* Noah Strohman and Caden Leonard race to the finish in the Elite Boys 1600m at the Texas Distance Festival
Photo Credit: Jessie McCabe/Texas MileSplit
The elite boys 1,600m was anticipated to be a barn burner on Saturday night at the Texas Distance Festival, and it turned out to be exactly that.
Sophomores Noah Strohman (Holliday) and Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll) went toe-to-toe over the distance, with Strohman narrowly squeaking by with the win, and together they finished with the top two performances in the country so far outdoors, clocking times of 4:06.18 and 4:06.30, respectively.
Here's how it played out:
Leonard took lead shortly after passing through the 400m mark and paced the race to a 2:05.05 split halfway through.
It was at the 1,000m marker, though, where Strohman surged, eventually taking over the lead duties; he helped press the pace to 3:07.10 at 1,200m.
Both runners would run 59 seconds a piece over the last lap to get atop the national rankings.
What's More:
Additionally, Lucas Lovejoy junior Caden Gary and Wolfe City senior Caden Thurman ran 2:01 splits over the second half-mile to also run themselves into national rankings.
Gary's final time was 4:07.17 for a U.S. No. 3 ranking and Thurman's 4:07.46 net him the U.S. No. 4 rank.
Russellville (AR) senior River Hardman ran a 4:10.22 for a new personal best and a U.S. No. 7 ranking, while Deer Creek's (OK) Brody Woodcock ran 4:11.23 for a U.S. No. 11 performance.
Overall, a total of 15 boys ran 4:15 or faster; a total of 42 ran under 4:20 and into the nation's top 50 performances.
2024 TDF Elite Boys 1600m
Boys 1600 Meter Run FinalsPLACE ATHLETE TEAM MARK HEAT1 Noah Strohman Holliday 4:06.18 302 Caden Leonard Carroll 4:06.30 303 Caden Gary Lovejoy 4:07.17 304 Caden Thurman Wolfe City4:07.46 305 River Hardman Russellville4:10.22 306 Brody WoodcockDeer Creek 4:11.23 307 Kebede Kerlin Round Rock4:12.90 308 Matthew ShellyBentonville4:13.72 309 Noah Thayer Mustang 4:13.79 2910 Parker Noffz Marcus 4:13.80 29