile PR. I don’t think it would be a shock if we see Redman go under 4:12 for the mile later this year, on either the indoor or the outdoor oval.
Just as much as Redman fits as an athlete who has displayed strong range this winter, he also appears to be one of the top unsigned runners in the Class of 2024. His 1k personal best of 2:28 would be appreciated on nearly every college roster in the country and I’d be surprised if he stays unsigned for much longer.
Logan John St. Kletter (Mount Lebanon, PA)
Logan John St. Kletter holds the US #1 times over 1500 meters, 1600 meters and the mile, albeit, all from the same race. However, the mile (and its metric equivalents) isn’t the only distance that St. John Kletter is elite at.
The Mount Lebanon star also posted a blistering fast 3200-meter time of 10:14 which currently ranks her at US #2 in that event, making her one of four athletes to be ranked in the top-three nationally over multiple events.
Come March, we don’t know which event Logan John St. Kletter will focus on -- she’s certainly a national title threat in both events. It's also possible that John St. Kletter may choose to double on the national stage, especially if she ventures to Nike Indoor Nationals where she would get nearly three days of rest in between the two events.
Zariel Macchia (William Floyd, NY)
I know this is kinda cheating, considering that this is mainly an article about indoor track, but I think that this should count: Zariel Macchia has easily displayed the best range of any high schooler (male or female) this winter.
For those of you who are unaware, this past weekend, Zariel Macchia won the women’s U20 race at the USATF XC National Championships in a time of 20:31 for 6k, securing her spot on the USA U20 cross country national team for the World U20 XC Championships in March.
By the looks of it, Macchia was able to achieve that victory while primarily training for track. Why do I say that you may ask? Well, that's because she’s already raced 10 different times on the indoor oval in events ranging from as short as 600 meters to events as long as 3000 meters.
The highlight of her season on the oval came at the Armory Hispanic Games where Macchia was victorious during her mile/3k double with times of 4:49 and 10:03, respectively.
It’s unclear whether or not Macchia will put a pause on her indoor track season while she prepares for the World U20 XC Championships, but even if she doesn’t return to the track this winter, she already has a season to be proud of.
Saratoga Springs (NY) DMR
Seeing Saratoga Springs run a nation-leading DMR time shouldn’t be too much of a surprise for anyone who followed the Blue Streaks during this past cross country season (or knows anything about the history of high school cross country).
But what did surprise me, was how much they beat the Tatnall Hornets (DE) by, a team that most recently finished in a respectable 9th place finish at NXN this past fall. Yet Saratoga Springs was able to dominate this race, winning in a time of 11:46 compared to Tatnall’s 12:15.
This a great sign for a program with national title aspirations in the DMR given that they placed 2nd at Nike Indoor Nationals last year running a nearly identical time. Who knows how fast Saratoga Springs will be come early March?
The high school indoor national 5k record gets broken for the second year in a row.
It’s not often that we see a high school athlete take a serious attempt at a 5k on an indoor track, but when it does happen, it’s almost always something to pay attention to.
One high school athlete who seemed to always make a point to challenge himself over 5000 meters was Tyrone Gorze, currently a member of the Washington Huskies. In his last high school indoor 5k race, which took place at New Balance Nationals, Gorze was rewarded with the high school indoor 5k record, stopping the clock at 13:56.82.
In that aforementioned race, we saw one other athlete dip under 14 minutes: American Fork star, Danny Simmons. And when you consider that Simmons has an NIL deal with New Balance, I like to think that Simmons will end up racing at New Balance Nationals in at least one event.
However, Simmons isn’t the only athlete capable of breaking Gorze’s record. There’s another New Balance-affiliated athlete with a legitimate shot at the record. I am, of course, talking about 2024 Foot Locker cross country national champion, Drew Griffith.
Although Griffith has never contested the 5k on the track, his personal bests of 14:21 (5k XC) and 8:48 (indoor two-mile) both suggest that dipping under 14:00 on the track wouldn’t be a huge stretch for him.
We see at least two sub-10 minute 3200-meter performances during this indoor track season.
Ellie Shea, Sadie Engelhardt, Hanne Thomsen, Jane Hedengren, Isabel Allori, Payton Godsey, Elizabeth Leachman, Bethany Michalak, and Gionna Lopizzo. What do all of these athletes have in common? They all ran under 10 minutes for 3200 meters (or the two-mile/3k equivalent) last year.
Between this group, I believe that at least two of these athletes can replicate their outdoor track performance and dip under the 10-minute barrier on the indoor oval.
However, history isn’t on their side. It's quite rare to have multiple girls under 10 minutes during one indoor track season. In fact, based on available data, it’s only happened once in the last decade (2021)!
The best chance will come at New Balance Nationals and Nike Indoor Nationals, both of which will certainly have strong fields.
I’ve already mentioned a lot about those who have already gone sub-10, but what about those who are looking to do so for their first time? Some names who have a really good shot of joining the sub-10 club include Rachel Forsyth (10:02 PR) and Emily Wisniewski (10:02 PR), both of whom have had huge cross country seasons and have surely improved, aerobically, since they last tackled the 3200-meter distance.
In conclusion, the remainder of the indoor track season holds the potential to showcase at least two sub-10 minute 3200-meter performances with athletes like Elizabeth Leachman leading the charge.