National Record Holders Tate Taylor, Yevhen Zhmailo Headline NIN; Caden Leonard, Quentin Nauman Chase Season's First Sub-Four; Shamrock Thoun, CJ Williams Seek Dominance In The Ring

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

DyeStat/RunnerSpace Photos

Nike Indoor Nationals returns this weekend to The Armory in New York City where many of high school track and field’s brightest stars will gather and compete for championship glory in the culmination to the indoor season.

Catch all the action from Thursday to Sunday on the RunnerSpace free live webcast, as well as live results and videos on AthleticLIVE and nonstop coverage here on DyeStat.

Here’s a breakdown by event group:

Sprints/Hurdles

Tate Taylor, the high school record holder in the indoor 200 and 300 meters and the outdoor 100 meters is back at The Armory after his record-setting performance a year ago. He ran 20.46 to win the 200 and break the national record at last year’s Nike Indoor Nationals, and he hasn’t slowed down since then.

In January, he claimed his third national record at the VA Showcase, running 32.45 in the 300. This weekend, he’s entered in the 60 and the 200, and he’s got the top seed time in both events. He’ll be going after the long-time high school record of 6.57 seconds in the 60, held since 1999 by Casey Combest.

If anyone is going to challenge Taylor in the sprints, there’s a good chance it’s going to be another Texan, and that's Dillon Mitchell. The sophomore from Houston is second all-time in the 60 after a 6.59-second performance in the prelims at the USATF Championships, and it wasn’t a fluke; just a few hours later, he ran 6.60 in the final to take seventh place.

Taylor’s teammate Jake Odey-Jordan is another one to watch. Odey-Jordan is ranked third in the country in the 60 with a season’s best of 6.64 seconds, and he boasts a PB of 20.55 seconds in the 200. He’s entered in both this weekend.

Chinwoke Onwuchekwa (APXP TX), Jorden Wells (Servite CA) and Peyton Trammer (Belleville MI) are also in the 60, and none of them can be overlooked.

Eddie Bruner Jr from Washington state (GLS Speed) ran 20.71 seconds in Spokane a couple of weeks ago for No. 7 all-time in the 200 and adds to the star power in the 200. 

In the 400, a competitive field includes US#2 Jordan Riggs (H-Town Hurricanes TX), US#3 Kendrick Joshua (Richmond Hill GA), US#4 Kenyon Andrews from GLS Speed of Washington, US#6 Joshua Shelton (APXP TX) and US#7 Jaelen Hunter (Compton CA). 

Joshua Kai-Smith (Gar-Field VA) is undefeated in the hurdles this winter, and he’s ranked US#1 in the 55 meter hurdles and US#2 in the 60 meter hurdles. This weekend, he’ll head to the Armory to take on the 60 hurdles.

He’s been stellar on the biggest stages this winter. In January, he beat a loaded field in the 60 hurdles at the VA Showcase, running 7.67, which was a US#1 mark at the time. A week later, he improved with a personal best 7.65 to win the New York International Showcase.

Last year, Kai-Smith didn’t compete at the indoor national championship and his outdoor season came to somewhat of a disappointing end at Nike Outdoor Nationals, where he finished seventh in the 110-meter hurdles final. 

This year, he’s undoubtedly a title contender, and if he has a good enough day, he could sneak into the top 10 all-time for the 60 hurdles; he’s only .04 seconds off.

He’ll definitely have a stacked field to contend with. US#5 Grayson Riggins, US#6 Sutton Flint, US#7 Andrew Jones and US#8 Ty Key are all in this race, and they’ve all run under 7.75 seconds this season.

Jones is already the biggest story in the country so far outdoors. He ran 34.94 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles for No. 2 all-time and also an all-conditions all-time best 13.01w in the 110 hurdles.

Distance

Quentin Nauman (Epworth Western Dubuque IA), last year’s Nike Outdoor Nationals mile champion, is back at The Armory to try to claim his first indoor national title.

