Only three U.S. high school athletes in history have ever run the 1500m faster. Lincoln's mark came two weeks after she ran 4:07.99 for second at Nike Outdoor Nationals to qualify for the World Athletics U20 Championships. And it all came before the start of her senior year of high school.

4TH FASTEST 1500M ALL-TIME

Lincoln is the daughter of two former U.S. distance runners who each represented the country at the World Athletics Championships. Her father, Daniel Lincoln, is a former U.S. steeplechase record holder who set his 8:08.82 mark at Rome in 2006. Her mother, Sarah Schwald, was the 1995 NCAA indoor 3000m champion at Arkansas and made the semi-finals at the 2001 World Championships. But her parents deliberately did not push their daughter toward the sport.

She found running in middle school because her friends were running and it has become the story of her high school career.

BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL: THE JUNIOR OLYMPIC ROAD

Lincoln was already competing at the USATF Junior Olympic level before she got to Lincoln High School. In 2022, she ran 2:16.00 for the 800m and 4:43.00 for the 1500m at the USATF Junior Olympic Championships. By the summer of 2023, ahead of ninth grade, she had lowered her marks to 2:13.09 for the 800m at USATF Region 16 Junior Olympics, 4:39.36 for the 1500m at the same meet, and 4:57.78 for the mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals in June 2023.

She was already a national-level distance runner. She was still in middle school.

FRESHMAN YEAR 2024: THE FIRST WAVE

Lincoln opened her freshman track season in March with a pair of races at 200m (27.99) and 400m (59.44) - a reminder that the base was there and the speed was too. She raced almost every weekend that spring, dropping her 800m to 2:09.85 at the Sherwood Need For Speed Classic on April 13.

Her breakthrough came at HOKA Festival of Miles on May 30. She ran 4:20.89 in the 1500m for sixth place, 4:39.04 in the 1600m, and 4:40.75 in the mile in a stacked national field. The 4:20.89 was the fastest 1500m by any Oregon prep athlete that year. She had dropped roughly 19 seconds off her eighth-grade 1500m in ten months.

She won the 1500m at OSAA 6A State Championships (4:25.64) and at 6A-1 Portland Interscholastic League Championships (4:27.86).

SOPHOMORE YEAR 2025: BUILDING QUIETLY

Sophomore year did not deliver a dramatic drop. Lincoln opened her 2025 season at Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays on April 25 with a 4:21.50 1500m and a 4:39.37 mile.

She ran 2:10.31 in the 800m at the T Smith Need For Speed Classic on April 12. She placed third in the 1500m at OSAA State Championships in 4:29.95. She finished ninth in the 1500m at Nike Outdoor Nationals in 4:25.98.

For a top-tier freshman, a sophomore year without much time drop is either a warning or a base year. In Lincoln's case, it turned out to be the second. That fall, she took the Oregon cross country state title.

JUNIOR YEAR 2026: THE SURGE

February 28, 2026. Wildwood Miles for Girls + Women, Portland. Lincoln opened at 4:35.55.

April 8, 2026. PIL - Wells at Lincoln. Lincoln ran 9:06.61 in the 3000m for a personal best and a new Oregon high school record.

April 17, 2026. Sunset Team Challenge. Lincoln ran 2:05.21 for a new 800m personal best.

April 23-24, 2026. Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays. Lincoln ran 4:12.16 in the 1500m and 4:30.00 in the mile. The mile mark broke Oregon's long-standing high school record.

May 28-30, 2026. OSAA Outdoor Track Championships. Lincoln took the 1500m in 4:18.83 and the 3000m in 9:30.41 for double state titles.

June 4, 2026. HOKA Festival of Miles, St. Louis. Lincoln returned to the same meet where she had run 4:20.89 as a freshman two years earlier and ran 4:27.65 for the mile - a new personal best, a meet record, and the third-fastest mile in U.S. high school history. She also ran 4:25.90 for the 1600m.

June 19, 2026. Nike Outdoor Nationals. Lincoln ran 4:07.99 in the 1500m final for second and qualified for the World Athletics U20 Championships.

July 3, 2026. Prefontaine Classic. Lincoln ran 4:07.06 in the professional 1500m for eighth place and a new personal best. Only Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimson, and one other U.S. high school athlete have run a 1500m faster.

She also ran 56.69 in the 400m at 6A-1 Portland Interscholastic League Championships in May - a new PB in a race that most milers do not touch. 

THE PROGRESSION

1500m

• 2022 (age 13): 4:43.00
• 2023 (8th grade): 4:39.36
• 2024 (Freshman): 4:20.89
• 2025 (Sophomore): 4:21.50
• 2026 (Junior): 4:07.06 (US HS #4 all-time)

Mile

• 2023 (8th grade): 4:57.78
• 2024 (Freshman): 4:40.75
• 2025 (Sophomore): 4:39.37
• 2026 (Junior): 4:27.65 (US HS #3 all-time)

800m

• 2022: 2:16.00
• 2023: 2:13.09
• 2024 (Freshman): 2:09.85
• 2025 (Sophomore): 2:10.31
• 2026 (Junior): 2:05.21

Other Junior Marks

• 400m: 56.69
• 3000m: 9:06.61 (Oregon HS record)

SENIOR YEAR AND OREGON WAITING

Ellery Lincoln has one more year of high school. She has committed to the University of Oregon and Nike moved early to sign her to an NIL deal.

Her parents ran at the highest level of the sport. Both wore the Team USA singlet at World Championships. Both waited for their daughter to find her own way to it.

The World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene come first, in August. Beyond that, Mary Cain's U.S. high school 1500m record of 4:04.62 from 2013 sits 2.44 seconds ahead of Lincoln's current best. A number of American high schoolers have chased it. None have caught it.

Lincoln has under 365 days of high school racing left to be the next one to try.