Here are the names to watch for from Colorado at the Nike Indoor National Championship! The championship starts today and goes until Sunday, March 17th in New York City!
Girls
On the sprints side, Lillian Graves and Abigail Trapp will be representing Colorado in the 400m. Both girls have raced incredibly well in the indoor 400m with Graves holding a personal best time of 55.63, which is faster than her outdoor PR! For Trapp, she ran very close to Graves' time with a PR of 55.89. Both of these ladies top the Colorado indoor rankings in the event as well!
Colorado will also send a strong contingent of distance athletes to the 2026 Nike Indoor Nationals, hosted at the prestigious Armory Track and Field Center. The meet is highlighted by returning champion Addison Ritzenhein of Niwot High School and several of the state's top programs. The Girls Championship 2-Mile, scheduled for Friday, will feature Ritzenhein as she returns to defend her title from last year. One of the nation's top distance talents, Ritzenhein has continued her strong form throughout the indoor season and will look to hold off another deep field at The Armory.
Colorado will also be represented by Emily Cohen of Cherry Creek High School, another standout distance runner
who has consistently performed well in high-level races, both at state and national levels.
Meanwhile, Raegan McRae of Cheyenne Mountain High School, the 2025 Colorado 4A Girls Cross Country State
Champion, is scheduled to compete in the Championship 5,000m, adding more depth from Colorado in
the distance events.
Ritzenhein is also scheduled to double back in the Championship Mile, where she finished fourth last
year, giving her another opportunity to challenge for the title.
Colorado's presence will extend into the relay events as well. REAL Training Colorado is scheduled to
compete in the Distance Medley Relay, with Ritzenhein as part of a lineup capable of contending with the
nation's top teams. REAL Training will also field a squad in the 4x1600m Relay, providing another
opportunity for Colorado distance athletes to make a statement on the national stage.
For the field events, the top two throwers in the state of Colorado will be competing in New York. Ryan Svoboda and Brooke Schmidt will both be throwing in the shot put and are the #1 and #2 returners in the state for the outdoor season! Svodoba threw 40-4 for the indoor season and Schmidt threw 39-7 and are the top two ranked athletes in the state for the indoor shot put as well!
In the runway events, Renata Bergstrom is set to compete in the pole vault and Jordan Halley will be competing in the long jump. Bergstrom got over an impressive mark of 13-4.5 in the pole vault to end her regular indoor season. That mark is one of the best marks in the state for both indoor and for returners for the outdoor season! She is ranked in the top 10 for the whole nation, so she has a good chance of placing well at the national meet.
For Halley, her best mark in the indoor long jump was 17-6.25, and she has an outdoor PR of 19-1.5 from last outdoor season, so she has a great chance to go very far over this weekend! She opened up her outdoor season with a jump of 17-11.25 - almost getting out to 18 feet!
Boys
The 60m hurdles is looking like a strong event for Colorado with two of the best short hurdlers competing. Jackson Conroy and Owen Hays will represent the Centennial state with Conroy's best time in the event listed at 8.17 and Hays listed at 7.87 - the top time in the state of Colorado! He is also ranked in the top 25 in the nation, putting him in a good position for this weekend on the national stage.
In the 400m, Micah Sheehan will represent Great Strides Tack Club. Early in the indoor season, Sheehan ran 52.54 and later on in the season in ran just over 54 seconds in the indoor race. He will also run the 400m leg of Great Strides Track in the distance medley relay.
Speaking of the DMR, along with Sheehan, the Great Strides Track Club will have a very strong contingent with Ayuub Hassan running the 1200m leg and Abdinasir Hassan running the 1600m. Both have put together strong indoor seasons, especially Abdinasir, who ran 4:10 for the indoor mile at the Millrose Games.
Another team to look out for in the DMR is Eagle Valley, who will have Tyler and Dylan Blair running the 1200m and 1600m legs. Both put together some strong races this indoor season, with Dylan running 9:24 for the indoor 3200m and Tyler running 1:56 in the 800m!
Continuing with the distance side, there will be some other very strong names representing Colorado. Benjamin Adams from Mountain Vista High School, will be one of the top Colorado athletes to watch. Adams
enters the meet with an impressive 4:02.56 mile personal best, placing him among the fastest high school
milers in the field. With that kind of speed and championship experience, Adams will be a serious contender in the distance events and someone capable of mixing it up near the front of the field at The
Armory.
Also representing Colorado in the Championship Mile are Abdinasir Hassan, a 4:10 miler from Northfield High School, Jay McDonald, a 4:19 Miler (at altitude) from Summit High School, Quinn Sullivan, a 4:10 miler from Niwot High School and Benjamin Olds, a 4:17 miler from Palmer Ridge High School. We have already seen Sullivan and Hassan compete against each other at the Millrose Games, where Abdi had the upper hand over Sullivan, but in an incredibly close finish.
The new State DMR is looking to be a big event showcasing some serious Colorado talent as well.
With a mix of established speed and rising talent, Colorado's boys distance runners will look to make
their presence felt on the national stage at Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City this weekend.
Finally, Ashton Daly is entered in both the shot put and the weight throw. Daly is one of the top returners for the outdoor season in the shot put and threw marks of 52-7.75 in the indoor shot put and 67-5 in the weight throw putting him in a good spot going into this weekend.