Top Tier Talent From Across Country Gathering At NYC's Icahn Stadium For Elite 800s And Miles

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

Mataio Gillis photo

NEW YORK — Randall’s Island is the place to be on Friday night on the East coast, as some of the nation’s fastest high school runners will toe the line for mid-distance races at Icahn Stadium.

Track Night NYC, presented by New Balance, will feature elite 800 meters and mile races.

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The girls 800 meters will kick things off, and the field is one of the deepest in any high school race this year. Emmry Ross (Onsted MI) comes in as the favorite after running a US#1 2:01.42 at a local invitational two weekends ago. She is also the reigning New Balance Nationals Indoor champion, and she took down a similarly stacked 800 field at The CIRCUIT NYC in February.

Makenna Herbst (Carslbad CA) is another name to look out for. The Arkansas commit is undefeated in the 400 meters and the 800 meters this outdoor season, and she’s earned a few marquee victories. She won the 800 at both the Arcadia Invitational and the Mt. SAC Invitational. She also finished just behind Ross at New Balance Nationals.

While Ross has a cross country background, Herbst hasn’t competed in anything above 800 meters this season, and she’s set personal bests in several sprint events. Her best mark in the 400 is 53.92, more than a second faster than Ross’ 54.97. If this race comes down to a kick, Herbst has the advantage.

Of course, the East Coast contingent is also well-represented. Paige Sheppard (Union Catholic NJ) has been on fire lately; last weekend; she ran a solo 4:41 in the 1,600-meter leg of the distance medley relay to anchor her teammates to a win and No. 4 all-time at the Penn Relays. Arcadia Invitational mile champion Olivia Cieslak (Haverford Township PA) is in the field, as well as her future Stanford teammate, Clemmie Lilley (Rumson-Fair Haven NJ).

A few more dark horse contenders are Reagan Moore (Oak Knoll NJ) and Elyse Wilmes (Father Tolton MO). Moore has been relatively quiet since the winter, but her indoor performances shouldn’t be forgotten; she’s the reigning Nike Indoor Nationals 800 meter champion, and she ran a personal best 2:04.80 at the New Jersey Meet of Champions. 

Wilmes, meanwhile, has gone under the radar simply by virtue of being in the middle of the country. Two weekends ago, she ran 2:07.61 to take the win by over two seconds at the Kansas Relays; that mark puts her at US#9.

Macchia Out To Repeat In Mile

Zariel Macchia (William Floyd NY) won the mile at last year’s Track Night NYC, going from sixth to first in the last lap with a blistering 67-second split. This year, she has her work cut out for her if she wants to defend that title.

Macchia only has a few races under her belt this outdoor season, and she scratched the mile last weekend at the Penn Relays. If she’s close to as fit as she was in the indoor season, though, she’ll be dangerous. She finished second in the mile and third in the 5,000 meters at Nike Indoor Nationals in March (behind national record performances from Jane Hedengren and Rylee Blade), running 4:40.75 and 16:29.02.

Her biggest competition is likely Sophia Thompson (Union Catholic NJ), who ran 4:43.73 at the Arcadia Invitational to take sixth place. Thompson was also part of the Union Catholic DMR team that broke the meet record at the Penn Relays; she ran 3:28.21 in the 1,200 leg and put the race out of reach by the first handoff.

Elin Latta (South Texas Heat Homeschool TX), the fastest freshman in the country, could also give Macchia a run for her money. Latta ran the third fastest indoor mile ever by a freshman in the indoor season, clocking a 4:43.92 at the CYUP Misfits Invite in January. She ran 4:45.47 in the 1,600 meters at the Texas Distance Festival in March.

Sophia McInnes (Bayport-Blue Point NY), a Villanova commit, is also in the field. McInnes hasn’t run the mile or the 1,600 since New Balance Nationals Indoor, where she took 28th overall with a time of 4:52.68.

Maryland Standouts Square Off In 800; Coombs vs. Lefebvre In Mile

Tsedeke Jakovics (Old Mill), Colin Abrams (Bullis), Ben Marks (Queen Anne’s County) and Messiah McKinley (Bishop McNamara) ran the four fastest 800 meter times in the indoor season in Maryland. All of them will toe the line for the boys 800 on Friday night.

Jakovics and Abrams have both run under 1:50 in 2025, but Jakovics has the head-to-head advantage; he took fourth at New Balance Nationals Indoor in 1:49.72, one spot and two seconds ahead of Abrams. However, Abrams has been more active in the outdoor season so far; he won the 800 meters at the Florida Relays on April 4 and at the All-American Track Classic on April 12.

McKinley and Marks are well behind Jakovics and Abrams; McKinley has run 1:52.88 this season, and Marks has run 1:53.04, personal bests for both.

Andrew Thornton-Sherman (St. Johnsbury Academy VT) could be a challenger, though. He finished ninth in the 800 at New Balance Nationals Indoor and ran under 1:52 three times in the indoor season. Last weekend, he finished 13th in the mile at the Penn Relays.

Corbin Coombs (Organ Mountain NM) and Canadian Robin Lefebvre (College-Notre Dame) headline the boys mile field on Friday, pitting one of the USA’s best against one of Canada’s best. Coombs has top-five finishes in the mile at the VA Showcase, the Millrose Games and Nike Indoor Nationals. 

Lefebvre has made the most of his opportunities to come south. He beat a stacked mile field at New Balance Nationals Indoor, and he ran 4:01.95 at the BU Scarlet and White Invite in February. Coombs has run only slightly faster, clocking a 4:01.62 at the CIRCUIT Philadelphia.

Lefebvre has not run in the outdoor season so far, while Coombs has raced eight times. The Canadian star may be fresh, but he also hasn’t had the chance to shake off any rust. Beating one of the best kickers in the country will be a tall order.