Myers Wins Fast Mile In 3:53.12; Katelyn Tuohy Returns To Armory With 4:25.54 Mile Win, Holding Off Oregon's Wilma Nielsen

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos - GALLERIES

RESULTS/VIDEOS

NEW YORK — Cameron Myers broke the indoor U20 mile world record in his first ever indoor race at the Dr. Sander Scorcher, running 3:53.12 for the win. 

Myers took the lead early on and never gave it up, battling with defending champion Adam Fogg through the majority of the race. He said he was satisfied with his performance, but he knows he’s capable of a faster time.

“It was pretty tough for me,” Myers, an 18-year-old from Australia, said. “I just didn’t get rolling, I guess, in the middle laps when I probably needed to be running 57, 56.”

With his win, though, he qualified for the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Feb. 8, and he believes that race will be a good chance to bring down his time.

“Getting in Millrose will be awesome,” Myers said. “That should be a fast race. I wouldn’t be surprised if Yared (Nuguse) and Josh (Kerr) are gonna go at it and try to run 3:46 or even quicker. I’m just there to hang on and get a good sit for eight laps.”

Katelyn Tuohy made a triumphant return to the Armory for her first race there as a pro for Adidas, winning the women’s mile in 4:25.54. She had to fend off Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen, who ran the third-fastest NCAA time ever and an Oregon school record with a 4:25.89.

“I definitely felt her on my shoulder,” Tuohy said. “I took a look up at the screen and saw that she was there and I was like, ‘Alright, we’ve got some work to do,’ because I knew she had some wheels.”

Tuohy turned pro last year after a legendary career at NC State. She said she learned a lot about herself during 2024, and one of the main points of growth she took away was that she doesn’t need to compare her current fitness to her fitness at certain points in years past. 

“I used to look at workouts and be like, ‘Ugh, last time I did this I ran this split or I did this and that. Coach (Laurie) Henes does a great job at making me realize, like, you can run the same split. It’s not about getting faster but feeling better while doing it.”

Nielsen, who is primarily an 800-meter runner, was surprised by her performance, and she said she might rethink what her season looks like after it.

“It makes a tough decision,” Nielsen said. “I’m usually an 800 runner and I wanted to do that (during the indoor season), but… 4:25, that’s, like, that’s a time where you can win at NCAAs, so I think I need to go home and talk to (Coach) Shalane (Flanagan) and discuss what we should do now.”

In the women’s 800, Nia Akins won her second race this indoor season, building off a 2:03.16 performance two weeks ago at the Penn Select meet in Philadelphia. Akins ran 2:01.03 Saturday, less than a second off her indoor PB.

“I didn’t know how fast I was going,” Akins said. “I told myself I wasn’t going to look at the clock at all because I made a lot of life changes and I was like, ‘I wanna focus on how my body is feeling.’”

Last summer, Akins won the 800 at the U.S. Olympic Trials and qualified for the semifinal round of the Olympics, but she later parted ways with the Brooks Beast team and moved back to Philadelphia where she attended college (Penn). This year, she said, she has a different mindset towards her performances.

“I just want to have fun,” Akins said. “I think the times and places will take care of themselves. I was super fortunate to win the Trials and have a really good year last year. So, I’m trying to remove the pressure of feeling like I have to pick up where I left off or I have to be better.”

Olivia Baker and McKenna Keegan were on Akins’ heels during the last lap, and they finished second and third in 2:01.23 and 2:01.68, respectively.

Meanwhile, Jonah Koech of Under Armour Mission Run Baltimore ran away with the men’s 800, taking the win by a second and a half with a time of 1:47.56. Koech got out quickly and avoided some physicality late in the race which caused several runners to stumble. Koech said he came in expecting a physical race.

“Usually, when there is a lot of people like that, you have to expect something like that to happen,” Koech said. “The best way is to just get away from them.”

With his win, he punched a ticket to the Millrose Games. He said running at that meet has always been a dream of his.

“Since 2016, when I was in college, I've been wanting to run in Millrose,” Koech said, “and my dream comes true now.”

Leah Anderson of Atalanta NYC won the women's pro 400 in 52.14 seconds. 

BYU's Eli Hazlett won the fastest section of the men's 400 in 47.11. 

Trent Daniels, a high school senior from Gainesville VA, also qualified for the Millrose Games. He won the boys 1,000 meter run with a time of 2:26.88, a PB by nearly two seconds.

Sophia McInnes from Bayport-Blue Point won the girls 1,000, but she had already qualified for Millrose with a previous performance. However, her winning time of 2:45.61 was a No. 14 all-time performance, and it put her far ahead of the field.

“Yesterday, when I was going over the race plan, my coach just told me, ‘No matter what the time is at the end, just try and push everything you have left for the last lap,” McInnes said. “So, I just tried to really kick and get as much of a lead as I possibly could.”

Jordaine Johnson from East Orange NJ won the boys invitational 400 meters in 47.07 seconds. 

In the girls invitational 400 meters, Natalie Dumas of Voorhees NJ won in 54.84 seconds. 

Puma athletes swept the pro long jumps. Jeremiah Davis, the long jump winner at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, won the men’s event with a jump of 26-3, the fourth-best mark in the world this year. He beat fellow Olympian Salif Mane, who won the triple jump at the US Olympic Trials, by seven inches. 

The women’s event was much closer. Monae Nichols won with a jump of 21-2.50, beating Trinidad and Tobago’s Tyra Gittens by half an inch.