Nike Outdoor Nationals, New Balance Nationals, and Adidas Nationals all took place this past week, and Colorado had a lot of strong performances from these 9th and 10th grade boys across all three national meets. Check out the list!
Note: Names are in no particular order and are based on results of other 9th and 10th graders in Colorado.
9th Grade
Ryan Gooch: At Nike Nationals, Gooch competed in the 9th grade division of the 100m and was the fastest freshmen from Colorado this past weekend, running 11.47 and finishing 43rd overall for all 9th graders! Gooch ran the 2nd fastest 100m time for all 9th graders in Colorado with a PR of 11.03 this season.
Nile Gikas: Also competing at Nike, Gikas ran in the emerging elite section of the 800m, where he ran a time of 2:04, placing 58th overall! Without a 9th grade division for the 800m, Gikas did compete against others much older than him and still held his own. He finished out his spring season as the #4 ranked freshman in Colorado for the 800m with a time of 2:01.
Clark Chen: Chen placed well in the freshmen division in long jump at the Adidas national meet, where he finished 6th overall! He hit a mark of 19-10.75, which was a small personal best for the 9th grader. His new personal best moves him up to #8 for the freshmen rankings for the state of Colorado.
Finn Higgins: Higgins has been the top 9th grader all season in the high jump for the state of Colorado, where he has a personal best of 6-6! He competed at New Balance in the freshmen division for high jump, getting over the bar at 6-0 and finishing 14th overall.
Tatum McKnight: McKnight was the only freshman from Colorado to compete this past week in the 400m hurdles, where he ran a time of 59.90 and finished 20th overall in the freshmen division at New Balance! He was also one of the top 9th graders in the 300m hurdles for the whole state for his class, sitting at #2 with a time of 41.34.
Lazlo Dalmy: Dalmy had a strong finish in the freshmen division of the mile at the Nike National meet, where he ran a new personal best of 4:32 and placed 20th overall! His improvement in his time moved him up to the top five for freshmen rankings in the state of Colorado.
Braylon Brown: At New Balance, Brown competed in a handful of events, but his best finish was in the freshmen 2 mile, where he placed 3rd overall with a time of 9:26! During the season he ran 9:31 in the 3200m, putting him at #2 for the state freshmen rankings but his new PR in the 2 mile boosts him to #1 overall!
10th Grade
Houston Howell: The Adidas National meet added the decathlon to its event lineup and Howell took the opportunity to try his first multi-event, finishing 3rd overall with a point total of 5876 points! Within the points, he placed 1st in 100m with a time of 11.03, 2nd in pole vault with a vault of 13-6, and 4th in 1500m with a time of 5:02.
Preston Mozer: Mozer has been at the top of many rankings, not just underclassmen rankings, and he had a very busy national meet, competing in the 100m, 200m, and the 400m at Nike. He ran 10.98 in the 100m, 22.03 in the 200m, and 48.64 in the 400m. Though those times were all off of his personal best, Mozer has been in the top 5 for all three for the sophomore rankings in Colorado and is the fastest 10th grader in the 400m with an impressive PR of 47.25!
Jaidden Gibbs: Gibbs is another strong sophomore in the 400m and he placed the best at the Nike National meet in the event with a time of 47.90 to place 14th overall in the championship division! He was only one tenth of second from his PR of 47.89, which is the 2nd fastest time in Colorado run by a sophomore.
Zazi Wolfrum: Not only was Wolfrum the top sophomore in the state of Colorado in the triple jump, but he was the top triple jumper for the entire state this season with his personal best jump of 48-3.75! He ended up 2nd overall in the emerging elite category at Nike, where he jumped a mark of 46-7.25.
Ryan Farrell: Though only a 10th grader, Farrell competed in the championship division of the 800m at Nike, where he placed 74th overall with a time of 1:57 and was only off by around one second from his personal best of 1:56! His time from the spring season was the #6 ranked time for sophomores in the state of Colorado for the event.
Cadence Harris: Harris also decided to compete in the championship division despite being only a sophomore and competed in the 400m hurdles. He ran 57.80 to finish 67th overall in the competitive division! He ended his spring season with a time of 39.00 in the 300m hurdles, ranking him #3 for sophomores in the state.
Abdinasir Hassan: The talk of the Nike National meet definitely was Hassan, who we sometimes forget is only a sophomore. He helped his team to victory in the DMR, while also splitting 1:50 for the 800m in the 4x800m relay, leading the team to a 5th place finish. He then ended his week at Nike winning the mile in a time of 4:01!
Caden Muller: Muller ran the mile and the 5k at Nike, where he finished 47th overall in the mile for the emerging elite category and placed 5th for the emerging elite category in the 5k! For his 5k, he ran a strong 14:59 to earn that podium finish and in the mile, he ran 4:20, which was a personal best time!
Lucas Santos: Santos placed 21st overall in the emerging elite category of the 2 Mile at the Nike National meet, running a new personal best time of 9:16! He also has a personal best time of 4:14 in the 1600m that he ran during the spring, ranking him in the top 5 for both events for 10th graders in Colorado.
Wyatt Dann: Dann has been at the top of the 10th grade rankings most of the season in the 2 mile and came away with another strong performance but in the 5k this time. He finished 6th overall in the championship division of the event at Nike, running a very impressive time of 14:24!
Nike Outdoor Nationals, New Balance Nationals, and Adidas Nationals all took place this past week, and Colorado had a lot of strong performances from these 9th and 10th grade boys across all three national meets. Check out the list!
Note: Names are in no particular order and are based on results of other 9th and 10th graders in Colorado.
9th Grade