Jim Ryun HS Dream Mile: A Look at the Milers + Geoff Decker Preview Stories

With the exception of US #1 Emily Lipari, the Jim Ryun Dream Mile field of girls looks like a who’s who of the country’s top high school 1600m runners. The top eight runners all own PRs that fall within two seconds of one another, promising for a very close race that’s likely to come down to the last 100 meters.

On paper, Ajee Wilson(Neptune, NJ) is the one to beat. She’s enters the race with both the top 800m (2:04.98) and 1600m times (4:43.92) and last week’s 800m performance at last week’s New Jersey Meet of Champs was the fastest in the country this year. Looks like she’s peaking just in time for this race

Emily Sisson(St. Louis, MO) hasn’t raced scholastically all outdoor season because she represented the USA in World Junior XC Championships and Missouri athletic rules prevent high school athletes from doing both. Despite this, she’s had a historically great prep school season, clocking a 16:20.445000m, good for #7 all time and 9:51 in 3200m in a time triallast weekend, which would be #2 time ever. One question mark: Will the lack of racing, particularly at shorter distances leave her short when the leaders kick?  

When people see Marielle Hall(Haddonfield, N.J.), they see a middle distance runner and for good reason. She clocked a 2:07.33 in the 800m and 58 second 400m relay split. The speed is there, but as Jason Russo, her coach at Haddonfield Mem says, “She really had ridiculous range.” How ridiculous? She ran 16:55.69 for 5000m, the third fastest time this year. Her 1600m time is second in the country only to Wilson.

Cory McGee’s outdoor times don’t have the kind of luster of her rivals, but she also hasn’t faced as fast of competition. When she does, however, she shows up in a big way. She won the 2010 Millrose Mile, placed 2^ndat Nike Indoor Nationals Mile (4:46.63) and was 3rd at Reebok Boston Indoor Games Mile. Her fastest 1600m in outdoor 4:50, which she ran last month at the Mississippi state meet but expect a big performance from her tomorrow.

[**Upset Special**]Kelsey Margeyis a wild card, dark horse candidate if there ever was one. Margey is a national-caliber soccer and lacrosse player who ran indoor track for the first time this season and won the 1000m State Title. She also split a 56.9 in a 4x400 meter relay. Despite playing lacrosse scholastically this spring, she is training under Paul Limmer, who says she’s been training as a distance runner only since April 1. He hasn’t had her do more than 40 minutes of consecutive running but says “she’s a unique talent.” Despite her low intensity training, she has still produced some solid times - last weekend she broke Danielle Tauro’s 1500m record (4:35.87) at the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational. “It would take someone running in the low-4:40s to beat her,” Limmer said. If she has anything left in her tank with 200 meters to go, it will be interesting to see what that 400 meter speed can do.

Maddie Meyers(Seattle, WA) is probably the fastest miler coming over from the West Coast. She won the prestigious Arcadia Mile over Alli Billmeyer, who has run one of the fastest 1600m times in the country. If she’s able to shake the jet lag factor, Meyers should be in the mix.

Having raced behind Wilson and Hall all season New Jersey, it’s easy to overlook Claudia DiSomma(Sparta, NJ) as a contender in this race. But she’s the fifth fastest girl in the 1600m this year, running a 4:45.37. Her relative inexperience – she’s only a freshman – may prevent her from contending to win, but she will be in the mix.

Alli Billmeyer(San Diego, CA) – is one of the top milers from the left coast and will look to represent it well. She’s run 4:45.06, the 3^rdfastest time in the field. She’s also run a decent 800m, in 2:09.94.

Joanna Stevens(Blacksburg, Va) & 

Kathleen Stevens(Blacksburg, Va.) – Despite their likeness as identical twins, Joanna and Kathleen have different strengths as runners. “Joanna can’t accelerate but can hold onto difficult paces for longer very well,” says their coach James DeMarco. “Whereas Kathleen is a better closer.” Joanna owns the faster PR of the two, a 4:48 for full mile and beat McGee earlier this year at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games Mile to finish second.

Shelby Hayes(Winter Park, FL) –The state of Florida’s fastest will be represented here. She’s the State Champion in both the 1600m and 3200m; she was injured earlier in the year with an IT band issue, so has been late getting back, but she’s healthy now and could be running on fresh legs having avoided the early-season pounding.

Eleanor Fulton(Highlands Ranch, CO) – Fulton hasn’t run many big races against big-time national competition. As such, many or her season’s fastest times are slower than the rest of the field. She has clocked a 4:48 mile, however, so she has as much of a chance as any to be there. But will the lack of competition in racing the last few months leave her legs less not as sharp?

Katie Flood(Des Moines, IA) – Having never run either a 1600m or full mile (Iowa races the 1500m), Flood will be racing her inaugural mile here at Icahn Stadium. Her 1500m PR (4:28.3) suggests she’ll at least be in the mix tomorrow but her relative inexperience with running the extra 100 meter could be a disadvantage.

