On a night when Quincy Wilson ran in front of a standing-room only crowd and Servite CA continued its relay excellence, the legacy of the boys 3,200 at the Arcadia Invitational entered a new realm Saturday night in Southern California.

 

Jackson Spencer of Herriman UT not only put down one of the fastest 3,200 times in high school history but laid new ground at Arcadia with his 8 minutes, 31.80 second performance to take home this year’s title.

 

With a field featuring Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit FL, Hunter Robbie and Quinn Sullivan of Niwot CO, and so many other nationally ranked athletes, Spencer didn’t shy away from an opportunity so big.

 

“I love being in the moment and I love that type of race,” Spencer said. “I love someone who can push me to my uttermost limits and give it everything they give. I have the most respect for those types of people.”

 

Last year, a field featuring five sub-four-minute milers - high school indoor record holder Owen Powell, Crater OR teammates Tayvon Kitchen and Josiah Tostenson, Georgia prep standout Tommy Latham and New Zealand phenom Sam Ruthe - turned a high school record opportunity into a tactical race that was a bit underwhelming. 

 

This year, Spencer wanted to make this race worth his while.

 

“I had to make sure that I was going to get into the lead because I didn’t want to turn it into what last year was,” Spencer said. “I wanted to turn it into an honest race and I wanted to turn it into something really good. Something for a lot of people to be happy with.” 

 

Opening with a 62-second first 400 and then settling into a couple of 65, 66 second laps, Spencer led the front pack through the first mile in 4:20, 10 seconds faster than last year's first mile.

 

And while the pace was quick, the first mile still had 10 boys within two seconds of each other, including Mantecon, Robbie and Sullivan on the heels of Spencer.

 

Spencer continued to lead the next two laps and as soon as they hit the bell, he fell back into third with Sullivan and Mantecon both going right past him.

 

Sullivan was in the lead for a brief second until Mantecon, a four-time winner at Nike Indoor Nationals, went right past him with 300 meters to go.

 

“I was giving my all,” Mantecon said. “I know that’s what I wanted.”

 

Mantecon sped into the lead and was ready to pull away from the field with under 200 meters to go. Little did he know when he made his move, Spencer responded too.

 

Spencer found himself in a similar situation at the Brooks XC Championships in December in San Diego, where he was hunting Mantecon up the final hill at Balboa Park before earning his second national title of the fall.

 

With 150 meters to go, Spencer unleashed another lethal kick on Mantecon. This time, Mantecon was completely thrown off and couldn’t counter.

 

As Spencer pulled away from Mantecon, the crowd began to roar in excitement, realizing Spencer was on the verge of another historic performance.

 

The last 100 meters became a race against the clock for the Herriman UT senior and a chance to take down Simeon Birnbaum’s meet record 8:34.10. As Spencer crossed the finish line, the crowd went completely silent.

 

Not long after, the timing board read: 8:31.80.

 

It was a moment of both shock and relief for Spencer as he flexed his arms while holding the finish tape. He had just broken the National Federation High School record of 8:33.76, set last year by Crater's Kitchen at the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays.

 

“It’s definitely a really positive turn of events here,” Spencer said. “I didn’t get the greatest sleep, I didn’t get the greatest rest…I think the excitement made up for all of that.”

 

Moments like these don't come around often for high schoolers. Spencer is one of the few exceptions given his recent results over the last 10 months.

 

Dating back to last June when he helped Herriman set a national record in the boys 4x800 relay at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, Spencer has accomplished the following:

 

- Four New Balance Nationals titles

- Nike Cross Nationals and Brooks XC Champion

- 18th at World U20 Cross Country

- Clovis Invitational champion and course record (14:16.9)

- Woodbridge Cross Country Classic champion

- Utah state cross country meet record (14:29.8)

- Gatorade National Cross Country Player of the Year

- No. 2 all-time indoor 5,000 (13:54.70)

- And now an NFHS 3,200 record

 

"This was a barn burner," Spencer said. "It was good; I loved it."

 

With Spencer leading the way, he was able to pull 28 other boys in the invitational race under the 9-minute barrier, helping bring the meet total to 55, which matched last year’s number of sub-9 performances. The meet record for most sub-9 performances is 69 from 2024.

 

Jackson's effort was undoubtably a Utah state best and was one of several state records that were also broken.

 

Mantecon lowered Patrick Koon's Florida state record by six seconds to finish second to Spencer in 8:35.33, No. 6 all-time on the NFHS list.

 

Oliver Horton of Coronado broke Cole Sprout's Colorado state record (8:40.73) in 8:38.95. Niwot trio Sullivan (8:41.68), Robbie (8:45.20) and Ryder Keeton (8:46.45) finished seventh, 11th and 15th, averaging 8:44.78.

 

Grady Lenn of De Pere shaved almost four seconds off of Chris Solinsky's Wisconsin state record (8:43.24) in 8:39.62 for fourth.

 

Brooks Barbee of The Christ School ran a North Carolina junior class record 8:40.79 to round out the top five, just six seconds off Rocky Hansen's state record of 8:34.78.

 

Brian Burns of Bentonville dropped seven seconds off Matthew Shelly's Arkansas state record (8:48.75) from last year's Arcadia in 8:41.38 for seventh.

 

Yohanes Van Meerten of Flagstaff broke a 13-year-old Arizona state record of 8:47.07 held by Bernie Montoya, running 8:43.67 for ninth.