I have to admit, this first day of the NIKE Indoor Championships left me wide eyed. The level of performances was outstanding. But what is affecting me the most, is the demeanor of the young athletes, the enthusiasm of the parents and the knowledge of the high school coaches.
Watch for my column on Five Takeways on Day 1.
Records fall on Day 1 of the 2026 Nike Indoor Nationals
New York City, NY -The first day of the Nike Indoor Nationals saw five meet records, three national class records and one national record fall at the Nike Track and Field Center at The Armory.
The first of the records to fall was the middle school 60 meters dash. Franklinton, NC eighth grader Camryn Dailey lowered her personal best of 7.40 to 7.38 to lead all qualifiers. In the evening finals, she lowered that time to a 7.27 to move to US #5. The previous record of 7.66 was set by Melanie Doggett who continued her record setting ways in the girls’ freshman 60 meters.
Doggett, the GA freshman, broke Kaila Jackson’s (Detroit, MI) meet record of 7.44 in the 60 meter preliminaries to lead all qualifiers. In the finals, she produced a 7.26 to lower her record. This season, the US #3 Doggett has produced four efforts between 7.20 and 7.29. That ties her with senior and 60 meter record holder Mia Maxwell’s (Humble, TX) for the most top sub 7.30 performances this season.
The boys’ 60 meter kept the record setting onslaught going. Monroe, LA eighth grader Rudyard West Jr came in with hopes of lowering his season best of 7.10 to 7.00, but exceeded those expectations, blasting a 6.90 in the preliminaries to take down Kameron Bethea’s(Buford, GA) two year old record of 7.00. West had more left in him in the finals. The powerfully built sensation, got a quick start and never looked back as he crossed the line in 6.87 to again exceed his explication and lower the record.
The distance middle schoolers did not disappoint.
Provo, UT seventh grader, Angie Alder, the youngest of the Alder clan who compete for BYU and Timpview HS, entered the meet with high expectations after producing a 4:47.93 1,600m at an altitude of 4,528 feet on February 6. Friday afternoon, she ran cautiously behind Daniela Posluszny (Toronto, CAN) for 1,000 meters before pulling away for the win in 4:53.92. Her final 800 meters was a sizzling 2:23.8 with most of that coming in the final 400 meters where she clocked a 66.74. Her time eclipsed her previous meet record of 4:57.63 set last year.
In the boys mile, Fort Worth, TX eighth grader, Cashton Martinez set another meet record. He has only been running for a year, but his inexperience didn’t matter. He took off with a 30.23 first lap, and 62.51 second lap and led wire to wire to produce a 4:28.64. That slashed nearly four seconds off his previous best. In all, the top four finishers, Martinez, Gabriel Hill (Mount Albert, Canada) 4:30.78, Lucas Pfoutz (Mt. Prospect, IL) 4:31.12 and Jacob Nuckols (Ventura, CA) 4:33.98 were under the old record of 4:34.64 set by Micah Weiss (Chicago, IL). He was not done.Showing his range, he ran the 400 meters three hours later in 50.46 to take the win by 3.13 seconds. That lowered his previous best by 1.36 seconds.
In middle school field action, Wyomissing, PA eighth grader Loveline Zudie produced a 41 feet ¼ inch heave set the meet record. Her series included four marks over 40 feet, but fell shy of her monstrous personal best of 42 feet 4 inches.
Five high school championships were held on the first day with one producing a national record to end the meet.
Yevhen Zhmailo (WA) broke the 38 year old triple jump record set by Keith Holley earlier in the season with his 52 feet 9 ½ inch mark on January 25. US #2 Miles Nesmith (TN) was not far behind with a season best mark of 51 feet 9 ¼”. In Friday’s triple jump final, Nesmith, last year’s runner up with a 49 feet 11 ¼ inch mark, got out to the lead in the second round with a 50 feet 8 inch mark to lead Zhmailo’s 50 feet 6 ¾” mark. In the third round, Nesmith produced a personal best of 52 feet 0 inches to set a new personal best. In the final three rounds, Zhmailo fouled on his final attempts. Nesmith on the other hand was hot. He produced three marks of 51 feet 7 inches culminating with a gravity defying 53 feet 0 inch mark on his final jump to erase Zhamilo’s record 2.5 inches. In all, Nesmith series included three top ten all performances: US #7, 52’0” and US #0 51’11 ¼”.
