Distance
Boys
Typically at Loucks, we see the mile become the 'leftover legs from the 3200m the night before." Not so in 2022, where the miler specialists look to shine. Leading the field is Myles Liss-Riordan (Dexter-Southfield, MA) with his 4:10 from Indoors. Jacob Heredia (Clifton, NJ) comes in with a 4:15 from Indoor Nationals looking to improve, while Steven Hergenrother (Ridgefield, CT) also has a 4:15 to his name, albeit in a 1600m relay split. The top New Yorker belongs to Joseph Perazzo (Susan Wagner), with his 4:16, a seed shared by Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (Nathan Hale-Ray, CT) to round out your Top 5.
The 3200m has become the marquee event at Loucks, and 2022 looks to continue on with that legacy. CT stars Aidan Puffer (Manchester) and Callum Sherry (Conard) are the headliners, both having run sub-8:50 before. Sherry was recently runner-up at Penn, while his brother is out with injury. That doesn't mean the locals aren't going to put up a fight. Myles Hogan (Fordham Prep) dropped a 4:05 anchor leg in the DMR at Penn, and ran All-Time fast Indoors for this distance. He outkicked Jack Gregorski (Corning) for the State Title, who's also entered here, as well as five more of the Top 7 finishers in that race. Sub-9 wildcards include Aidan Cox (Coe Brown Academy NH), Kyler McNatt (Needham, MA) and Ryan Hagan (Liverpool).
Girls
The Girls Mile will be an International affair. The lead seed belongs to Maya Baechler (Kitsilano, CAN), after she ran 4:49 at the Oregon Relays. Traveling all the way to the East Coast, she leads a stellar local field with both Emily Bush (Saratoga) and Daphne Banino (Ursuline) ready to match with their 4:33 equivalents. Julia Schriefer (Wheatley) rounds out the native field with her 4:54, but two more Canadians, Erin Vringer and Hannah McIntyre, are also sub-5min Milers, and could provide a Canadian sweep.
There is depth in the 3200m, but the top end seems relegated to two entities. The Saratoga trio of Emily Bush, Ella Kurto, and McKinley Wheeler will do their best to challenge the breakout star of Zariel Macchia (Floyd). Macchia has been quietly having one of the best freshman seasons since that of Kelsey Chmiel. She finished Top Ten at Foot Locker CC, then Indoors was less than 2 tenths of a second off Tuohy's Frosh Mile State Record, and then broke Nicole Blood's Frosh Two Mile Records Indoors by over 10 seconds with her 10:17.09. Not only that, but Macchia did that race solo, proving she's got more in the tank. It will be her only race of the weekend (sad, as she also steeples...) so we expect it to be a fast one.