Nauman exploded onto the national scene last outdoor season when he broke 1:50 in the 800 and 4 minutes in the mile and beat a stacked mile field at NON to claim his first national title. His quadruple at the Iowa state meet (1:49.41 in the 800, 3:59.60 in the 1,600, 8:57.97 in the 3,200 and a 1:47.5 split in the 800 leg of the SMR) was unprecedented.

This weekend, he’s entered in the 800 and he’ll be anchoring Iowa’s squad in the new state DMR.

Paul Van Laningham (Cooper KY), meanwhile, is in the mile and 2-mile. Laningham had a breakout year in 2025. On the track, he lowered his PBs from 4:17.42 to 4:06.48 in the mile and 9:11.09 to 8:56.55 in the 3,200 meters, and he dominated in cross country, winning all but one of his regular season meets and taking ninth at Nike Cross Nationals.

He’ll take on another southern star, Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll TX). A month ago, Leonard came oh-so-close to becoming the first high school boy to run a sub-4 mile in 2026, running 4:00.07 at the Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, N.C. While he couldn’t quite get under the elusive barrier, he did earn US#1 status from that performance, and he reasserted himself as the man to beat in the mid-distance events.

In the last three years, Leonard has come close to being a national champion multiple times, but he’s never quite come out on top. He’s finished third at Nike Cross Nationals two years in a row, and he took 12th in the mile at this meet last year.

Another guy to watch in the distance events is Marcelo Mantecon. The Belen Jesuit FL junior will be everywhere this weekend (assuming he doesn’t scratch from any of his events). Mantecon is entered in the mile, the 2-mile and the 5,000 meters, and he’s set to anchor Miami Havana TC’s DMR squad.

He’ll have to contend with Daniel Skandera, who’s also entered in the mile, 2-mile and 5,000. Skandera, a member of the U.S. U20 bronze medal cross country team, has run 8:12.46 in the 3,000 and 8:51.07 in the 2-mile this winter.

Other names to look out for in the distance events include Ruel Newberry (Denton Guyer TX), Benjamin Adams (Mountain Vista CO), Malachi Schoenherr (Sheldon OR) and Andrew Beroset (McCallie TN).

Throws 

Consider yourself lucky if you get to watch Shamrock Thoun (Ocean State Hammerheads/Woonsocket RI) in the weight throw. In 30 high school competitions in the last two years, Thoun has only lost twice — a third-place finish at last year’s Millrose Games and a runner-up finish at the Beantown Winter Classic last December. 

He’s the reigning Nike Indoor Nationals and Millrose Games champion, and with a season’s best of 83-1.75, he holds US#1 status by over a foot. Since the start of 2026, he’s been downright unstoppable, winning all of his competitions and throwing past the 80-foot line eight times. Only two other boys — Kayden Hulet (Sparks NV) and Ryan Evans (Ocean State Hammerheads) — have thrown over 80 feet at all this season.

Hulet and Evans are both in the weight throw this weekend, but barring an off day from Thoun, he is likely headed for another Nike Indoor Nationals title.

Meanwhile, CJ Williams (Momentum Throws TX) is the top seed in the shot put. Williams was fifth at last year’s Nike Indoor Nationals, and he’s upped his PB by nearly seven feet since then. He threw 71-6 at the Carl Lewis High School Invitational in January, making him the top thrower in the country, also by nearly seven feet. He ranks eighth on the all-time list.

Other throwers to watch include Hudson Sveadas (Signal Mountain TN) and Kobi Bonds (Riner VA), who are ranked US#2 and US#3, respectively, in the shot put.

Jumps

One of the weekend’s top battles will be between Yevhen Zhmailo and Miles Nesmith in the horizontal jumps.

Nesmith (Youth TF of Memphis TN) came onto the scene as one of the nation’s best jumpers last year, and in the early going of 2026, he hasn’t slowed down.

