Tommy Latham Runs US#2 Boys 2-Mile; Rylee Blade-Braelyn Combe Power Santiago (Corona) To No. 11 all-time DMR

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos

NEW YORK — Addy Ritzenhein stormed to the win in the girls 2-mile at Nike Indoor Nationals, kicking late to break the tape in 10:00.11, a new US#1. WATCH THE RACE (RS+)

Ritzenhein, a junior at Niwot CO, stayed behind the lead pack of Sophia Rodriguez (Mercer Island WA), Mia Sirois (Barrington IL) and Tsadia Bercuvitz (Ithaca NY) for the first three quarters of the race and then closed her last 800 in 2:24, cruising to a four-second victory.

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“I went in with a very loose race plan,” Ritzenhein said. “I kind of just wanted to turn my brain off for the majority of the race and just see where that takes me. With about half a mile to go, I heard my coach saying, ‘Just go for it. You have the fitness.’”

Ritzenhein had only raced once indoors before this meet, and that performance — a 4:47 mile at the Boston University Last Chance National Qualifier — didn’t go as she had hoped. Despite that, she said she knew she had the fitness to close hard because of some of her recent workouts.

Sirois took second in 10:04.02, holding off a last-lap surge by Bercuvitz. She said she knew the field was strong, but she wanted to stick with them for as long as possible.

“I just really wanted to stay in contact and just be confident that I can finish harder than I think,” Sirois said.

Bercuvitz was third in 10:04.42, adding another impressive performance to what has been her most productive season to date. She was undefeated until last week’s New York indoor state championship meet, where she took second in the 3,000 meters to Zariel Macchia (William Floyd NY). Despite the loss in that race, she took 16 seconds off her PB. She also set a PB in Friday’s 2-mile, albeit by a few tenths of a second.

Lily Alder (Timpview UT) took fourth in 10:06.75, and Averi Lowen (Bowdon GA) rounded out the top five in 10:15.33. Lowen the early leader fell for the second race but still managed to set a new personal best.

The boys 2-mile, meanwhile, didn’t have much of a lead pack. Tommy Latham didn’t feel like taking any chances, and he led from gun to tape. He led by about five seconds through much of the last half of the race, and despite running about four seconds slower than the chase pack in the last lap, he held on for the victory, crossing the line in 8:44.35, a new US#2.

“I knew I was in good shape because I had a couple of good workouts,” Latham said. “I just wanted to come up here and show where I was at and get a true taste of my fitness.”

Corbin Coombs (Organ Mountain NM) led the chase pack with a blistering final lap of 28.50. He said he knew he was going to need a strong kick, but he didn’t realize just how tight the race was until he started hearing footsteps coming around the last bend.

“I was thinking, ‘Alright, close hard,’ and I was closing hard,” Coombs said. “Then, with 100 to go, Noah (Bontrager) and Evan (Noonan) both came up on me, so I’m like, ‘Okay, close harder.’ I just gave it all I got, and I’m happy I came up second.”

Bontrager took third in 8:46.75, followed by Noonan in 8:46.92. This was Noonan’s first race since Nike Cross Nationals last fall, and he’s had some training interruptions since then; just six weeks ago, he had his appendix taken out. Bontrager set a huge personal best after running 8:17 for 3k earlier in the season.

Santiago wins girls DMR, North Rockland avenges loss in 4x200 relay

Twenty-fouf hours after running the second fastest high school indoor 5,000 meters of all time, Rylee Blade lined up for her Santiago TC CA squad in the girls DMR, and she gave her teammates the lead they needed to take the win and set a new US#1 mark of 11:37.35.

Blade ran the 1,200 leg in 3:31 and handed off the baton in first place. During the middle legs, the race tightened up, and by the 1,600 leg, there was a pack of five runners vying for the lead. Ritzenhein anchored for Real Training CO, and after taking the baton six seconds back, she ran just over 67 seconds for her first 400 meters, bridging the gap in two laps. 

She took the lead for three laps late in the race, but Santiago’s Braelyn Combe had a kick that Ritzenhein couldn’t answer after racing a 2-mile just a few hours earlier. Ritzenhein said the fatigue didn’t affect her too much, but she could definitely feel it in her legs during the last 400 meters.

She crossed the line in third, a few seconds behind Santiago and South Lakes TC VA. The anchors for each of the top three teams ran under 4:50 for their leg.

Coombs, meanwhile, anchored his Sun Dragons TC NM squad in the boys DMR, and he delivered them a win, splitting a 4:07 in the 1600 and closing in 28.5 seconds for his last 200 meters to break the tape in 10:06.09, a new US#4. Coombs said he made a special effort to cool down and stretch the right way between his races, and his legs felt good as a result of that.

Hunter Celkupa, the anchor for Colts Neck TC NJ, took the baton two seconds ahead of Coombs and battled with him the entire way. At the bell, he was behind by less than two tenths of a second, but he couldn’t answer Coombs’ move. He still closed in 29.9 seconds, splitting a 4:11, but he crossed the line second in 10:07.66.

Latham also anchored his team (Ave Maria TC GA), splitting a 4:08 en route to his team’s third place finish in 10:08.98.

Meanwhile, North Rockland TC NY was all over the boys’ sprint relays. Their first, the 4x200, didn’t go as well as they would have hoped; they took third overall in 1:28.55, coming in just behind Souderton Black Cats PA and Sprint Factory MD. 

Just a few hours later, though, they avenged their loss, winning the sprint medley relay in 3:26.93. Three members were on both relays, and one of those members, Javon Lawrence, said they all had a chip on their shoulder heading into the SMR.

Xavier TC NY took second in 3:28.44, followed by Ridgewood TC NJ in 3:30.57.

Koala TC NY won the girls SMR in 4:03.54. Their anchor, Jane Hickey, started running in November of 2024, and her first track season ever has been productive, to say the least. Last week, she took second in the 600 meters at the New York indoor state championships behind Dylan McElhinney.

Woodlawn Elite TC MD won the girls 4x200 meter relay out of the second-to-last heat in 1:40.74. They won their heat by nearly three seconds, and they got the overall win by over a second.

Crooke ascends to the top in high jump; Thoun, Jones win weight throws

Last year, Kya Crooke took second in the girls high jump at this meet; this year, the Indiana standout took the win with a jump of 5-11.50. She came within a half inch of her PB and US#1 mark of 6-0, and behind her, Brianna Rivers and Alexandra Boiardi set new US#2 and US#3 marks, respectively.

Shamrock Thoun won the boys weight throw with a new US#1 mark of 82-6.25. After fouling on his first throw, he got on the board with a 79-foot toss, and no one else in the field eclipsed that mark.

Charles Sullivan took second with a new US#5 mark of 76-1, which he achieved on his last throw. He said that going into the meet, his only goal was to be an All-American, and he knew he had achieved that by the last round, which allowed him to feel good and make his best throw.

Vanessa Jones won the girls weight throw with a mark of 58-1.75, a new US#3. She progressed with each throw, starting with a 53-5 on her second attempt and ending with the 58-footer on her fifth.

Gabriella Vizcarrondo took second with a heave of 57-3.50, a US#4.