First Thoughts: HOKA Festival of Miles

Written by Donny Speas, additional commentary and overall edits via Garrett Zatlin

---

Boy's Mile (High School Championship)

Welp, Thursday didn't produce the record(s) that we were maybe hoping for, but the Hoka Festival of Miles proved to be a good one, nonetheless.

The main attraction coming into Thursday's meet wasn't centered around the pro athletes, but rather the high schoolers, specifically those in the boy's mile.

In fact, much of the initial pre-race conversations leading up to this meet were centered on Alan Webb’s high school mile record of 3:53.43 and who would/could break it. Connor Burns (MO) was especially vocal about his pursuit of the mile national record. The Oregon commit did, after all, just recently run 13:37.30 to set a new high school national record in the 5k (which has since been broken by Lex Young in the same season).

Iowa alum and pro pacer, Erik Sowinski, had been given instructions to take the boy's mile field through each lap in 58-second quarters which would set them on course for a mile time roughly around 3:52. That, however, never came to fruition as the leaders came through 409 meters in 59.21 seconds and a second lap in 59.80 seconds.

Perhaps due to this “slower” pace, there was still a group of five boys -- Simeon Birnbaum (SD), Rocky Hansen (NC), Connor Burns (MO), Jackson Heidesch (IA) and Tinoda Matsata (MD) -- at the bell. And led by a hard-closing Birnbuam, four athletes out of that group of five finished in under four minutes for the mile. Burns ran a 63-second last lap to finish 7th overall in 4:03.

That series of finishes, in turn, set a new record for the most high school sub-four mile times that were produced in a single race. Interestingly enough, the only other time in history where two high school athletes ran sub-four minute miles times in the same race occurred at this same exact meet last year when both Burns and current University of Virginia star, Gary Martin, ran 3:58 and 3:57, respectively.

So...whose stock improved the most after this race?

The biggest and most obvious risers after this race were the two most recent members of the high school sub-four mile club: Tinoda Matsatsa (MD) and Jackson Heidesch (IA). And funny enough, the rise of these two distance talents has been fairly similar.

Both of these seniors had breakthrough victories at New Balance Indoor Nationals, followed that up with a pair of very solid outdoor track seasons and they both signed with stellar schools, academically, that have also had notable middle distance success (Matsatsa to Georgetown and Heidesch to Duke).

The difference, however, is that they broke the four-minute mile barrier in two different ways on Thursday night...

Jackson Heidesch, the more aerobic-centric talent, stayed pretty consistent in all four of his laps and came across the line in 4th place with a PR of 3:59.08. Tinoda Matsatsa, who owns a lethal kick thanks to his middle distance prowess, played it conservative for the first two laps before unleashing his speed in the final 800 meters to finish 3rd overall in 3:58.70.

When it comes to Heidesch, the Duke men have to be feeling good. Not only are the Blue Devils landing a true long distance star who could very easily have an impact on the grass this fall, but they also have someone who can drop down in distance to join a handful of other sub-four milers on the team.

From a roster identity perspective, Heidesch continues to look like an increasingly more natural fit for the Duke men.

As for the Hoyas, they have to be considered as one of the biggest winners of this race. Matsatsa is a Georgetown commit whose 1:48 (800) personal best already made him the ideal recruit for a middle distance-centric program.

However, before Thursday, Matsatsa wasn't considered to be an upper-tier elite miler in the same way that other athletes in this field were. Sure, he held an outstanding 4:05 mile PR, but running 3:58 puts this rising NCAA freshman at a whole new level.

And with personal bests of 1:48 (800) and 3:58 (mile) now on his resume, Matsatsa perfectly matches the entire middle distance ethos of the Georgetown men.

For Simeon Birnbaum (who won in 3:57) and Rocky Hansen (who finished 2nd in 3:58), these results are simply an extension of their ongoing excellence. And while we didn't necessarily learn anything new about these men from their recent sub-four efforts, both Oregon and Wake Forest have to be happy knowing that their incoming recruits can replicate their all-time great performances.

---

Girl's Mile (Both Sections)

In the professional section of the women’s mile, there was a lone high school athlete who toed the line. Her name? Tatum David, our TSR #4 recruit in the Class of 2023 who hails from Illinois. The senior has committed to run for the University of Virginia next year.

David ran a remarkable mile time of 4:37.79 on Thursday night to finish in 6th place overall in the Drury Hotels women's mile. Her approach for this field was a racing style that we've seen from most high schoolers who enter a professional setting: they sit in the pack and simply ride the pace to a fast time.

