Many of high school track and field’s biggest and brightest stars will make their way to one of the most iconic stadiums in the United States for New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

 

Here are the 10 of the many storylines to follow at this year’s meet, taking place June 19-22 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia:

 

 

The presence of Bullis MD will be just as heavy at New Balance Nationals Outdoor as it was at NBNI in Boston this past March.

 

Olympic gold medalist Quincy Wilson aims to make it four New Balance Nationals titles in a row in the open 400 meters. The junior won last year’s outdoor title in 45.13 seconds; He’s also won two indoor titles.

 

His teammate, Cameron Homer, who finished third in the indoor final, will join him in the championship 400. Homer won the freshman 400 last year in 49.02.

 

Wilson and Homer will also be in both 4x200 and 4x400 relay lineups. The 4x400 line-up will also feature Colin Abrams and Mickey Green Jr., who ran alongside Wilson and Homer in Bullis’ national record 3:06.31 at the Penn Relays in April.

 

Abrams is scheduled to race in the championship 800.

 

Sydney Sutton, indoor champion in the 400, leads the girls team. She is scheduled to run in both the championship 400 and 400 hurdles. She’ll also run on both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

 

Payton Payne, indoor runner-up in the 60, is entered in the championship 100, along with the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

 

Kassidy Hopkins, indoor runner-up in the 60 hurdles, will run the 100-and 400-meter hurdles double. She’ll also look to lead the shuttle hurdles relay team to a second consecutive national title, with the returning group of Tatum Lynn, Solai Russell and Gabby White. The same group also won the indoor shuttle hurdles relay title.

 

 

The end is near for one of the greatest high school duos of all time: Josiah Tostenson and Tayvon Kitchen.

 

Tostenson, who ran 3:36.85 in the 1,500 meters on Sunday at the Portland Track Festival, is taking on the 800 meters and 4xMile relay this weekend. In a recent workout, he ran a hand-timed 1:48, but his PR is 1:51.62 and it's from early May.

 

Kitchen suffered a fall during Sunday's 5,000 meters and is being evaluated. He is entered in the championship 2-mile, the 4xMile and DMR. He ran an NFHS national record in the 3,200 meters at the Jesuit Twilight on April 25 in 8:33.82. Converted to a 2-mile, it’s 8:36.6.

 

Crater broke the national record in the distance medley relay last year at NBNO, running 9:44.30, with Tostenson running  4:02.04 for the 1,600 leg and Kitchen going 3:00.03 for the 1,200 leg. The team's bigger focus this week is the 4xMile, especially if Kitchen is healthy. 

 

 

Sadie Engelhardt, one of the the most influential girls distance runners in high school history, will take one more crack at a pair of national titles before concluding her prep career.

 

The senior from Ventura CA returns to Philadelphia for a third straight year, aiming to win the mile for a third consecutive time after winning it her sophomore and junior years. Engelhardt is No. 3 on the all-time high school list in the combined indoor/outdoor mile, running 4:27.97 at the Millrose Games in February.

 

Engelhardt is also entered in the championship 800. She own’s a lifetime best of 2:03.99.

 

Engelhardt, who opted to train through the high school season, made her return to racing last month at Track Fest and Music City Track Festival after having not raced in three months but has since sat out the past few weeks for an undisclosed reason. She was originally scheduled to race Jane Hedengren in the mile in St. Louis and a 2-mile in Seattle.

 

Engelhardt owns the meet record in the mile, running 4:37.04 at the 2024 meet.

 

 

The rise of Cole Boone and Emmry Ross has created new waves around the high school running world.

 

Boone, a junior from Pulaski County VA, made national headlines this past indoor season when he broke the national record for the 1,000 in 2:20.14 at the Virginia state indoor meet. He won the championship 800 at indoor nationals in a commanding 1:48.29, leading from start to finish.

 

Ross, a senior from Onsted MI, took the nation by storm when she clocked 2:03.95 in the 800 at a meet in New York City, beating the likes of Olivia Cieslak, Clemmie Lilley and Paige Sheppard. Ross would go on to win the indoor national title in a meet record 2:03.00, taking down Ali Ince’s time of 2:03.85.

