Brooks PR Invitational Preview: Boys Distance

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

A collection of the country’s top mid-distance and distance runners will arrive in Seattle this week for the Brooks PR Invitational. Here’s a look at how the races are shaping up in the Boys 800 Meters, Boys Mile and Boys 2-Mile:

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Boys 800

Meet record: 1:47.55, Donavan Brazier (2015)

Four of the top seven 800-meter runners in the country are on the starting list for Brooks, but perhaps none is more exciting than sophomore Brandon Miller of John Burroughs MO, who won the Missouri Class 3 state title with 1:49.55.

Miller, who ran 1:49.87 last summer, followed his state meet performance with a victory at Festival of Miles in St. Louis on May 31 in 1:50.03.

Ian Delgado from Green Hope NC ran 1:49.71 in a pro field last Saturday at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville.

Sean Dolan of Hopewell Valley NJ ran a memorable anchor leg in the distance medley relay to bring his team a victory at the Penn Relays. He is skipping the New Jersey Meet of Champions this week to run at Brooks. He ran 1:51.37 at the Mercer Country Championships last month.

Coming off a monumental performance in the 3,000 meters last weekend in Nashville, Brodey Hasty of Brentwood, Tenn. had a decision to make about what race to enter at Brooks. He’s entered in the 800, with a chance to go after a PR and sharpen before going to the Portland Track Festival on Sunday to run with a pro field in the men’s 1,500.

One of the best rural small-school athletes in the country is Jake Merrell from Turkey Valley TX. Merrell won nine Class 1A state titles in Texas and this spring he won the 800, the 1,600 and anchored the 4x400 relay. He owns a best of 1:50.45.

Wyatt Peck from Star Valley WY ran 1:51.27 at the BYU Invitational at altitude May 5.

Hugh Brittenham of Estero FL is the Class 3A champion in Florida and has a best this season of 1:51.92. Fellow Floridian Jacob Miley of Matanzas comes in with a season-best of 1:52.54.

Isaiah Claiborne of Northport, the New York indoor state champion in the 1,000 meters, has been pulling relay duty most of the spring and will get a chance to cut loose in a fast field.  

Johan Correa of Kennewick WA won the Class 3A title at the Washington state meet with a PR time of 1:51.51. Caleb Stamper of Timberline ID won the Class 5A Idaho title with 1:52.60.  

Alex Scales of Bellarmine Prep CA ran 1:53.46 earlier this spring.

Boys Mile

Meet record: 4:02.24, Sam Worley (2017)

Dustin Horter, Luke George and Daniel Maton lead a deep field of milers in the endless pursuit of driving as close to four minutes as possible.

Horter of Lakota East OH ran 4:06.96 to win the Ohio Division 1 state title in the 1,600 meters last weekend. He has a season-best full mile time of 4:04.82 from the Rod Russell Mason Invitational.

Maton edged George in the Washington Class 4A state finals in both the 800 meters and the 1,600 meters. Maton, a junior from Camas, won the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays elite mile in 4:08.13 back in April. He would like to strip away a few more seconds so that he can go into his senior year with a reasonable goal of joining his older brother Matthew on the exclusive sub-four prep mile list.

George, of Issaquah, ran 4:06.09 for 1,600 meters at the Kingco Championships.

Michael Phillips of Lawton Chiles ran 4:08.17 to win the Florida Class 3A 1,600 meters title and he also won the adidas Boston Boost Games Dream Mile in 4:08.03.

Cole Johnson of Rockford MI just pulled off the 800/1,600 double at the Michigan state meet. He ran a PR of 4:08.47 to take the 1,600.

Zach Winter of Fremont UT is coming down from altitude, where he ran 4:08.96 for 1,600 meters at the BYU Invitational.

Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg IL, the Foot Locker Cross Country champion, won the Illinois Class 3A title in the 1,600 with 4:11.60.

Others in the field include Clayton Mendez of Whitney IL (4.08.64), Jake Renfree of Knoxville Catholic TN (4:08.11), Cruz Culpepper of Niwot CO (4:13.14 mile victory at Arcadia), Nick Foster of Pioneer MI (4:08.16), Scott Thompson of Brentwood, Tenn. (4:11.43), Devin Hart of Point Pleasant Boro NJ (4:12.23) and Gabe Fendel of Hamilton Southeastern IN (4:14.07).

Boys 2-Mile

Meet record: 8:42.51, Drew Hunter (2015)

James Mwaura of nearby Lincoln (Tacoma) made headlines a couple of weeks back when he ran 8:46.87 to smash the Washington state meet record.

Mwaura has an interesting matchup against another runner who made headlines back in April. Sophomore Cole Sprout of Valor Christian CO ran 8:13.85 at the Oregon Relays to break a sophomore class national record held by Drew Hunter.

Those two could provide a fast pace for the eight-lapper, but they will have company.

Joe Waskom of Mt. Si WA didn’t get to race Mwaura, but ran 8:57.66 for the Washington 4A title. 

Ryan Oosting of Arlington MA won the Massachusetts state 2-mile last weekend and the junior seems poised to run a fast time. He’s the reigning New Balance Nationals Outdoor 5,000-meter champion.

Justin Hazell of El Camino Real CA ran 8:57.90 for second place in the 3,200 meters in last Saturday’s CIF finals. Liam Anderson of Redwood (Larkspur) was fifth in that race.

Michael Mooney of Bromfield CO, the Class 5A Colorado champion, ran 8:50.96 for second place at Arcadia the Arcadia Invitational – one spot ahead of Mwaura.

Titus Winders of Henry County TN won the Tennessee state title and earlier ran 8:52.36 at the Eastern Relays, finishing behind Horter.

Jacob McLeod of Trinity Christian GA ran 8:52.72 for fourth at Arcadia (and has also gone 8:52.70). Carter Cheeseman of Fort Worth Christian TX ran 8:54.06 for seventh at Arcadia.

Chad Johnson of Colonel Crawford OH won the Ohio Division 3 title last weekend and earlier ran 8:52.91 for third at that fast race at Eastern Relays.

Oregonians Will Eaton of Franklin and Alex Slenning of Wilson swapped places on the award podium in the Class 6A finals at the Oregon state meet. Eaton won the 3,000 meters in 8:31.83 and Slenning took the 1,500 meters in 3:55.96.