Pre Classic Boys Mile/200 Entries & Preview!

Prefontaine Classic Boys Mile Preview

Prefontaine Classic Boys Mile Field

Name School Mile PR
Carlos Villarreal Rio Rico AZ - SR 4:05.38c
Sam Ritz Germantown Academy PA - SR 4:08.67
Jack Salisbury La Salle Academy RI - SR 4:08.76
Kai Benedict McQueen NV - SR 4:09.16
Michael Slagowski Rocky Mountain ID - JR 4:09.17
Elijah Armstrong Pocatello ID - SR 4:09.18
Dajour Braxton Centennial NV - SR 4:09.18
Mikey Brannigan Northport NY - SR 4:09.61
Adam Barnard Daniel Boone TN - SR 4:10.23
Thomas Ratcliffe Concord Carlisle MA - JR 4:10.45
Jackson Mestler Sheldon OR - JR 4:17.28

Bold Predictions:

1. Michael Slagowski (ID) 4:04

2. Carlos Villarreal (AZ) 4:05

3. Thomas Ratcliffe (MA) 4:06

The boys mile will feature elite talent found in the Northwest and Western states including the Idaho duo of Elijah Armstrong and Michael Slagowski, who both two weekends ago swept the distance events in their state meet classifications. This will be the second time which Slagowski and Armstrong will race head-to-head this season and both times will have been at Hayward Field. Slagowski won the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays mile over the 2014 Foot Locker Nationals third place finisher Armstrong and the 2014 Nike Cross Nationals champion Tanner Anderson in a personal best time of 4:09.17 (US #9).

Similar to Idaho, the state of Nevada also has a fast pair in the elite prep race Dajour Braxton and Kai Benedict. Braxton and Benedict have traded wins with each other this spring, whether in-state as Braxton took the Nevada state 1600 meter title over Benedict, while twice in California in victories at Arcadia and Mt. SAC it was Benedict as the winner over Braxton. Both have run under 4:10 for the full mile this spring.

The hometown crowd will be cheering for Jackson Mestler, who is hoping that he bottled some of his magic from last weekend at Hayward Field when the junior at Sheldon High School in Eugene outkicked several for the Oregon 6A state title with a 3 second 1500 PR in 3:55.

Nike is also flying in some of the top guys from the East Coast including US #1 ranked 3200 meter runner Mikey Brannigan of New York, Pennsylvania indoor mile state champ Sam Ritz, NXN top 5 finisher Daniel Barnard of Tennessee, Rhode Island state champ Jack Salisbury, and sub 3:50 1500 meter runner Thomas Ratcliffe of Massachusetts.

Brannigan gave up competing in his high school's championship season qualifier meets as well as opportunity to compete in his final New York State Meet in order to race at Hayward Field for the first time ever. He ran an 8:42 3200 meter national leading and New York state record breaking time at the Loucks Games earlier in the month.


Ritz, Salisbury, and Ratcliffe all had very strong indoor campaigns which their mile personal bests actually come from. It is not that they have been running slow or been dormant this spring. Ritz and Ratcliffe have both posted fast 1500 meter times this outdoor season with US #4 time of 3:47.85 produced by Ritz, while the junior Ratcliffe has turned in a US #6 3:49.03 this past month in the 1500. Another junior from New England at the Pre Classic is Jack Salisbury, who anchored his La Salle Academy (RI) squad to the Penn Relays title in the DMR last month. Last time, Barnard raced in Oregon, he was challenging for first place and the win at Nike Cross Nationals in December.

The fastest entrant of all the milers though is Carlos Villarreal. The Rio Rico High School senior set an Arizona state record in the 1600 meter run several weeks back with a US #2 4:03.97 personal best performance. After running that time virtually solo, it will be interesting to see if Villarreal can push closer to 4 minutes flat at the Prefontaine Classic. This will be his first major test and most competitive race of the spring after rolling through the competition this outdoor season in his home state of Arizona.

Unfortunately no Matthew Maton in the race to pull Villarreal and others along to a fast time as the 6th high schooler in United States history to break 4 minutes in the mile is still attempting to heal from an achilles injury that is leaving the rest of his outdoor season questionable.

Villarreal and Brannigan are the only milers in the field who have already received invitations to the adidas Dream Mile on June 13th. The rest of the competitors for Friday's race at historic Hayward Field are hoping for a signature win or fast enough time to allow them to also receive an invitation to join Villarreal and Brannigan in the Dream Mile. All are on the bubble and among a huge tight pack of hopefuls found not only in the Prefontaine Classic race, but all over the nation as well.

Thanks to Nike putting on this potentially new annual event, the selection process for rival company adidas and the Dream Mile will become a whole lot easier for the final invites.

Prefontaine Classic HS Race Start Times on Friday
WATCH LIVE

8:17 PM PST - Girls 200
8:24 PM PST - Boys 200
8:40 PM PST - Girls Mile
8:50 PM PST - Boys Mile