* Newbury Park's Aaron Sahlman could go after the 800m national record next week in New York City
Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit
WATCH: The Track Night NYC will stream free on the Trials of Miles' YouTube Channel
There's nothing better than a track meet under the lights.
For the third straight year, the Trials of Miles is bringing a big-time meet to the equation in the form of Track Night NYC, which will feature high school races, professional contests and even some open events.
For our money, the high school races will be special.
On the boys side, we've focused on the 200m, 800m and mile below. Check out to see what they all have in store. We'll offer our girls preview later this week.
The High School Boys 200m
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There's no secret here. The star to watch is Xavier Donaldson.
The Seton Hall Prep (NJ) senior, who will head to Princeton in the fall, has been all over the map when it comes to the relays, helping his squad to an indoor 4x400 title and a runner-up finish in the Championship of America 4x400 at The Penn Relays.
Donaldson also has plenty of season left. Just last year, he capped off his junior campaign at the NJSIAA Group Non-Public Championships in June.
Of course, stepping into a fast 200m field always invites some intrigue. Donaldson owns a PR of 21.39.
He'll go up against Da'Marqis Lewis, who has run a best of 21.21w this season. Lewis will also come into the equation fresh out of the Texas State Championships, where he might even have an opportunity to win a state title.
Either way, expect some fireworks.
| name | school |
|---|---|
| Xavier Donaldson | Seton Hall Prep (NJ) |
| Maurice Gleaton | Langston Hughes (GA) |
| Jermaine Thompson | Connetquot (NY) |
| Josiyah Taylor | Hampstead (NC) |
| Da'Marqis Lewis | Denton Ryan (TX) |
The High School Boys 800m presented by MileSplit
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The big question?
Will we get a high school national record attempt?
A season ago, we saw Marshall County star Cade Flatt fly toward a near-record, one that notched him under 1:47 for the first time in his career. That performance later led him to more heights: Just hundredths of a second away from the national record in June.
No one had been anywhere close to that record before him.
Enter Aaron Sahlman.
Even before the 2023 season began, the Newbury Park senior -- the reigning Nike Cross Nationals champ -- was eyeing up 1:46.45. He's been building toward it ever since.
But as it stands, he's still a decent bit away from a time that was last set by Michael Granville in 1996. Sahlman ran 1:49.07 at Arcadia, which stands as the nation's No. 1 time. Does he have enough?
Sahlman will go up against Marcus Reilly -- who will be doubling up in the mile -- and reigning New Balance Nationals Indoor champ Tinoda Matsatsa, who ran 1:48.27 indoors.
We feel something will happen on race day. But that's the beauty of racing. We'll find out just what comes once the athletes step to the line.
| name | school |
|---|---|
| Aaron Sahlman | Newbury Park (CA) |
| Marcus Reilly | Northbridge (MA) |
| Tinoda Matsatsa | St. Andrew's Episcopal School (MD) |
| Luke Schagelin | Morris Knolls (NJ) |
| Gabriel Rodriguez | Union (NJ) |
| D'angelo Brown | Xavier (NY) |
The High School Boys Mile
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When it comes to elite high school boys miles in recent seasons, we've found that anything can happen.
Take Simeon Birnbaum, for instance. Before the Rapid City Stevens (SD) athlete broke four minutes in the mile last year at Brooks PR, he had run a career best of 4:07 a month earlier.
Could we get a significant jump here?
Weather certainly will play a part, but talent could make up the gap.
Collin Boler enters as the top seed with a 4:04, though no one should sleep on Marcus Reilly, a junior from Northbridge (MA) who's run a best of 4:06.60. Better yet, Reilly has gone 1:50 outdoors, which means he's got the requisite speed to turn it on when the race gets hard.
Boler and Reilly won't be the only athletes to keep an eye on. Union Catholic's up-and-comer Jimmy Wischusen and four others have broken 4:10, while Newbury park's Brayden Seymour could be a sleeper to win with his 4:08.67 from earlier in March.
| name | school |
|---|---|
| Collin Boler | Delbarton School (PA) |
| Marcus Reilly | Northbridge (MA) |
| Jimmy Wischusen | Union Catholic (NJ) |
| Micah Lawson | Rahway (NJ) |
| Brian Boler | Delbarton School (PA) |
| Brayden Seymour | Newbury Park (CA) |
| Steven Hergenrother | Ridgefield (CT) |
| Brian Gamble | (MA) |
| Nate Boutin | Brooklyn John Jay Campus (NY) |
| Ryan Beegle | Chatham (NJ) |
| Akshay Vadul | Edison (NJ) |
| Paul Bergeron | (MA) |
| Joe Perazzo | State Island (NY) |
The Men's 5,0000
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The men's 5K includes a variety of men's athletes, many with personal bests under 14 minutes.
But the one we're paying attention to?
How about a Texan by the name of Reese Vannerson. The World U20 bronze medalist in the triathlon and soon-to-be Houston Strake Jesuit graduate will make the trek to New York City to put down a fast 5K just a week after the Texas State Championships.
This makes sense when you consider Vannerson currently specializes in the sprint triathlon, which includes the 5K distance. The future Arizona State student -- the Team USA triathlon team trains in Tempe, Ariz. -- has run 4:06.87 for 1,600m and 8:58.42 for 3,200m this year.
Would it be possible for the versatile talent to break 14? It's possible. But even if he doesn't, the fifth-fastest 5K runner this year has run 14:28.40.
Vannerson can certainly can add himself into the mix as one of the nation's top prep 5K athletes.