Elite Fields Released For USATF 1 Mile Road Championships At The Grand Blue Mile

Elite Fields Released For USATF 1 Mile Road Championships At The Grand Blue Mile.

On November 30, 2022, World Athletics, the international governing body of the sports of track and field and road running, announced that an official world record for the road mile would be introduced beginning on January 1, 2023.

The flat and fast Grand Blue Mile course meets all requirements for World Record ratification, quickly distinguishing the 2023 USATF 1 Mile Road Championships as a destination for American athletes aspiring to make history. For immediate ratification, a World Record will require a performance of at least 3:50.00 for the men and 4:19.00 for the women. If the listed standards are not met by September 1, the fastest recorded, record-eligible performances will be recognized as the World Records.

After thousands of recreational and competitive runners have navigated the 1 mile course through downtown Des Moines, more than 40 elite runners will compete for the title of USA Road 1 Mile Champion. Those runners include four former 1 Mile Road Champions in Sam Prakel (2020), Katie Follett (2017), Nikki Hiltz (2019) and the defending men’s champion Vincent Ciattei.

Ciattei won last year’s race in 4:03 but owns a personal best of 3:51 and was an NCAA runner-up in the mile and 1,500m as a collegian at Virginia Tech.

Prakel claimed the title in 2020 in a COVID pandemic-altered race that finished in Drake Stadium. He aims to add a third national title to his resume this year, as he recently claimed USATF indoor titles in the 3,000m and 1,500m. The men’s field also includes faces familiar to the Grand Blue Mile in Shane Streich, who finished third last year, and Abe Alvarado, who was fourth in 2021.

Nikki Hiltz, a champion in the event in 2019, returns to Des Moines fresh from the USATF Indoor Championship in the 1,500m they captured in March. The 2019 Pan-American Games gold medalist was also a 2019 World Championships qualifier.

Sinclaire Johnson joins the field to make her Grand Blue Mile debut after winning the USATF Outdoor 1,500m title in 2022 to earn her a spot at the 2022 World Championships, where she finished sixth.

The women’s lineup also includes a pair of Iowa talents returning to Des Moines in Alex Teubel and Abby Kohut-Jackson. Teubel, an assistant coach at UNI, finished third in last year’s race, and the Lisbon, Iowa, native was an Olympic Trials finalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kohut-Jackson is a product of Ballard, Iowa, who advanced to the USATF Outdoor Championships finals in the steeplechase and was Big Ten champion in the event at the University of Minnesota.

The fastest road mile ever run on Iowa soil was at the inaugural Grand Blue Mile in 2010, when Boaz Lalang won in 3:54.3. A special incentive has been created for the winner, who eclipses that time or 4:29.3 in the women’s championship race. A performance that is successfully ratified as a new World Record will earn an additional $5,000 bonus.

The full fields are listed below.

Men’s USATF 1 Mile Road Championship

Colin Abert

Abe Alvarado

Michael Brannigan

Jacob Brueckman

Luca Chatham

Vincent Ciattei

Casey Comber

Graham Crawford

Owen Hoeft

Austin Dalquist

Jonathan Davis

Kasey Knevelbaard

Nate Mylenek

Craig Nowak

Sam Prakel

Nick Randazzo

David Ribich

Nate Sloan

Shane Streich

Women’s USATF 1 Mile Road Championship

Stephanie Brokaw

Katie Camarena

Alli Cash

Anna Connor

Micaela DeGenero

Katie Follett

Eleanor Fulton

Jessa Hanson

Nikki Hiltz

Marisa Howard

Sinclaire Johnson

Abby Kohut-Jackson

Melissa Menghini

Shannon Osika

Angel Piccirillo

Colleen Quigley

Jenn Randall

Emily Richards

Helen Schlachtenhaufen

Alex Teubel

Emi Trost

Addy Wiley.

posted Wednesday April 12th
by Letsrun