Here Are The Nine Girls Events You Can't Miss At Nationals

* Sydney Thorvaldson ran the fastest time in the country at the VA Showcase

Event: Mile

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Athletes to Watch: Sydney Thorvaldson (WY), Audrey Dadamio (MI)


Once again in true championship form, we could see one of the fastest assembled girls mile fields ever. The race will feature four of the top five ranked athletes in the country.

We can start things off with Rawlins' (WY) Sydney Thorvaldsonwho is the current US No. 1 athlete in the full mile. The University of Arkansas signee ran a 4:43.90 at The VA Showcase, beating a loaded field. Since then, she's run two other 1,600m races where she went 4:46.54 and 4:52.56, respectively. The senior will look to continue the winning streak she's been on since the fall of 2019 -- 31 straight races won. 

The next athlete we need to highlight here is Stanford signee Audrey Dadamio. The Michigan native has set multiple state indoor records this season and has seen big improvements almost every time she hits the track. Her current converted mile time of 4:42.28 -- from her 4:40.65 1,600m -- from the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase would rank her US No. 1 in the mile, only about a second faster than Thorvaldson's true mile PR.

However, Thorvaldson beat Dadamio in the mile at the VA Showcase. Now both athletes are looking a little closer time-wise to each other than they were a just over month ago.

After Thorvaldson and Dadamio, there's a group of four girls who have all posted converted or true full mile times of 4:50.08 or faster. In order: Zoe Duffus (US No. 5 - 4:47.69 c); Carmen Alder (US No. 6 - 4:48.46); Brooke Rauber (US No. 7 - 4:48.99 c); and Ava Parekh (US No. 8 - 4:50.08 c).

Just off of this group, there are a ton of girls with personal best times under five minutes who will definitely be in the mix for a podium finish or section wins: Camryn Wennersten (US No. 9 - 4:53.22); Ava Gordon (US No. 13 - 4:55.18); and Josephine Welin (US No. 10  - 4:53.90 c).

Two athletes who have yet to run this indoor season but whom are sure to make some noise are Saratoga Springs junior Ella Kurto and Cherry Creek junior Riley Stewart. Both ladies are entered in the third and final heat of the girls mile. Stewart was third at the XC Town USA Meet of Champions this past XC season while Kurto went undefeated in the state of New York.

Stewart's indoor mile PR is 4:50.29 from the 2020 UW High School Invitational,  while Kurto's is 4:52.31 from the 2020 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

There isn't a girl in heat three of the mile who couldn't take home a top five spot, this may be one of the most exciting races of the weekend.