by Larry Eder
Dalton Hengst, photo by PhotoRun.net
Joy Ripslinger, photo by PhotoRun.net
Anyone who is not amazed at the absolute depth at the highest levels of the high school sport of track & field is not watching the sport. adidas has developed the Dream 100 meters, and the Dream Mile. They have become end of season goals for many of the finest young sprinters and middle distance runners in the sport.
The Dream Mile and Dream 100 meters will be held on June 2, in Somerville, MA at one of the most fun meets you can imagine. If you are in the area, be there. If you are in Boston on June 4, be there for the Street Games.
adidas Boost Boston is an amazing two events in three days, June 2 and June 4, 2017!
To buy tickets, and for more info, please go to www.adidasBoostBoston.com
Deep Fields Set for Boys’ and Girls’ adidas Dream Miles June 2
BOSTON, Mass. (May 30, 2017)–Casey Clinger, Dalton Hengst and Austin Hindman are among the high school middle-distance stars set to compete in the adidas Boys’ Dream Mile, while Taylor Roe, ranked #1 in the U.S., leads a roster for the adidas Girls’ Dream Mile that includes Lexy Halladay, Brie Oakley and Allie Schadler, ranked #2, #3 and #4 in the nation, organizers announced today.
The adidas Boys’ and Girls’ Dream Miles are expected to be among the highlights of the adidas Boost Boston Games/Somerville, set for Dilboy Memorial Stadium on Friday, June 2, beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets, at $10, are available at www.adidasboostboston.com, and will again include a post-race barbecue where fans can get autographs and selfies with world-class athletes. The first 1,000 ticket-buyers will also receive a free T-shirt.
Since they began in 2010 as part of the adidas Grand Prix in NYC, the adidas Dream Miles each year have been among the deepest and fastest in the nation. Last year, the Girls’ Dream Mile was switched to a 1500m, and winner Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock, VA, not only qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials but also ran #1 time in the country for 2016. In 2015, the Boys’ Dream Mile featured five of the six fastest high school times of the year, while the Girls’ Dream Mile produced four of the top five. Perhaps the highlight of the Dream Miles so far has been the victory by Lukas Verzbicas in 2011 in 3:59.71, making him just the fifth U.S. high school athlete to run a sub-4-minute mile.
In the adidas Boys’ Dream Mile, Casey Clinger (American Fork, UT) is a two-time national cross country champion who finished the season ranked #1 in the U.S. at 1600m indoors, while Dalton Hengst (Owings Mills, MD) is the 2017 Penn Relays Mile winner, the 2017 state champion at 800m, 1600m and 3200m indoors and outdoors, and just last weekend won the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational 1500m in Havana, Cuba. Austin Hindman (Wildwood, MO) is ranked #2 at 3200m, is the 2017 state champion at 800m, 1600m and 3200m, and is the reigning ITU World Junior Champion in the triathlon.
Challenging them will be:
Isaac Green (Louisville, CO), two-time state cross country champion and 2017 state champion at 800m, 1600m and 3200m;
Connor Lane (Raleigh, NC), #2 in the U.S. at 3000m, the Penn Relays 3000m winner, and 2017 state champion at 1600m and 3200m;
Yared Nuguse (Louisville, KY), #4 in the U.S. in the mile, 2017 state champion at 800m, 1600m and 3200m;
Kyler True (Olpe, KS), the 2017 Kansas Relays winner at 1600m;
Haden Penrod (Springville, UT), 2017 state champion at 800m and 1600m;
Patrick Parker (American Fork, UT), 2017 state runner-up at 800m and 1600m; and
McKay Johns (American Fork, UT), a member of 2017 4x1600m relay team, along with Clinger and Parker, that set national record in 4x1600m relay this spring.
Leading the adidas Girls’ Dream Mile is Taylor Roe (Lake Stevens, WA), the #1 high school miler in the country this year with a time of 4:45.97 and two-time state champion at 1600m, but right behind her are Lexy Halladay (Meridian, ID), ranked #2 in the mile and 1500m and 2017 state champion at 1600m and 3200m; Brie Oakley (Centennial, CO), #3 in the mile and U.S. high school record-holder at 5000m; and Allie Schadler (Rio Rico, AZ), #4 in the mile and #2 at 1600m.
Challenging them will be:
Joy Ripslinger (Davenport, IA), 11-time state champion including 2017 sweep of 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m;
Cailie Logue (Girard, KS), 9-time state champion including 2017 800, 1600m, 3200m sweep; #2 in U.S. at 1600m;
Julia Heymach (Manvel, TX), 6-time state champion and 8th at the 2015 World Youth Championships;
Lauren Gregory (Fort Collins, CO), 2017 state champion at 800m and 1600m; 7th as member of Team USA at 2016 Great Edinburgh Junior Cross Country;
Brogan MacDougall (Kingston, ONT), 2017 NACAC Under-20 Cross Country Champion; 30th at the 2017 IAAF World U-20 Cross Country Championships; 2017 Penn Relays 5000m winner in 16:06.75 over collegiate competition; and
Anna Gibson (Jackson, WY), 2017 state champion 800m, 1600m and 3200m.
The adidas Dream Mile athletes will compete on the same track as Olympic gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain (400m); silver medalists Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia (5000m) and Michael Tinsley of the USA (400m hurdles); American Junior Record-holder Donavan Brazier (800m); and Drew Hunter, who competed in the 2015 adidas Boys’ Dream Mile and in 2016 broke Alan Webb’s 15-year-old high school record in the indoor mile when he ran 3:58.25.
Friday’s Somerville event will be followed on Sunday, June 4, by the adidas Boost Boston Games “street meet” on Charles Street in Boston, to be held on a 200-meter track erected between the Public Garden and Boston Common. Six Olympic gold medalists–Wayde van Niekerk, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Tori Bowie, Jeff Henderson, Sally Pearson and Jenn Suhr–are among the stars set for that event, where the adidas Dream 100 will be contested.
The adidas Boost Boston Games, produced by Boston-based Global Athletics and Marketing, Inc., features both a fan-friendly track event in Somerville on Friday, June 2 and, in Boston, a “street meet” on Sunday, June 4. The street meet, which will include highlights of Dilboy action, will be broadcast live on NBCSN on June 4 from 4-6 p.m. More on the adidas Boost Boston Games, which is part of the 2017 USATF Championship Series, is available at www.adidasBoostBoston.com; on Facebook at adidasBoostBostonGames; on Twitter at @adidasBoostBos; and on Instagram at adidasBoostBostonGames.
