Who’s Coming: Sprints / Hurdles

Highlighting the top New Balance Nationals Outdoor commitments leading up to the championships on June 13-16

By Steve Underwood of the NSAF | Watch #NBNationals Live Webcast June 13-16

Sydney Masciarelli – An Irrepressible Talent

A year ago at NBNO, Sydney Masciarelli was a talented, but little-known freshman from the Marianapolis Prep School in Connecticut, looking to gain some experience against higher competition than what is typically offered by the New England Prep School Track Association (NEPSTA). She was primarily a soccer and basketball player returning to a sport she had done earlier as a youth. Masciarelli competed in the championship mile at NBNO and finished 13th in 4:58.62. It was a PR and one of the top 10 performances in the country for ninth grade girls. It was a career boost, but it was hard work over the summer that elevated Masciarelli to the level of an elite level runner.

By the middle of cross country season she was turning heads with blistering fast times over 5,000-meter courses. And when it came time to put those fast times to the test, she proved to be legitimate with a victory at Foot Locker Northeast and then a gritty finish to claim the national finals title over Katelynne Hart. After leading her basketball team through the winter, Masciarelli has established a new set of PRs this spring – 2:12.29 in the 800, 4:32.3 in the 1,500, 9:21.44 in the 3,000 and 16:24.18 in the 5,000 meters.  In Greensboro, she is entered in the 2-Mile and the 5K and has a great chance to win either or both.

Athing Mu – Emerging Elite to U.S. Champion

It’s almost hard to fathom that one year ago, Athing Mu came to Greensboro and competed in the Emerging Elite section of the 400 meters, breaking the meet record with 54.12 seconds. Of course, she also won the championship 800 meters in 2:04.51 – becoming an indoor/outdoor NBN champ in the event. She was already considered very good then, but so much has happened since. Mu, who competes for Trenton Track Club and does not run for her school team, has always utilized the opportunity to run nationals as a way to gauge her growth against her high school peers. But so much has happened since last spring.

After a Youth Olympics silver in Buenos Aires, Mu started the 2018-19 indoor season on fire, running great times from 400 to 1k. But then came the USATF Indoor Championships, when she beat the pros and ran one of the fastest 600-meter times in history – at any level. Mu had suddenly become a potential breakout global competitor, with the talent to run with the best in the world. On the other hand, she was beaten in the 800 meters at NBNI, so she hasn’t escaped the high school orbit just yet. Now – having just turned 17 and coming off a 2:01 PR in a recent post-season meet – Mu will attempt to defend her 800 meters title and will also contest the championship 400. If she’s on her game, running like she did at Ocean Breeze in late February, she might be the standout performer of the meet in Greensboro.

Marlee Starliper – In Position for a National Title

The last time Marlee Starliper competed at NBNO she was a freshman, in 2017, and she placed ninth in the championship 2-mile. So much has changed for her since then as the Northern HS (Dillsburg, PA) junior has developed into one of nation’s elite middle and long-distance talents. As a soph in ’18, she was 4th in the NBNI mile and also won the Penn Relays mile. This junior campaign has seen Starliper run some blazing times – some in victories and others in narrow defeat. At NBNI, she clocked 4:39.05 in the full mile but lost a photo finish to in-state rival Taryn Parks. Then in May, Starliper ran 4:37.45 in the 1,600 meters final at the Pennsylvania state mee,t where she was once again nipped at the line by Parks in one of the fastest high school girls races ever at that distance.

But Starliper also ran a big PR time of 9:54.75 in the 3,200 meters at the Loucks Games in New York and has demonstrated elite range this year. She also ran 9:58.22 in the 2-mile at the USATF Indoor Championships in her first experience running against professional women. With reigning champion and national record holder Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland out of action this weekend – and no Parks in the field, either – Starliper could be on the cusp of a breakthrough and spot on the top of the podium in the mile.

Kelsey Chmiel – Consistent Quality Over Four Years

Kelsey Chmiel will graduate this spring from Saratoga Springs as one of the program’s all-time greats – and that’s saying something for the New York powerhouse. Over her first three years at NBNO (in individual races), she placed sixth as a freshman in the 2-mile, then won the title as a sophomore and placed fourth last year. She also has a 3,200 career best of 9:59.62 from her ’18 Loucks victory. Indoors, Chmiel has also placed as high as 2nd in the NBNI deuce with her career PR of 10:02.36. Finally, in XC, she has four top-5 finishes in national competition. It’s quite a resume.

