Mercer Island WA Senior Smashes Hobbs Kessler Record; Teammates Josiah Tostenson and Tayvon Kitchen Join Sub-Four Club

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Ken Martinez file photos

Three boys from the Northwest flew all the way to Boston to knock out some lingering goals in the mile. 

Owen Powell, a senior from Mercer Island WA, ran in the fastest section of the men's mile Friday at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge, and lowered his mile time to 3:56.66.

That broke Hobbs Kessler's indoor high school mile record of 3:57.66 by exactly one second. 

A pair of former University of Washington runners, Sam Tanner of Puma and Kieran Lumb of On, went 1-2 in the race. Tanner, a New Zealand Olympian, won it in 3:51.85 and Lumb was next in 3:52.39.  Powell is the son of Washington head coaches Andy and Maurica Powell. 

In the second-fastest section, Crater OR senior Josiah Tostenson also ran faster than Kessler when he broke the four-minute barrier for the first time with 3:57.41. 

And for the first time in prep history, high school teammates are sub-four milers. Senior Tayvon Kitchen, who already ran the fastest 3,000 meters in prep history on the University of Washington's oversized 307-meter flat track, clocked in at 3:59.61. 

Powell had broken four minutes already, going 3:57.74 at last week's Husky Classic. Again, the oversized track made that time ineligible for an official high school record. 

Powell, Tostenson and Kitchen are the seventh, eigth and ninth prep milers to break four minutes indoors. 

Overall, they are the 24th, 25th and 26th high school runners to break four minutes indoors or out.  

Oregon is the first state with three high school sub-four milers. Matthew Maton was the first to do it, in 2015.