In the distance races, the 5,000 meters featured some of the top rated athletes in the country.
Blair Bartlett just won the 5000m at Nike Indoor Nationals ! Blair Bartlett and Averi Lowen were right next to each other until the last 200m, when Blair took off, winning in 15:28.07 to 15:32.94 for Averi.#inthemixedzone, Blair Bartlett spoke with #runblogrun post race!
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) March 12, 2026
The girls race was first. US #1 Averi Lowen (Bowdon, GA) entered the meet with a 15:53.35 at the David Hemery Valentine Day Invitational on February 13. In that race, she took the lead after the first lap and won 19.25 seconds. In Friday’s final, she had company. In her first 5,000 meter track race, Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville, PA) shadowed for 1.200 meters before taking the lead. It looked to be another run aways for Bartlett who has lost only once this season and has blistered the track with a US #5 All time mile 4:34.55 and US#4 All Time 9:44.34 2 mile performance this year. She hit the 1,600 meter in 4:55.78 and opened a slight gap on Lowen. Lowen hung on though. She took back the lead five laps later, hitting the 3,200 meters in a jaw dropping 9:55.89. Bartlett remained in Lowen’s slip stream the rest of the way before exploding on the final lap to a US #3 All Time 15:28.07. Lowen finished in a US #5 All Time 15:32.94. Bartlett’s time was the US Junior class record with Lowen taking the US #2 junior class spot. Lowen set a personal best at 3,000 meters, 9:18.36 and 3,200 meters, 9:55.88. Of note: the top five 5,000 meter all time performances have all taken place at the Nike Indoor Nationals in the past three years.
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15:13.26 Jane Hedengren 2025 as a senior
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15:16.72Rylee Blade2025 as a senior
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15:28.07 Blair Barlett 2026 as a junior
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15:28.90 Elizabeth Leachman2024 as sophomore
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15:32.94 Averi Lowen 2025 as a junior
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15:37.12 Katelyn Touhy 2018 as a sophomore
The boys 5,000 meter Marcelo Mantecon (Miami, FL) collected his second con title in resounding fashion. The junior followed the pace set by US #1 Jaden Merrick(IA) for 20 laps before taking the lead. Mantecon then turned on the jets with 600 meters to go, scorching the next lap in 30.61. He continued to increase the pace with a 28.65 and a final circuit of 28.60 as he looked up into the stands on the final stretch cruising through the finish line in a meet record of 13:57.94. His time was 0.90 off of Edward Cheserek’s junior class record set in 2012.
Mantecon was not alone when he made his final surge. Sophomore Ruel Newberry (Denton,TX) tracked the speedy junior for 4600 meters and finished second in a new sophomore class record of 14:04.33. The previous record of 14:14.38 was set by Mantecon in last year’s win.
Sophomore Dominic Mathias (Moore, OK) finished third in 14:16.42 to outlast Merrick who finished in 14:17.29.
On the field, the weight throw lived up to its billing.
The top five ranked weight throwers put up an awesome display. Defending champion, Vanessa Jones (Warwick, RI) took the upper hand after the first round with a heave of 56 feet 1 ¼ inches. That was short lived as senior Kim Beard (Seattle, WA) uncorked a personal best of 59 feet 4 ¾ inch mark in the second round. Jones, nursing a right ankle injury, launched a 58 feet 5 ¾ inch and 58 feet 7 ¼ inch blast that fell short of Beard’s mark. In the fifth round, Jones eclipsed Beard’s mark with a 59 feet 5 inch personal best to take the win.
In the lone relay championship of the day to Minisink (NY) foursome of M. Wickrath, C. Beck, R. Labarbera and F. Hill defeated Warwick Valley TC (NY) 3:38.68 and Spartanburg TC (SC) 3:38.99 in a nail biter.
Today’s track and field action includes championship finals in the following events:
4 x 55 meter hurdles Boys and Girls
2 miles Boys and Girls
Pentathlon Boys and Girls
4 x 200 meter relay Club and High School Boys and Girls
4 x 1 mile Boys and Girls
1600 meter Sprint Medley Relay Boys and Girls
Schedule
Live Results including heat sheets
Live Webcast
