Millrose Trials Preview

Millrose Games Trials
MileSplit Staff

Athletes and relays will be attempting to punch their tickets and spots into this year's Millrose Games on Wednesday at Armory by competing in the Millrose Trials. The invitational mile races will certainly be the premier event of the evening with spots to the Millrose Games mile on the line, but there are other exciting relay races to look forward as well.

Girls Invitational Mile


Photo by Kyle Brazeil

Rhode Island distance star Maddy Berkson from Classical High School is the top entrant in the field with a seed time of 4:50, which comes from her PR race at the Brooks PR Invitational last indoor season. She is currently ranked US #2 in the event with a season best of 4:58 from the Rhode Island Classic on December 28th. She is one of the nation's top returning middle distance runners from last indoor season when she posted times of 2:49 in winning the New England Championships 1000 meter run and taking the Rhode Island 1500 meter state indoor title with a 4:36 performance. In her last visit to the Armory for the Hispanic Games two weekends ago, Berkson won the 3000 meter run in a US leading time of 9:49.


Photo by Don Rich

The senior Berkson is one of 7 sub 5 minute girls entered in the field. The next fastest entrant in Pennsylvania state champion Kennedy Weisner from Elk County Catholic School. Weisner has ran under 5 minutes numerous times at the mile or 1600 meter distance including a 6th place All-American finish last March at the New Balance Indoor Nationals with a then PR performance of 4:52.95. Weisner slightly bested that time outdoors with a 3rd place showing of 4:52.76 in the Penn Relays. Most important tidbit on Weisner is that she is the defending Millrose Trials mile champion from last year when she edged out another Pennsylvania runner in Marissa Sheva (2nd, 4:54.90) for a 4:54.18 victory.

Sheva has returned as well to race at the Armory in the middle of the week and a spot in the Millrose Games mile. The Pennridge junior Sheva was the Pennsylvania state indoor champion last winter after running a 4:51 1600 as a freshmen. Sheva has yet to race a mile or 1600 this season, but did break off the race rust from the cross country season with a 3 minutes flat 1000 meter race last week. 


Photo by Kyle Brazeil

The third fastest Pennsylvania miler in the field is a name that many came to know a lot better a month ago at Balboa Park in San Diego when she became the 2013 Foot Locker Nationals cross country champion in Abingdon Heights senior Tessa Barrett. Barrett showed obviously in the cross country season that she was not only the best cross country runner in her state, but one of the best in the nation with her breakthrough win at Foot Locker Nationals. She is now aiming to translate that national success onto the track and at the mile distance on Wednesday. Barrett is certainly longer distance geared and has thrived at the 3K (9:40 PR from Penn Relays) and 3200 (10:25 PR from Pennsylvania State Meet), but she did drop her 1600 meter time down to 4:55 last spring and the national champ should not be counted out against this field of more middle distance geared girls. Barrett was 10th in last year's Millrose Trials race and then ended up the Foot Locker champion this fall.

With three girls of the top five entrants from Pennsylvania and a top seed from Rhode Island, Miller Place senior Tiana Guevara is the home state New York's best hope of stopping the out-of-state invasion at the Armory and win for the home state fans. Guevara ran just off her 1000 meter personal best at the Section 11 Art Mitchell meet last Friday in 2:58. Last spring, Guevara finished 3rd at the New York State Championships in the 1500 meter run with a 4:30 PR and posted her fastest mile time of 4:54 at the Loucks Games, which topped her 9th place performance of 4:56 at the 2013 New Balance Indoor Nationals.

With only 8 girls having run under 5 minutes so far this indoor season nationally in the mile or 1600 times which convert under the mark and a national leading time sitting at 4:58.46 currently from Bella Burda of Arlington (NY), the number of sub 5 minute girls could nearly double after Wednesday's evening race and it would be a shock if Burda's time still remains as the US leader.

Boys Invitational Mile


Photo by Kyle Brazeil

Germantown Academy (PA) senior Sam Ritz has a mile PR nearly 5 full seconds than the #2 seed in Mike McClemens of Christian Brothers Academy in New Jersey with Ritz having ran 4:11 at the mile distance twice in his high school career. It would be a surprise to see Ritz be a 5 second winner in a field of runners ready to push well under their 4:16-4:19 range of PR's as well as the strategic races that often come when great talent comes together. The last mile race which we saw from Ritz was last June at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro when he had a subpar day with a 13th place finish of 4:17. His indoor season opening race came at the Armory over winter break in a rare two mile race for him with a 9:44 PR.

