Northwest High Schoolers Owen Powell And Josiah Tostenson Run 3:36s In 1,500; Katelyn Tuohy Opens Outdoor Season With 5,000 Meters Win

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Photo by Ken Martinez

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

PORTLAND — The crowd at Lewis and Clark College was rowdy all Sunday evening, but it was loudest as Donavan Brazier barreled down the home stretch of Griswold Stadium in the men’s 800 meters, a welcome blast from the past.

Brazier, of Swoosh TC, clocked a 1:43.86 for the win at the Portland Track Festival, his fastest performance since August of 2020. 

“It was a real warm welcoming back,” Brazier said. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s been surreal because, you know, when you’re in the trenches of this whole recovery process, you don’t ever think you’ll kind of make it out at some points.”

Two weeks ago, he ran his first race since 2022, winning the 800 meters at the TOAD Festival in Nashville with a time of 1:44.70. That race put the track world on notice, but it didn’t necessarily threaten the status quo for American half-milers. With athletes like Josh Hoey and Bryce Hoppel consistently running in the low 1:40s, Brazier still appeared to be outside of the top picture.

Sunday’s race changed that. Not only did Brazier break 1:44 for the first time in nearly five years, he recorded negative splits, hitting the bell lap in 52.73 seconds and closing in 51.07. In a race that goes out in 50 or 51 seconds, a 1:42 is not out of the question.

Brazier said he’s excited to place himself back in the fold with the top Americans as the summer continues. 

“The way that I left the 800, it was in different shape than it is now,” Brazier said. “I have a lot of great guys to compete with in American 800-meter running, specifically. It’s gotten so great these last few years, so I’m just trying to keep up with these guys at this point.”

Since Brazier’s exit from the scene in 2022, plenty of things have changed in his life. He underwent three surgeries on his foot, making his recovery process long and frustrating.

“I wasn’t probably the most pleasant person to be around these past three years,” Brazier said, “but I’m grateful for everyone who stuck around and has been supporting me the whole time.”

Still, he came out the other side a changed runner and person. He’s not as “hard-headed” with his workouts now, and he’s more patient with himself. He’s learned to find joy in other aspects of his life. In his own words, he’s a smarter person than he was three years ago.

He’s also made changes in his training setup. He now trains under Mike Smith, whose athletes have been tearing up the professional scene lately. Just three days ago, Nico Young broke the American outdoor record in the 5,000 meters, running 12:45.27 for the win at the Oslo Diamond League.

For a long time, Brazier was situated in Oregon; he was a part of the Union Athletics Club, and before that the Nike Oregon Project, for a total of six years from 2018 to 2024. When he came back to Portland for this meet, he said it felt less like a race and more like a “family reunion.” It was his first PTF since 2021.

“It’s been really fun to see familiar faces again,” Brazier said.

Future Huskies Owen Powell, Josiah Tostenson Nos. 2-3 All-Time HS 1,500

There were plenty of eye-popping performances at the front of the men’s 1,500 meters — Fouad Messaoudi of Oklahoma State won with a personal best time of 3:33.93, while Harvard’s Ferenc Kovacs broke the Hungarian national record with a 3:34.79 performance, good for second place — but preps Owen Powell (Mercer Island WA) and Josiah Tostenson (Crater OR) stole the show despite finishing 11th and 12th, respectively.

Powell ran 3:36.49, No. 2 all-time for high schoolers, while Tostenson ran 3:36.85, No. 3 all-time. Hobbs Kessler’s national record is still two seconds faster at 3:34.36, but Powell’s and Tostenson’s times are both over a second faster than Simeon Birnbaum’s 3:37.93, which was previously next-best.

Powell and Tostenson both achieved their best result in a season packed with highlights. 

With a fast field and wave lights, not to mention perfect weather, they came into the perfect opportunity.

“We knew we were super fit,” Tostenson said, “so that wasn’t the question. We just had to come out here and make it happen. Bless the meet directors for getting us up there in the (fastest) heat and trusting us.”

Some of the other racers apparently weren’t as happy, according to Powell. “Nobody wants to lose to the high schooler,” he said. He was getting boxed out and elbowed much more than he was used to in a high school race. No matter, though.

“Honestly, races like that, they fuel me more,” Powell said. “They give me more energy. They give me more rage and emotion. Not only am I fighting my physical limits, now I’m fighting the people, too.”

Both Powell and Tostenson are crossing their fingers and hoping for an invite to the Prefontaine Classic, most likely in the “B” section mile. In that race, they would both have a shot at breaking Alan Webb’s legendary record of 3:53.43, which has stood since 2001. 

According to the World Athletics scoring tables, Powell’s 3:36.49 is worth as many points as a 3:53.59 mile.

Other highlights: Riley Chamberlain Runs No. 9 College All-Dates Time, Tuohy Siblings Win

BYU’s Riley Chamberlain took advantage of a hot pace in the women’s 1,500 meters, running the ninth-best time in collegiate history (all dates), 4:03.98, to take third place.

Chamberlain’s time is four seconds off of Jenny Barringer’s collegiate record of 3:59.90, set in 2009.

A duo of Nike athletes, Sinclaire Johnson and Simone Plourde, took first and second. Johnson ran 4:01.46 to open her outdoor season, the fastest time she’s ever run doing so. She said she was intending to open a few weeks earlier, but she was dealing with an injury in April and May that forced her to delay her plans.

In the long run, Johnson said, the later start may benefit her, as the World Athletics Championships are in September this year.

Swoosh TC picked up another win in the women’s 800 meters when another crowd favorite, Jessica Hull, ran 1:58.69 to steamroll her competition, beating the field by over two seconds.

In the High Performance women's 800 meters, Raevyn Rogers of Swoosh TC ran for the first tme since April and won with an encouraging 2:00.45.

The Swoosh wasn’t the only brand well-represented. Katelyn Tuohy, representing Adidas, made her outdoor season debut in the women’s 5,000 meters, running 15:04.07 for the win. Tuohy made her move about 3,000 meters into the race and slowly pulled away from Nike's Ella Donaghu and the rest of the pack, eventually winning by about four seconds.

Tuohy’s brother, Patrick, won the High Performance section of the 800 meters (one level below the Hot Window) in 1:46.01. Patrick runs for NC State; he qualified for the 800 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships but finished 16th in the semifinals and did not advance to the final. The two are now housemates living together in Utah.

Drew Hunter of ASICS won the men’s 5,000 meters in 13:14.95, closing in 56 seconds to beat Puma’s Amon Kemboi. Kemboi had opened up a lead of nearly 10 meters by the bell, but Hunter said he could tell that move was a little too early. He stayed patient and trusted his kick, which paid off; he passed Kemboi heading into the home stretch and hung on for a narrow win. Kemboi finished second in 13:15.22.

High schooler Tayvon Kitchen, Tostenson's Crater High teammate, was running in the pack of the pros for more than two miles when he tried to move inside to the rail and got tangled with another runner. He fell inside the rail onto the turf field and then got up to resume his race, but he was quickly left behind. On pace for something in the 13:20s, he finished last in 13:59.11.

Luis Grijalva of HOKA NAZ Elite won the High Performance section of the men’s 5,000. He hadn’t raced since the Olympics and had been dealing with an injury for months before recently returning to training, so he was not placed in the Hot Window section.

Nevertheless, he showed plenty of poise in his first race back; he closed in 57.9 sections, which he said was nearly as fast as any quarter he’s run in practice this season, and ran 13:27.24 overall.