And to make a long story, short -- it worked!

Despite the incredible result, we’ve known that David was capable of an elite time like this. To me, her performance didn't come as a surprise. The future Cavalier rookie has been so incredibly consistent over the past couple years and was clearly building up to an effort like what we saw on Thursday.

However, maybe more importantly, David seems like she can be an immediate impact contributor for Coach Vin Lananna’s squad as soon as this fall. The Virginia women showed a ton of promise at last year's NCAA XC Championships. And despite losing Mia Barnett to a transfer situation, they are looking like they could be an outside contender for the podium come November.

With so many of Virginia's top women finally beginning to hit their collegiate prime, adding a high school superstar like David to their roster will hopefully allow the Cavaliers to fully capitalize on the talent that they currently hold.

Alright, now for the high school-only race and...wow, what a gutsy race by Ali Ince (IL).

Ali Ince is normally known as an 800 meter specialist, holding a PR of 2:03.17. She also claimed the New Balance Indoor Nationals title in the half-mile event this past winter.

As someone who has proven to have more speed rather than aerobic strength, I was somewhat surprised to see Ince go straight to the second position once the gun went off. The Illinois junior then realized that the pace had lagged during the second lap. And once the pacer stepped off, she quickly righted the ship by increasing the tempo, trying to expand a gap over the chase pack.

Ince appeared to be caught at the 1100 meter mark, but was able to muster one last move at 1300 meters. Unfortunately, this seemed to gas her as she slowed significantly in the last 150 meters to finish 6th place overall in 4:43.67.

Ali Ince may not have won this race, but she was certainly the biggest factor as to why we saw so many fast performances. Expect her to be near the top of our Class of 2024 recruit rankings which are coming in the fall.

As for the rest of the field, there weren't too many surprises, although that doesn't make their personal bests or times any less impressive.

Charlotte Bell (NC) was the overall winner of this race, coming through 1600 meters in 4:39 and ending the race with a 4:41 mile PR. In the right setting, a time like that was possible for her. However, maybe more importantly, Thursday's effort sets up the junior for what could be a very explosive senior year campaign.

And remember, Bell holds 2:08 (800) speed, turnover which would explain how she was able to get off the final curve with a handful of strides on the chase pack en route to a marquee win.

It's a similar story for fellow junior Samantha Humphries (TX) who also ran 4:41 thanks to her 2:07 half-mile speed. That's also a significant personal best for Humphries who now has a mile PR that truly reflects the potential that she has shown in other areas.

Quick Hits & Interesting Notes

• Tayson Echohawk (UT) ran 4:01.07 for 5th place in the boy's mile. Despite a rough start to his outdoor track season, he has been on fire recently. The Oregon commit has gone on record saying that he’s racing the mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals. If he does end up in that race, expect it to go fast as he aims to join the sub-four club.

• The Hoka Festival of Miles always does a great job putting together phenomenal fields and this year was no different. We saw a total of eight boys run sub 4:05 and eight girls run under 4:45 (seven in the high school section, plus Tatum David).

• The boy's mile race was a fairly older field with 12 of 15 entrants being seniors. The girls' race, however, have an extremely bright future with only four seniors competing in Thursday night's race. In turn, that should set up for an extremely fast (and entertaining) 2024 rendition of this meet.

• Only one school had multiple athletes competing in the championship mile races: Flower Mound High School out of Texas. Their dynamic sister duo of Samantha Humphries (2nd in 4:41.93) and Nicole Humphries (9th in 4:46.86) is one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation. Combine that duo with a returning supporting cast that helped the Flower Mound girls place 6th at the 2022 NXN Championships and the question becomes, how likely are these girls to win a national title come December?

• In the boy's 800 meter field, Daniel Watcke (IL) won the race in a meet record of 1:48.59. Watcke is typically quiet in the regular season, but always shows up in big-time races like what we saw on Thursday. Between Watcke, Echohawk, Burns and Birnbaum the Oregon Ducks' incoming class of rookies looks like one of the best ever assembled, at least when it comes to domestic recruits.

• The championship sections weren’t the only fast races of the evening as there were an additional two girls who ran under 4:50 in the girl's elite development section. Those two girls were Berlyn Schutz (NE) and Josie Baker (MO). Make sure to remember Schutz’s name. She should have a day one impact for a Nebraska team which had no athletes run under 4:55 for the mile last year.