 

Both Boone and Ross have shown no signs of slowing down this outdoor season. Boone ran a personal best 1:47.94 at the Hilly City Twilight on May 2; Ross ran 2:00.53 at the Distance Night Under the Lights at Houseman Field on May 24.

 

Boone will face Tostenson, Abrams, Canadian and indoor mile champion Robin Lefebvre, Carter Smith (Lewistown PA), Henry Risser (Hopkins MN), Luke Bone (Austin TX), Will Cuicchi (Seaforth NC), Caleb Winders (Bloomington North IN) and Karil Arnold (St. John’s College DC). All have run faster than 1:50.

 

Ross takes on Engelhardt, Cieslak (Havertown Township PA), Lilley (Rumson-Fair Haven Regional NJ), Natalie Dumas (Eastern Regional NJ), Oluwatosin Awoleye (South Cobb GA), Elyse Wilmes (Father Tolton Regional Catholic NJ), Claire Stegall (Nolensville TN) and Reagan Moore (Oak Knoll NJ). All have run faster than 2:05.

 

 

The open 400 and 400 hurdle combination is nothing new. The addition of the 800? Now that’s different.

 

Natalie Dumas, who tied Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s New Jersey state record time of 51.87 in the 400, is entered in all three of those events.

 

It she tries it, the schedule looks favorable for Dumas to do all three. The championship 400 hurdles are Friday, the championship 400 is Saturday and the championship 800 is Sunday.

 

This isn’t out of the ordinary for Dumas. She did all three events at the New Jersey Meet of Champions and won all three in a span of a few hours.

 

Dumas owns lifetime bests of 51.87 in the 400, 2:02.75 in the 800 and 57.30 in the 400 hurdles.

 

 

Whether it’s indoor or outdoor, Jake Odey-Jordan doesn’t settle for anything less than first in the 200.

 

The Archbishop Carroll DC junior has proven time after time he’s the athlete to beat when it comes to running the half-lapper. Between indoor and outdoor nationals, he’s won four consecutive titles either from racing in the freshman or championship sections of the 200.

 

Last spring, Odey-Jordan won the outdoor title in 20.55, which remains his personal best time to this day. The meet record is 20.45 by Christian Walker at the 2023 meet.

 

Braylin Byrd (Tomball Memorial TX), Jorden Moulton (Griffin GA), Jordan Gross (Butler Senior OH), Braylen Bennett (American Heritage FL) stand in the way of Odey-Jordan of another title. All four have run personal best times, regardless of wind, between 20.60-20.66 seconds.

 

Odey-Jordan will also contribute to both 4x100 and 4x200 relays for Archbishop Carroll. Odey-Jordan, Elijah Amenra and Keenen Davis were members of the national record 4x200 relay team from the indoor season that’ll be on the outdoor relay.

 

 

Elise Cooper’s resume is a laundry list of accolades. A New Balance Nationals Outdoor title, or two, would be the final box to check.

 

The McDonogh MD senior returns to Franklin Field for the first time since her sophomore year after competing at the USATF U20 Championships last spring at Hayward Field in Eugene, where she won U20 title in the 200. She will contest the 200 and 400 this weekend.

 

Cooper amazed the Boston crowd at New Balance Nationals Indoor when she won the 200 title in a high school No. 2 all-time performance of 22.64 seconds, just shy of Adajeah Hodges' national record of 22.33. She also earned All-American honors in the 60, running 7.40 to finish fifth.

 

Cooper has posted times of 22.77 in the 200 and 52.33 in the 400 this outdoor season. Both times are ranked top five in the country in their respective events.

 

Cooper will take on the likes of Dumas, Sutton, Skylar Brazzell (Northwest Nelson TX), Bayleigh Minor (Fort Bend Christian Academy TX) and Sophie Rambo (Grassfield VA) in Saturday’s championship 400.

 

On Sunday, assuming the key players move on to the final, Cooper will race Brazzell and Lisa Raye (West Warwick RI) in the championship 200. Raye won both the 100 and 200 at last year’s nationals.