Jim Ryun Boys' High School Dream Mile Race Preview Story

There are several of the country’ top milers missing from the event, including US #1 Alex Hatz and #3 Ben Johnston. Moreover, the field’s collective PRs in the 1600m/mile is slower than in previous years (the fastest mile conversion is 4:07.28), where most times were closer to 4-flat. At Friday’s press conference, however, there was a buzz about 4-flat nonetheless. The presence of Jim Ryun in the room was enough and most of the boys acknowledged that the milestone was in the back of their minds. There will reportedly be a pacer in the race instructed to run 2:00 through 800 meters to set up any ambitious leaders. A very fast early pace can be expected.

Lukas Verzbicas (Orland Park, IL) is a wild card, having not raced scholastically since the winter. His immense talent and abilities, evidenced by his dominating win at Foot Locker national championships, always makes him a favorite for any race. The Dream Mile is no different. He admits his strength is not his speed, but it’s hard to ignore the 3:56.88 road mile he ran a couple weeks ago. He also said he was running 200m repeats in 26 seconds two days ago to tune up for Saturday. At Friday’s press conference he was coughing and sniffling but said it was more seasonal allergies than a head cold. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

Jake Hurysz(Mebane, N.C.) has the third fastest 3200m time in the country, an 8:49.86. In that race, the Arcadia Invitational, which he won, Huryz split a 4:18 second mile and closed in 1:30 for the last 600m. He’s also run a 1:52.6, but his coach thinks he can run close to 1:50. “He didn’t realize his potential” until this year, says his coach, Chris Catton. He was running 25 miles per week last year and even this year he’s been on a low-intensity program. He’s an upset special.

Jim Rosa’s 4:07.89 win at Meet of Champs last weekend moved him all the way up to US #3 for 1600m, making him one of the pre-race favorites. He’s also the 2-mile national champion at Nike Indoor Nationals. He doesn’t have raw closing speed that others in the race do – his fastest 800m is 1:53.65 – so he will try and gap some of the faster guys with a fast pace early.

Cole Watson(Rogue River, Ore) is one of the fastest West Coast runners in the race. He was 3^rdin the 800m at Arcadia Invy (1:52.71) and has split a 49-point in a 400m relay. He says that he doesn’t like to lead until the final stretches of a mile race so if he’s in the right position he could surprise.

Watson’s roommate next year at the University of Oregon, Colby Alexander, has similar race speed attributes. He’s got sub-50 400m speed but says that he likes to take out the race aggressively and anticipates being at the front of the mile pack from the start.

Kenny Krotzer(Auburn, Wa.) comes as the fastest miler from the West Coast and the US #2 1600m time, with a 4:07.24. He did not run well in his biggest race, the Arcadia Invitational, where he finished fifth, running 4:14.

Isaac Presson(Asheville, NC) finished second to Schellberg in the Penn Relay mile, with a time of 4:09.16, but has raced a lot of doubles and triples since then and not been challenged that much. He’s a bit of a wild card.

Kirubel Erassa(Loganville, Ga.) has the fastest mile of the boys field, a 4:07.28, but his strength as a runner is, well, strength, having also clocked a US #1 14:19 in the 5K. He doesn’t have much speed, however, and in a race that will be paced at a very fast pace early on, he might struggle to close.

Pat Schellberg(Morristown, N.J.) had strep throat during state group meets and the Meet of Champions, which can explain his sub-par performances at those races. Although his coach, Brian Theroux, doesn’t describe him as a natural mile –“He lacks the raw turnover speed” – Schellberg has made a name for himself in big mile races. He’s won at both Penn Relays and the Millrose Games. Theroux says he's recovered from  strep, but the weeks off may have affected his sharpness too much.

Joe Rosa’s specialty is longer distances, as he proved with a US #2 for 3200m (8:48.55) but he has one of the  slower mile PRs in the field. Look for him to be out in front pushing the pace early with his brother to throw off the kickers pace.

Francis Hernandezis more of an endurance strength runner who is coming down from the 3200m, but  he still has the third fastest full mile time in the country at 4:09.21. Much of his improvement has come since indoors so he will be looking to build on his recent success with another big PR.

Because of the grind of late season racing involved in the California championship season, Ammar Moussa(Arcadia, Ca) has focused his training primarily on peaking for last weekend’s state championships, where he placed 3^rdin a time of personal best 8:57.82. “Ammar is taking [the Dream Mile] seriously, but the focus was obviously the California State meet,” says his coach Chris Schultz. Moussa isn’t a traditional miler and could struggle to stay with a front pack that goes out in sub-60. “I don’t know that he has the ability to go down near 4:05 or 4:06,” Schultz said. “But he can hang in there.”