Herriman UT Senior's Historic Season Continues With 3:57.24 As He Moves A Little Closer To Alan Webb's Record; Carter Smith, Brian Burns Join Sub-Four List

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Kylie Graham/Logan Hannigan-Downs Photos

ST. LOUIS —  Jackson Spencer is not giving up on Alan Webb’s 25-year-old high school mile record of 3 minutes, 53.43 seconds.

The senior at Herriman High in Utah took another shot at it on Thursday night at the HOKA Festival of Miles and came up about four seconds short, running 3:57.24. It wasn’t the time that he wanted, but it placed him fifth in high school history behind Webb, Jim Ryun, Colin Sahlman and Owen Powell (Powell’s 3:56.66 was run indoors; Spencer is fourth in high school history outside).

Spencer’s performance also broke Simeon Birnbaum’s meet record of 3:57.53, and it earned him a win by a convincing margin — almost two seconds — over a field that included eight of the top 10 milers in the country. 

“I’m proud of the way that I went for it,” Spencer said. He paid little attention to his competitors, putting himself on the heels of the pacer, Austen Dalquist, almost immediately. By the halfway point, he had built a lead of more than a second, and it was clear to all in attendance at St. Louis University High School that he was simply battling the clock.

That’s not to say he didn’t care about the win; hammering a fast pace from the beginning also happened to be Spencer’s ideal racing strategy. Instead of leaving the race up to a closing kick against more speed-oriented runners like Quentin Nauman or Carter Smith, Spencer, who has run 13:54 in the 5,000 meters and 8:31.80 in the 3,200 (an NFHS record), took the sting out of his opponents’ legs immediately.

Spencer told himself that if he was within reach of Webb’s record with 400 meters remaining, he would go all-out in his pursuit. He did that, but his “all-out” final 400 was 58.06 seconds, far shy of the 54-second split that he needed. 

“I’m proud of the effort, and I’m glad I was able to go all-out in a race… I just wish the time was faster,” Spencer said, exasperated.

Thursday’s race offered a prime opportunity for Spencer to take a swing at the record. With a temperature of 77 degrees and winds of only four miles per hour at race time — as well as a professional pacer, a Wavelight pacing system, and the best possible high school competition — he had almost every advantage.

But Spencer is convinced of two things. One, he believes Webb raced in an even better scenario.

Webb ran 3:53.43 at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic — 25 years ago last week — against a professional field and took fifth place in that race.

“I mean, he had a nice, hot, sunny day,” Spencer said. “He didn’t have wind, and he had a pro field (to race against).”

The second thing that Spencer is convinced of naturally follows the first: if placed in a similar scenario, he believes he is in shape to break the record.

“Even after (Thursday’s race), I think it’s still within reach,” Spencer said. “I just need to get fully back into the swing of things.”

Spencer clarified that this is not a hypothetical scenario. He will have another shot to break Webb’s record this summer, and he will be racing against professionals. He declined to mention what that race will be.

Sixteen Boys Run Under 4:05 In One Night

Spencer’s race was the highlight of an exceptional night of racing in St. Louis. Behind him, Carter Smith (Mifflin County PA) and Brian Burns (Bentonville AR) also broke the four-minute barrier in the championship race, running 3:59.00 and 3:59.70 for second and third place, respectively.

Only the 2023 HOKA Festival of Miles championship race has produced more sub-4 miles in a high school race (four).

Abdinasir Hassan (Northfield CO) broke the sophomore class national record, running 4:00.90 to take sixth place.

Jude Ritzenhein of Niwot CO ran 4:07.93 in the boys elite mile, the fastest ever by a freshman for a full mile.

Last weekend at the Washington state meet, ninth grader Quenton Lanese of Olympia WA ran a time of 4:04.59 in the 1,600 meters, which converts to about 4:06.1 for the full mile. 

That matter could be settled this coming weekend. Ritzenhein and Lanese are both entered in the Freshman Mile at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle.

Even the Wavelights from Thursday’s races suggested a staggering depth to the meet’s fields. While the championship race’s pace lights were set to Webb’s 3:53.43, the lights in the elite mile were set to 3:59.50. 

Five years ago, only 12 high schoolers had ever broken four minutes in the mile. On Thursday, to reiterate, the pace lights in a “B” race were set to a sub-4 mile.

Basten Wins Pro Mile

Isaac Basten of the Boston Athletic Association capped off the meet with a 3:57.01 performance and a win in the men’s professional mile.

Basten cited Thursday’s race as one of the best in his career, along with his win in the 1,500 meters at last spring’s Atlanta City Games.

“These are career-defining races,” Basten said. “All of this stuff is for my livelihood and I’m so grateful.”

Basten’s strategic racing did a lot to earn him the win. Before the race, HOKA’s Jackson Sharp informed him that he planned to make the race a fast one — sub-3:50 fast.

“All I could think in my head was, ‘Well, that doesn’t bode well for me,’” Basten said.

So, instead of letting Sharp take control, Basten jumped to the front and deliberately slowed the pace down, leading to a first-quarter split of above a minute. When he saw 1:01 on the clock as he passed, he knew he had set himself up in a good position to take the win.

His sit-and-kick approach worked; he had the fastest final 400 split in the field at 56.54 seconds.

Along with earning a win against a professional field, Basten was proud to have beaten defending champion Craig Engels; he is now, by his count, 1-11 against Engels.

Basten plans on defending his title next year. This was his first Festival of Miles, but it certainly won’t be his last, he said.

In a rematch of the Class 3A 800 meters final at the Illinois State Championships last Saturday, Owen Horeni (Yorkville) beat Ben Gorsage (Washington Community) by two hundredths of a second with a dive at the line, 1:48.58 to 1:48.60. That was a reversal from last week, when Gorsage won by more than a second in 1:49.88.

St. Louis University High School’s Jackson Miller ran 4:05.96 to win the boys Missouri mile on his home track.