 

 

Taylor Cox has an opportunity this weekend to accomplish a remarkable task in the short hurdles that would put a stamp on her amazing career at Union Catholic NJ.

 

Cox will go for her fourth career New Balance Nationals crown and second in the 100 hurdles as an overwhelming favorite with her personal best of 13.18. That time bested Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s New Jersey state record at the Meet of Champions on June 4.

 

If Cox were to win the 100 hurdles this weekend, it would be the second year in a row she completed the short hurdle sweep at both New Balance Nationals meets.

 

Cox won last year’s 100 hurdles final in a meet record 13.38 to complete her first hurdles sweep. This year, she’ll aim to lower that time while chasing another national title.

 

Cox will potentially face Bullis’ Hopkins, Noami Booker (Tomball TX), Kyndall Spain (Cardinal Ritter College Prep MO) and Alexia Reid (Dillard NC) in the final.

 

 

Colin Sahlman, Leo Young, Lex Young and Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park CA put together the most dominant 4xMile relay in 2022 when they smashed the previous national record by almost 18 seconds at New Balance Nationals Indoor, running 16:29.31. That’s roughly 4:07 per mile.

 

The only other team to come close to what those four did was the American Fork UT team from 2024, which ran within 14 seconds of the national record at New Balance Nationals Indoor.

 

Herriman UT will be the next team to take their crack at the national record at New Balance Nationals Outdoor with the quartet of Jonah and Micah Tang, Tayshaun Ogomo and Jackson Spencer.

 

Between Jonah (4:09.57), Micah (4:10.15), Ogomo (4:12.14) and Spencer (4:00.97), the total time between those four is right around 16:31. However, Jonah’s, Micah’s and Ogomo’s personal best times have been run at altitude, so the sea level conversion makes the total time much quicker.

 

Herriman’s pursuit of a national record won’t be run solo. Oregon Distance Project, featuring sub-four-minute milers Tostenson and Kitchen, should give Herriman some competition.

 

 

The top field athletes from across the nation, and Canada, make up competitive competitions at this year’s nationals, including a handful of seniors hoping to make one last impression.

 

Tyson Schiele, all the way from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, returns to Franklin Field in pursuit of a boys javelin title after coming away with second last year in his first nationals appearance. The Miami (Fla.) commit is currently ranked No. 8 in the world for U20 athletes, throwing 240 feet.

 

Another athlete aiming to redeem a runner-up finish is triple jumper Destini Cook (Souderton Area PA). The Kansas State commit jumped 41-11.25 to finish second at last year’s nationals. However, she did win the indoor title in Boston this year, jumping 42-8.25. She own’s a lifetime best mark of 43-2.75, good for US#2.

 

Another pair of in-state athletes, Veronica Vacca (Mt. Saint Joseph Acadmey PA) and Jalen Cook (Dallastown Area PA), will be making their New Balance Nationals Outdoor debuts while bringing in nationally ranked marks.

 

Vacca, a Washington commit, is entered in the girls championship pole vault competition. She’s cleared a US#7 13-8 this outdoor season but owns a personal best of 14-4. She’s also won three national titles in the event over the past three years at New Balance Nationals Indoor.

 

Cook, in his first year of track, broke the Pennsylvania state record in high jump at the state meet a with a clearance of 7-3, ranking him US#3. He’s the top entry in the boys championship field.

 

Benjamin Shue (Bergen Catholic NJ) will be competing in his fourth and final New Balance Nationals Outdoor in the boys championship shot put and discus. The Texas commit won last year’s discus title, throwing 200-6, and finished second in the shot put, throwing 66-3. Shue has been named a New Balance Nationals All-American five times in his career.

 

Rhode Island’s top hammer throwers, Owen Spira and Mia Hoskins, are favorites in their respective competitions.

 

Spira (Exeter-West Greenwich RI) has thrown 237-8 this season, compared to US#2 Charles Sullivan (Yorktown Heights NY), who’s entered in the championship with a personal best of 231-10. Spira finished third in last year’s final.

 

Hoskins (Coventry RI) brings in her US#2 mark of 188 feet, which is nearly 17 feet farther than her fourth-place throw from last year’s competition.