He popped off at the Millrose Games in February with a win in the boys triple jump and an indoor PB of 51-9.25, and in three triple jump competitions this year, he’s jumped over 50 feet all three times. 

He’s ranked US#3 in that event, and he’s US#10 in the long jump with a season’s best of 24-1. He’ll be competing in both this weekend along with the high jump, in which he boasts a PB of 7-2.50 and is the top seed.

Zhmailo of GLS Speed TC in Washington, of course, has the upper hand in the triple jump. His record-breaking performance of 52-9.50 at the Spokane HS Invitational is nearly a foot farther than anyone else in the country has jumped in 2026. He’s also ranked US#3 in the long jump with a season’s best of 24-6.25.

He’ll have his work cut out for him if he wants to stay undefeated in the jumps this year. Not only will he have to beat Nesmith, he’ll have to take on US#2 Aiden Bryant (Midlakes NY). 

He’ll also have to contend with US#1 Joseph West III (Round Rock Stony Point TX) in the long jump. West III has jumped 24-8.25 this winter, a performance that earned him the win at the VA Showcase in January.

Another stellar matchup this weekend is between Victor Olesen (St. Christopher’s VA) and Luke Beattie (Warwick Valley NY) in the pole vault.

Olesen destroyed his competition in the pole vault at last year’s Nike Indoor Nationals, vaulting 17-7.75 to win by nearly a foot. Despite that success, he was upset to miss out on his first indoor 18-foot vault. He cleared 18-0 and landed on the mat while the bar still sat high above him, but the jump was ruled a miss because he had knocked the bar off the pegs and onto the standards.

He ended up clearing 18 feet during the outdoor season, but he still hasn’t replicated that feat indoors. He’s cleared 17-4.50 this indoor season, and this weekend will be one of his last chances to join the indoor 18-foot club. Doing so would also “vault” him into the top 10 in high school history.

Last year, Beattie took second to Olesen’s 17-7.75 jump with a clearance of 16-8, and he’s once again among the elite performers. He’s ranked US#4, right behind Olesen with a season’s best of 17-4.

He took third in the Millrose Games high school pole vault, clearing 16-10.75, and he’s vaulted over 17 feet five times this year so far. 

The high jump, as mentioned before, is headlined by Nesmith, will be another event to keep your eyes on. US#1 Jordan Randall (Warsaw IN) and US#3 Micah Lockett (Nacogdoches TX), both of whom have cleared at least 7-1 this season, will be joining Nesmith. Warsaw is the reigning Nike Indoor Nationals champion.

Relays

DeMatha Catholic MD will have its footprints all over the Armory’s blue track by the end of the weekend. DeMatha is the top seed in both the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays, and ranked US#2 in both with season’s bests of 1:25.39 and 3:15.33, respectively. 

Maryland as a whole, in fact, will be well-represented in the relays. McDonogh and McNamara are both among the top seeds in the 4x200, and McNamara is seeded second behind DeMatha Catholic in the 4x400. Suffern NY is also contender in the 4x200, which can sometimes get unpredictable in a hurry.

Another Maryland powerhouse, Calvert Hall College TC, is the top seed in the sprint medley relay with a season’s best of 3:28.20. The Mid-Atlantic as a whole is well-represented in that event. Malcolm X Shabazz TC NJ is seeded second, followed by Penn Wood TC PA and a flurry of New York teams.

Storm TC of Ohio, Lancaster Central NY and Little Miami TC of Ohio are the top teams in the 4x800 relay. 

Stumptown TC (Jesuit OR) faces McCallie TC TN in the 4xMile. 

Perhaps the best relay of the weekend, though, will be the distance medley relay state championship. In that relay, four runners from a state will team up and go head-to-head with other states.

Quentin Nauman will be anchoring Iowa’s squad, and he’ll be far from the only elite athlete on one of these squads. This race is shaping up to be one of the weekend's highlights. Some of those lineups are still coming together. 

Spartanburg TC of South Carolina has the top seed time in the mixed 4x400 relay.