The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (NBIGP) released the fields today for the Junior Mile, an annual all-star race featuring top prep middle distance runners from around the country. The race will take place on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston.
National leader D.J. Principe and 2015 indoor national mile champion Nevada Mareno headline the boys and girls fields, respectively.
Principe is the lone returner from last year's race, where he placed fourth in a then-PR of 4:11.53. He has since lowered his best to 4:04.47. His former La Salle teammate, Jack Salisbury (now of Georgetown), won the race last year in 4:08.33.
Mareno ran her mile PR of 4:43.23 when she won the New Balance Nationals Indoor title as a sophomore in 2015. She most recently took runner-up honors at Foot Locker Nationals and earned bronze at the Great Edinburgh Run in Scotland, a performance that led Team USA to the overall junior women's title.
Both runners will compete for Stanford next year.
La Salle teammates D.J. Principe and Matt Bouthillette react after the 2016 NBIGP Junior Mile:
Here's a full rundown of the junior mile entrants, from the NBIGP press release:
Principe (LaSalle Academy, RI), the 2016 New Balance Nationals Outdoor champion at 5000 meters who finished fourth here last year, hopes to bring LaSalle back-to-back wins in the event, after Jack Salisbury's victory in 2016. He will be challenged in the Boys' Junior Mile by:
• Josh Hoey (Bishop Shanahan, Downingtown, PA), ranked #1 in the U.S. at 1500 meters and the 2016 Penn Relays Mile winner;
• Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons, Raleigh, NC), eighth in the 2016 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships and the 2016 state champion at 3200 meters;
• Jack Carleo (Newburyport, MA), ranked #3 in the U.S. at 800 meters and the 2016 stat Division II cross country champion;
• Patrick O'Brien (Oyster River HS, Durham, NH), the 2016 state champion at 1500 meters and 3000 meters indoors, 1600 meters outdoors and cross country;
• Nicholas Dahl (Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia, PA), a top-five finisher at 2 miles in the 2015 and 2016 New Balance Nationals Outdoor and the 2016 independent schools state champion in the 1600 meters and cross country;
• Mars Bishop (Barrington, RI), 2015 state indoor champion at 600 meters;
• Alexander Korczynski (Windham HS, Willimantic, CT), 2017 Dartmouth Relays mile winner;
• Ben Kovacs (Saint John's HS, Shrewsbury, MA), 2017 East Coast Invitational mile winner;
• Sam Toolin (North Kingstown, RI), seventh in the 2016 New Balance Nationals Outdoor mile; and
• Brendan Balthis (Tatnall HS, Wilmington, DE), 2017 AT&T Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational 2-mile winner.
In the Girls' Junior Mile, Mareno (Leesville Road HS, Raleigh, NC) brings a glowing resume to Boston, including a win at the 2015 New Balance Nationals Indoor mile, a runner-up finish in the 2016 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships, and more than a half dozen individual Division 4A state titles. Her bronze-medal performance in Edinburgh on Jan. 10 led Team USA to the Junior Women's title. Considered by many to be the top distance recruit in the country, Mareno will toe the line alongside:
• Abbe Goldstein (Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA), ranked #3 in the U.S. at 1500 meters and #4 at both the mile and 3000 meters, as well as the winner of the 2017 Hispanic Games 1500 meters;
• Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga Springs, NY), ranked #2 in the U.S. in the mile and winner of the 2017 Hispanic Games 3000 meters;
• Anna Juul (Unionville HS, Kennett Square, PA), #2 in the U.S. at 1500 meters and #3 in the mile,
• Grace Connolly (Natick, MA), the 2016 Division 1 state cross country champion who finished ninth in the 2016 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships as a sophomore;
• Bridget Mitchell (Milton, MA), the 2016 Division 2 state cross country champion who finished second in the 2017 Dartmouth Relays mile;
• Jacqueline Gaughan (Exeter, NH), 11th in the 2016 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships and the 2016 state indoor champion at 1500 meters and 3000 meters;
• Leya Salis (Bedford, NH), 2017 East Coast Invitational mile winner and 2016 state indoor champion at 1000 meters;
• Mia Nahom (New Milford, CT), fourth in the 2016 New England Championships at 1600 meters;
• Tiara Tardy (Mount Desert Island HS, Bar Harbor, ME), runner-up in the 2016 Class B state cross country championships; and
• Lily Flynn (Ursuline, New Rochelle, NY), winner of the 2017 Molloy Stanner Games 1000 meters.
Among athletes who have competed in the Junior Mile over the years are two who went on to win Olympic medals at 1500 meters in Rio: gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz, who was Junior Mile runner-up in 2007, and Jenny Simpson, who finished sixth in 2005. Both are among the headliners expected to rock the Reggie on Jan. 28, along with fellow Olympic medalists Jenn Suhr, Ekaterini Stefanídi, Emma Coburn, Clayton Murphy, Paul Chelimo and Hagos Gebrhiwet and rising American stars Candace Hill, Noah Lyles and Donavan Brazier.