While Ritz certainly has the fast times to make him a pre-race favorite, CBA senior Mike McClemens certainly has the wins and respect coming off a great cross country season to give himself equal consideration as a favorite to win on Wednesday. McClemens was the New Jersey Meet of Champions winner at Holmdel Park and led the CBA boys to a 2nd place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon with a 14th place individual showing at Portland Meadows. Last Spring, McClemens finished off his outdoor season clocking a new personal best time of 4:14 in the 1600 meter run at the New Jersey Meet of Champions and ran in the 9:10's in several races for 3200 meters. His first indoor race of the season came at the Bishop Loughlin Games with a 2:31 performance in the 1000 meter run.

One of the top returnees from last year's Millrose Games Mile is Eastport South Manor senior Tom Meehan. Meehan ran his best mile time to date last February 9th in the historic Millrose Games race with a 4:16.14 clocking to earn a 4th place finish in the elite 12 runner field. Meehan was not able to get under 4:20 during the indoor season, so he is looking forward to this week at the Armory to race in a competitive mile to find the magic to run in the 4:10's again.

After dipping under 4:20 for the first time this past Saturday in a Section 1 league meet at Rockland Community College, Tappan Zee junior Luke Gavigan may be a darkhorse sleeper pick in the field to keep his recent breakthrough going into Wednesday's race. The 4:18.50 performance on Saturday now ranks Gavigan as a US #11 performer currently at the mile/1600 distance, but he looks ready to roll on a banked track and find himself well inside the US top 10 list in the event.


Photo by Kyle Brazeil

Just ahead of him on the US national rankings at US #10 for the mile with his 4:20.27 season best this past weekend in the Molloy Stanner Games is a popular pick to win the mile again at the Millrose Trials is Chaminde (NY) senior Sean Kelly. Kelly has been on a tear this winter including a US #1 victory of 2:27.39 in the 1000 meter run at the Bishop Loughlin Games and ran a 1:53 split as well for a 4x800 leg on the US leading Chaminade boys squad. Kelly may be seeded all the way back in 9th place at his 4:20 season best, but that is not an accurate seed for his ability and his actually best time as he is the only runner in the field to have run under 4:10 for 1600 meters from his 3rd place finish of 4:09.56 at last June's New York State Championships.

Another race winner from this past Saturday's Molloy Stanner Games is back on the track at the Armory only four days later in Northport (NY) senior Tim McGowan. McGowan ran just off his outdoor 3200 PR of 9:16 in his narrow 9:17.96 win at the Stanner Games over teammate Mike Brannigan (9:17.99) with brother Jack McGowan placing 3rd just a few ticks behind him. McGowan is ranked US #3 at the 3200/2 mile distance and is looking for a US top 5 performance and chasing his 4:16 1600 PR at the Millrose Trials.

Looking to mix it up and break through the New York and New Jersey traffic jam will by Mikey Singer from the McDonough School in Maryland. Singer is one of the best private school runners in the DC Metro area and while his current season best sits at 4:26, Singer has yet to face the level of competition thus far this season to get him back down to his 4:18 1600 PR from last spring for 1600 meters.

Relay Action

US leaders and certainly US top 5 and top 10 performances should be produced out of the relay events with potentially the first sub 8 minute 4x800 in the nation to come in the boys' race after Chaminade spread out their top 8 guys last week to run an "A" and "B" team right at 8 minutes flat. Chaminade might be without their top leg in Sean Kelly with the invitational mile also on his Wednesday race schedule, but as shown in the CHSAA Varsity Meet...their depth goes beyond four legs. 

The Millrose Trials girls 4x400's will have two of the four sub 4 minute relays in the country racing between US #2 Columbia (3:57.43) from New Jersey and US #4 Uniondale (3:59.34) from New York. They will not be racing head to head unfortunately and will be competing in separate division races on Wednesday.

The Union Catholic (NJ) boys currently have a four second advantage over the next fastest 4x400 meter relay team in the country with their US leading 3:17.87 season best. They will not be at the Armory on Wednesday, but three of the top 6 fastest 4x400 relays will and looking to chip away at the gap existing between them and Union Catholic's national leading time. US #3 Old Bridge (NJ) at 3:22.10 season best, US #4 Newburgh Free Academy (NY) at 3:22.59, and US #6 Paul Roberson (NY) at 3:23.66 will all be racing in separate 4x400 division races unfortunately, but will try to race the clock against each other to see who will be the fastest on the day. Robeson will at least have US #7 squad Samuel Tilden (NY) on their heels in the PSAL 4x400 race to push them.

MileSplit will be on-site with photo coverage, interviews, and stories from the Millrose Trials at the Armory. Check out MileSplit NY for more and fastest updated coverage on meet day.

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