The Top Seven Athletes To Watch At Adidas Track Nationals

Mar 13, 2024

* New England Elite's Natanael Vito Catala is among the top athletes to watch this weekend at adidas Track Nationals

Photo Credit: Derrick Dingle/MileSplit

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VIRGINIA BEACH -- The final indoor national high school championship is here, and it's adidas Track Nationals.

Nearly 3,400 athletes are scheduled to compete at the Virginia Beach Sports Center from Friday to Sunday and, as usual, there are records to be broken.

Past champions include Jaylen Slade, Ethan Strand, Maddox Hamm, Micayah Holland, Allie Zealand, Sydney Thorvaldson, Avery Lewis and many more.

A year ago, future stars like Jayden Horton-Mims, Austen Diggs, Julian Carter, Brianna Selby, Madison Whyte and Maddie Gardiner also featured.

Who will become the nation's next stars?

Check below to read about some of the top athletes scheduled to compete.

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For more information, including start times and schedules, check out our meet page.

7. Natanael Vigo Catala

Class of 2024

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School: Haverhill (MA)

Events: 400m

Catala is an incredibly verstaile short-sprinter, with seriously fast marks in the 300m (34.25), 400m (47.94), 500m (1:02.47) and 600m (1:28.10).

The Georgetown recruit is coming off a third-place finish in the 400m at Nike Indoor Nationals -- where he ran two rounds over three days -- in 47.94, though he was just off his personal best of 47.67 from this meet last year (above), a performance that gave him a runner-up finish in the event.

Catala is likely motivated to hit that mark and move past it this weekend.

6. Jaiya Patillo

Class of 2027

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City: Bellevue, Nebraska

Events: 400m

The freshman class is pretty loaded right now in the short sprints.

A total of five girls have gone under 56 seconds for 400 meters, including Kennedy Brown (54.71), Aria Pearce (55.18), Dasia Reed (55.39) and Rhia Randolph (55.53).

Where does Patillo sit in that group? She clocked a career best time of 54.79 in February against collegians at the South Dakota State Indoor Classic.

Few athletes scare Patillo on the line. So when the freshman attacks the 400m this weekend, don't be surprised if she puts together a U.S. No. 1 freshman mark.

5. Charlize Trinity-McKenzie

Class of 2026

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School: Cedarburg (WI)

Events: 800m, mile

There's no doubt in our minds that Trinity-McKenzie is a fast-emerging talent on the track. As a first-year high school athlete last year in Wisconsin, she clocked a national class freshman No. 2 mark in the 800m outdoors in 2:08.21 and a No. 4 effort in the 3K of 9:58.13.

Take one look at her resume, and she does a little bit of everything well. She's run the 400m, 600m, 800m, 1K, 1,500m, 1,600m, mile and 3K. She's locked in for indoor PRs of 2:09.81 in the 800m and 5:08.94 for the mile.

With focuses on the half-mile and mile for adidas, look out for Trinity-McKenzie to go after those PRs and move up the record books in Wisconsin.

4. Veronica Vacca

Class of 2025

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School: Mount St. Joseph (PA)

Events: Pole Vault

Vacca is looking for the national double.

Last week at New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston, she took home the top prize in the pole vault, clearing a top vault of 13-11.25. A couple weeks prior, she cleared a personal record of 14-3 at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships.

So clearly, Vacca is capable of anything -- especially a vault over 14-feet. She's skied past the 14-foot bar a total of two times over the 2024 season.

3. Mary Bonner Dalton

Class of 2024

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School: Myers Park (NC)

Events: Two Mile

Fresh off a career best times in the mile (4:49.11) and two-mile (10:11.08) at Nike Indoor Nationals, Dalton has decided on a return to Virginia Beach.

Her top time from 2024?

She ran 10:13.07 in this same venue in January at The VA Showcase.

With the Notre Dame signee so close to breaking 10 minutes for two miles, we'd have to assume that's the objective here. A total of six girls have accomplished that feat so far over the season. Dalton is currently ranked No. 12 nationally in the event and is one of just 14 girls who have run faster than 10:15.

2. Dana Wilson

Class of 2025

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School: Greensboro Day School (NC)

Events: 60m, 200m

The North Carolina private school star has run a best of 7.42 for 60m and 24.64 for 200m this season, but there's reason to think we could expect more from her.

Wilson finished off her junior season with PRs of 7.40 and 24.60 at Nike Indoor Nationals in 2023.

With the stakes higher and the indoor season all but finished, Wilson is a top candidate to light up the track.

1. Jamier Averette-Brown

Class of 2027

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School: Wayne (OH)

Events: 60m, 200m

Averette-Brown unloaded for a freshman class record on the first day of March at the OATCCC Division I Indoor State Championships.

He also clocked a career best time of 21.37 for 200m in February and hit for four sub-22 times over the course of his first campaign with Wayne.

From a national perspective, he's ranked No. 13 in the 60m and No. 17 in the 200m. He's No. 1 all-time in the 60m and No. 2 in the 200m over the freshman class.

If there's any single athlete capable of shocking us this weekend, it just might be Averette-Brown.