PHOTO CREDIT: JOHNNY PACE
Eugene does not slow down for anyone. By Saturday afternoon, the third day of Nike Outdoor Nationals had already produced a freshman national champion, a hurdler who won a title with a time that would have been a national record the day before, and an athlete who pulled off a win in two different divisions before dinner. Here is what happened on day three.
Joshua-Kai Smith Runs Into Bad Timing, But Wins Anyway
Joshua-Kai Smith of Gar Field, Virginia ran 13.08 to win the Boys 110m Hurdles Championship Final, a time that would have tied a national record one day earlier. Instead it landed a tenth of a second behind the new standard Zacchaeus Brocks set Friday at the USATF U20 Championships. Smith, a six-time Virginia state champion who came into the meet ranked sixth in the country at 13.31, still walked away with the title and the best time of his career.
The final was loaded behind him. Andrew Jones, the Texas A&M signee who broke the national record in the 300m hurdles this spring and became the first high schooler ever to run under 13 seconds in any conditions, finished second in 13.19. Rylan Hainje, the Indiana senior, was third in 13.36. Josh Hamblin, who chased Jones to a personal best at Brooks PR last week, finished fourth in 13.39. Four sub-13.4 finishers in one final, one of the deepest 110m hurdles fields of the high school season.
Melanie Doggett Is Victorious as a Freshman
Melanie Doggett, the 15-year-old from Major Impact TC in Georgia, won the Girls 100m Championship in 11.18 (+2.0), a new officially ranked best for the freshman, who entered the meet ranked third nationally at 11.24, against a field made almost entirely of upperclassmen. She also ran an eye-popping 11.01 in April at the Bill Thorn Invitational, but that mark lacked a wind reading. Somto Igwilo finished fourth in 11.54.
This is the same athlete who finished third in the Olympic Development 200m at the Florida Relays in March, behind an Olympic champion and a then age group world record holder. She broke the U14 world record in the 400m in May. On Saturday she won a Nike Outdoor Nationals title as a freshman and her name keeps popping up as one to know.
Natalie Dumas Wins Twice
Natalie Dumas came into Eugene ranked second nationally in the 400m hurdles and third in the 800m, with talk all week about whether she would attempt a triple across the 400m, 400m hurdles, and 800m. She scratched the 800m. The double was plenty.
On Thursday she ran 58.22 in the 400m hurdles prelims and 52.20 in the 400m U20 prelims, finishing fourth in the latter. On Saturday she won the Women's 400m Hurdles U20 title in 56.13, and also won the Girls 400m Championship in 52.21, a full second clear of runner-up Sophia Castaneda's 53.25.
Dumas is the Eastern Regional senior who became the first person in New Jersey history to win the 400m hurdles, 400m, and 800m at the same meet, doing it twice last year, first at the Meet of Champions and then again at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, where she ran 51.14, 2:00.11, and 55.99 across the three events. She is committed to Arkansas. Eugene was just the latest stage for an athlete who keeps finding new ways to do more than anyone expects in a single weekend, even if she dropped an event.
The Sprints Stayed Loaded
Jake Odey-Jordan, the British sprinter who won bronze in the 200m at the 2024 World U20 Championships, won the Boys 100m Championship in 10.01, narrowly missing the 10-second barrier. Tate Taylor, fresh off breaking his own national 200m record a day earlier at the USATF U20 Championships, finished second in 10.10. Dillon Mitchell, the national freshman and sophomore class record holder in the 100m, was third in 10.23, and Auralleus Hicks fourth in 10.42, the same four names from Thursday's U20 100m final reassembling two days later in a different competition with a different winner.
Jayson Jones of Jackrabbit TC in Georgia won the Boys 400m Championship in 45.99, a new mark inside the U.S. top 10 for the class.
Distance Runners Closed the Night
Dylan Rowell, who broke four minutes in the mile at Brooks PR earlier this month with Marcelo Mantecon pacing him through the race, won the Boys 2 Mile Championship in 8:44.65. Bjorn Blankenship, the Summit, Oregon junior who ran the fastest straight 3000m in the country this spring, finished third in 8:46.32.
Leah Starkey, the Ocean Township sophomore who ran the fastest 3000m ever by a sophomore at the Penn Relays in April, won the Girls 2 Mile Championship in 9:46.57, a mark that ranks second in the country this year regardless of class.
Day three is in the books. The meet continues through Monday.
PHOTO CREDIT: JOHNNY PACE
Eugene does not slow down for anyone. By Saturday afternoon, the third day of Nike Outdoor Nationals had already produced a freshman national champion, a hurdler who won a title with a time that would have been a national record the day before, and an athlete who pulled off a win in two different divisions before dinner. Here is what happened on day three.
Joshua-Kai Smith Runs Into Bad Timing, But Wins Anyway
Joshua-Kai Smith of Gar Field, Virginia ran 13.08 to win the Boys 110m Hurdles Championship Final, a time that would have tied a national record one day earlier. Instead it landed a tenth of a second behind the new standard Zacchaeus Brocks set Friday at the USATF U20 Championships. Smith, a six-time Virginia state champion who came into the meet ranked sixth in the country at 13.31, still walked away with the title and the best time of his career.
