What happens when you put some of the best runners on the line for a one mile race? We’re sure you know the answer. But just in case you don’t, check out the results of the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile the last two years. Last year, nine runners broke 4:12 in the boys’ race and seven dipped under five minutes for the girls. In the initial year of 2023, seven were under 4:11 for boys and five bettered five minutes for girls. The third annual event, which is once again presented by Marathon Sports and HOKA, will be held Friday night at Souhegan (NH) High, the featured races of the New Hampshire Distance Festival. Trust us, per status quo, these fields are loaded! We mean, absolutely loaded. Particularly the girls’ race. Just to give you a sampling. Lacing up their racing shoes will be our indoor champion from the New Balance Nationals and the runner-up finisher from the recent Penn Relays Carnival. In total, eight of the 11 runners have broken five minutes.
Insane, right?
Below we feature all the entries for the girls’ mile race. The entire meet will be live streamed on our YouTube channel. The meet begins at 5 p.m., with the girls’ mile at 7:05 and the boys’ race at 7:25.
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Abby Hennessy, Westford Academy (MA) – Along with New Balance Nationals Indoor champion Brooke Straus, we’re listing Hennessy as a co-favorite for the title. The gifted junior is coming off a sterling second-place finish at this past weekend’s Penn Relays Carnival where she clocked an all-time best and nation No. 2 of 4:40.1. Hennessy finished just a stride behind eventual winner Dylan McElhinney of Hunter (NY), who was timed in a nation best of 4:39.89. The Westford standout is a fearless runner, who is not afraid to take charge and make the race honest from the gun. That was pretty much what she did this past winter to nearly earn a spot on the podium from the unseeded heat at the New Balance Nationals in mid March. In a solo effort from the start, she won that heat with an indoor best of 4:42.72 to eventually place seventh overall. If this race is close at the end and Hennessy is among the leaders, which we’re almost guaranteeing, she appears to hold the edge over her rivals. She has sub 60-second 400-meter speed and has proven countless times to have plenty in the tank in the closing stages of the race. At the Penn Relays, she ran negative spits, running her final 800m in 2:16.97. Her last 400m was 1:06.80.
Brooke Strauss, Glastonbury (CT) – Straus comes into this race a little more than a month and half from her upset victory at the New Balance Nationals where she broke the tape in a nearly five-second PR of 4:39.53. Her previous best prior to the March 16 race was 4:44.34 from her runner-up finish at the Millrose Games. Among other impressive victories, she also earned titles for the 3K (PR, 9:30.58) at the Yale Track Classic and the 1,000m (PR, 2:46.05) at the New England Championships. See a pattern here. She knows how to up her game when the competition is at its best. Less than three weeks ago, Straus ran a best of 10:16.52 for 3,200m in a league meet. She’s ready for a big race on Friday.
Haley Kavanagh, Oyster River (NH) – Kavanagh is among a plethora of sub five-minute miler that will be lacing up their shoes to face the region’s best. The Oyster River senior won the mile at the NHIAA Meet of Champions last June and owns an all-time best of 4:50.18 from the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 14 at Boston University.
Mackenzie Cook, Oyster River (NH) – Here’s another gifted runner for the Bobcats with some impressive stats on her resume. Cook was fifth at the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile last year where she ran 4:57.06. This past indoor season, the Oyster River senior ran all-time best for the mile (4:54.84) at the Valentine Invite and the 3K (9:57.69) at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Kiley DeFusco, Cumberland (RI) – It doesn’t matter the meet, the Clipper senior always comes to race. We expect it to be no different on Friday. DeFusco, who is a multiple all-stater, is coming off her best season on the track. She was a double winner at the State Meet with victories in the 1,500 (PR, 4:35.82) and the 1,000 (PR, 2:58.06). She also twice broke five minutes for the mile at the New Balance Nationals with her leg on the Clippers’ 4xMile squad and a 4:55.91 best in the Championship Mile.
Ciara Evans, Newton North (MA) – Evans broke the five-minute barrier for the first time this past winter, clocking a mile best of 4:57.76 at the MSTCA Coaches Invitational back on Jan. 26. She followed that performance a month later with her first individual title at the MIAA Meet of Champions. Recently, Evans was the victor on the road, winning the BAA Invitational Mile on Boston Marathon weekend.
Lucy McLean, Haverhill (MA) – The Haverhill native, who runs for New England Elite, has range from the 400m (PR, 59.52) to the 2M (10:51.66). She was ninth in this race last year where she posted a time of 5:00.39. McLean’s best for the mile came last year at the Valentine Invitational where she clocked an all-time best of 4:58.52. She has a PR of 2:11.11 for the 800m. At the Raleigh Relays on March 27, she ran season bests of 2:13.81 for the 800m and a PR of 4:35.53 for the 1,500m.
Greta Hammer, Needham (MA) – Hammer proved this past winter that her forte is not just in cross country. Coming off a fall season on the trails where she won the Div. 1 crown at the Meet of Champions and also qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals by placing second at NXR-Northeast. Hammer continued her excellence on the oval, too. Her season was highlighted by a victory in the 2M at the Meet of Champions where she beat a quality field with a huge PR of 10:21.48. This past weekend, Hammer went sub-5 for the first time in her career by taking gold in the mile at the Warrior Invitational with a time of 4:58.68.
Amelia Alvazzi, Andover Phillips Academy (MA) – The APA junior ran a best of 5:03.11 for the mile at the New Balance Nationals back in mid March. It was a season where she also had bests of 2:15.61 for the 800m and 1:38.26 for the 600m. In a league meet last week, she won the 800m with an outdoor best of 2:17.47.
Madelene Lane, Hopkinton (NH) – The talented sophomore had a strong indoor season where she broke 5:10 for the mile four times, including a PR of 5:06.46 at the ECAC/IC4A Open Mile on March 9. She also dipped under 10 minutes for the 3K with a 9:58.93 effort at the Valentine Invitationals and raced to a PR of 10:49.16 for the two mile at the New Balance Nationals.
Samantha Moore, Portland (ME) – The Portland senior is a low five-minute miler, achieving a best of 5:00.81 this past indoor season. She also finished sixth in the 1,000m (PR, 2:58.80) at the New England Championships and registered bests of 1:00.58 for the 400m and 1:37.22 for the 600m.