This week in Greensboro, Chmiel will take on fields in the 2M and 5k that include the above-mentioned Sydney Masciarelli, and run on Saratoga’s 4x1 Mile Relay. Competing in Greensboro will be, in a sense, a prelude to college for her as she’s an N.C. State signee. Chmiel’s 2019 season includes a 9:36.94 best in the 3,000 meters last weekend at the New York state meet, and a 1,500 meters best of 4:34.61 at the Section 2 Suburban Council Championships. She finished second to Marlee Starliper in the 3,200 meters at the Loucks Games.

Sarah Trainor – Record Holder In Hunt For a Title

It was clear before this spring that Sarah Trainor had talent, but this spring has still been a surprising revelation. The junior from Franklin D. Roosevelt High in New York broke the national record in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in early May when she ran 6:29.08 at the Oval Office meet on her home track. Trainor followed that up last weekend by winning the New York state title in 6:31.59. At NBNO, she has a chance to take the record down even lower, in part because of the competition. Reigning champion Taylor Ewert of Beavercreek OH is in the race and may be looking to claim the record as well.

Trainor has taken a step forward on the track this year. She demonstrated her speed with a third-place finish and PR 2:08.27 in the 800 meters at the New York state meet last weekend. She has also run 4:33.04 for 1,500 meters and 9:57.62 for 3,000 (at the Penn Relays). At the bottom end of her range, she has even run 1:04.92 for 400H and 1:33 for 600m indoors. Last year at NBNO, Trainor ran 6:41.47 for second place behind Ewert (6:38.79). If conditions are right, it may take a national record to win.

Luis Peralta – Back On His PR Track

Luis Peralta, a University of Oregon signee, is finally getting to return to the Irwin Belk track where he ran his 800 meters PR of 1:49.10 last year – good for the NBNO title. Peralta, of Passaic NJ, won the 800 at the New Jersey Meet of Champions last weekend in 1:53.26, which followed a Group 4 victory in 1:51.29, a season’s best, the week before that. But that 1:49 from 2018 has been untouchable for him so far as a senior. That could change this weekend.

Peralta’s big push could come in Greensboro, where he will be looking to move up from his current position at No. 10 on the U.S. list. More than that, a PR run by Peralta could leave a lasting mark on the record books before he closes out his high school career and moves on to college. So far this year, he’s been stuck in the 1:51-52 range. He finished second at NBNI. But there could be something about Greensboro, the warm weather and the competition, that will push him back under 1:50.

Ryan Schoppe – Rising Up Quickly In Texas

Ryan Schoppe, a junior from La Porte TX, has quietly become one of the rising young talents in the country. He ran 8:52.73 to win the UIL Class 6A title in the 3,200 meters in Austin in early May and also finished a very close second in the 1,600 in 4:07.47. Schoppe also clocked 1:27.58 for 5,000m on the track in March. All of those times bode well for not only NBNO but a national profile in cross country next fall.

At Greensboro this week, Schoppe will try to continue to bolster is resume in the boys 2-mile where he is the top seed. It’ll be his first big race outside of Texas (in either XC or track), but traveling and racing some of the top guys in the country should be a valuable experience.

Parker Stokes – Steeplechaser Eyes Repeat

The returning champion in the 2,000-meter steeplechase is coming to Greensboro off a successful New York state meet last weekend where he won the 3,000-meter steeple in 9:02.48. That’s about three seconds faster than his winning time at the state meet in 2018. If the Maine-Endwell senior can slice some time off last year’s 5:53.74 performance, Parker Stokes could plant himself squarely into the all-time top 10 list – perhaps even chase Bailey Roth’s national record of 5:41.67, if the weather’s not too hot.

Stokes gained a new PR in the 1,600 meters this year when he ran 4:14.31 at the Fast Times Invitational on May 10. A second straight steeple title at NBNO could check off one of the final items on his to-do list before he heads off to Georgetown in the fall.