* Josiah Tostenson closed for Crater in the distance medley relay on Saturday at Nike Indoor Nationals
Photo Credit: Derrick Dingle/MileSplit
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NEW YORK CITY -- Plans are made to be adjusted.
In Riley Smith's case, the Buchholz senior had planned on a slightly better position heading into the anchor leg of the distance medley relay on Friday at Nike Indoor Nationals. He was five seconds back.
Crater junior Josiah Tostenson's plan, meanwhile, was to keep things conservative enough on the hand-off, 31 second splits if he was in first -- which he was.
And then there was Los Angeles Cathedral's Emmanuel Perez. His outline was to dig into the leader quickly, force a race and then finish things with a win, which, objectively, few could have probably predicted entering the day.
"We came to a tactical mile," Perez said.
All three converged in the final moments.
But it was Central Point Crater High School, with Tostenson on the final carry, who outlasted the field when it mattered, putting down a 27.9 final 200 meter split to secure the squad's U.S. No. 1 time of 10:00.06, followed by Buchholz's runner-up finish in 10:00.25.
All three times went U.S. No. 1, 2 and 3 and hold up as the nation's three fastest DMRs -- even against the dueling national championship in Boston; the winning time there on Friday was 10:01.13.
Related Videos:
Buchholz's Post-Race Interview
Cathedral's Post-Race Interview
Cathedral was third in 10:00.67, but their solace was in the details: According to our records, that's the fastest indoor DMR by a California team by 29 seconds. Menlo School ran 10:29.33 in 2022. Newbury Park, meanwhile, set the California state outdoor record of 9:55.24 that same year.
Tostenson had the most pressure on him over the last eight laps. While the Crater junior was a 4:03 miler, he also was measuring himself for the weekend ahead -- he was running the mile on Sunday.
But it wasn't long before Perez and Smith were breathing down his neck.
"I wasn't feeling too great," Tostenson said. "I had a lot of mental doubt. I stayed calm, stayed relaxed, tried to keep the pace honest and be able to close."
From the jump, though, it was Smith, the University of Florida recruit and the nation's fifth-best miler, who had the most work to do.
He grabbed the hand-off at 5:57.37, a full three seconds out from Cathedral and five from Crater (5:52.65).
His first 400m split? Try 58 seconds.
Over those two laps, he made up two seconds.
"I could see that they were bunching up a little bit in the moment and the top three guys were scared at the pace, so I was just trying to make my way up as smooth as possible," said Smith, who had clocked a 4:04 mile on Feb. 3 at the Florida HS Challenge.
Smith was at the doorstep a lap later, making it a three team race with Tostenson and Perez. Through the 800 meters of the anchor leg, he was right there with the trio.
"The moment I got to them, they started running 60s," Smith said. "I didn't get a break."
Then, more good news. Perez and Tostenson threw in 31-second splits, jousting blows.
Perez made a break and put down a 30, taking the lead with 400 meters to go.
Tostenson fought back and had another gear on the final curve. Smith followed, then tried to go outside but was just short.
"Luckily, I was able to pull myself together and close," Tostenson said.
All three left Friday's action, however, with a lot to take away from the moment.
"To be honest, we wanted to come out here and prove we are one of the top teams in the nation," Smith said. "We can put together teams and in multiple relays and have a good shot at winning it," Smith said.
He added: "A lot of people don't know about Buccholz and the goal this weekend, the goal was to put our school on the map, put our coach on the map and show everyone what we've been working on over the last year."
"You just have to be a good example to the younger group," Crater's Tayvon Kitchen said. "...that's a big thing with our team. We all reallly work hard and it's infectious. When everyone is working hard, everyone is trying to grind and get better, too."
"I"m really excited what the future has for us," said Manny Hernandez, who was Cathedral's opening leg. "We want to go for the DMR outdoor and try to go for that record."
Photo Credit: Derrick Dingle/MileSplit
Related Links:
Nike Indoor Nationals meet page