Every year, there emerges one or two distance recruits who post major performances that go beyond the description of "elite."
The Class of 2021 boys were headlined by Hobbs Kessler. Before him it was high school legend Nico Young. And in 2019, to a certain extent, it was Cole Hocker -- though we have hindsight working in our favor on that one.
Women of recency include the likes of Brynn Brown (2021), Sydney Thorvaldson (2021), Katelyn Tuohy (2020) and Athing Mu (2020).
One of those names is an Olympic gold medalist (Mu), while another (Hocker) reached the Games by the age of 20. But it is all beside the overall point: Which athletes from the Class of 2022 will be the next nationally recognized distance stars?
The Class of 2022 is responsible for producing Jenna Hutchins, the Tennessee native who was an absolute juggernaut during th...