Crater's Josiah Tostenson, left, fends off Steven Hergenrother of Connecticut for a national title and record for the Oregon Distance Project crew at the New Balance in Philadelphia Sunday.

No track record ever seems to be safe when the Crater boys roll up to a meet, even if it is at the New Balance National Championships and all the way across the country in Philadelphia at Franklin Field.

That is precisely what happened Sunday morning when the Comets quartet of Tayvon Kitchen, Nick Kube, Caleb Doddington and Josiah Tostenson — competing as the Oregon Distance Project club team — set a new national high school record in the distance medley with a combined time of 9 minutes, 44.30 seconds.

It was a thrilling race with the Oregon Distance Project narrowly edging out Ridgefield of Connecticut at the finish line of the 4,000-meter relay to take the national championship and break a record that has stood for 23 years.

Kitchen got off to a fast start in the opening 1,200 (3:00.03) to get out to a second-place position and gave momentum to the rest of the relay for some special marks.

Following that were all-around masterful performances, with Kube breaking the 50-second barrier in the 400 (49.49) for the first time, Doddington posting a personal best in the 800 leg (1:52.75) and Tostenson protecting the lead in the final mile (4:02.04) for the victory.

“Man, we started strong,” said Kitchen. “I felt good about my leg, and then just turned around a second later, and seeing Nick go 49 … I basically sprinted over to him and tackled him and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

“And then look back and (Doddington’s) right in the lead, pushing his pace,” he added, “and I was like, ‘Dang, he’s going fast,’ But I didn’t know how fast and then I saw him finish at 1:52, which is a huge PR. Then Josiah was just smart, patient, and just blasted that last 50 meters.”

After his lap, Kube didn’t even realize that he ran the best lap of his life until he was greeted by an enthusiastic Kitchen.

“I actually didn’t even notice until he came sprinting across the field yelling at me that I got 49,” Kube said. “When I was running, I was just trying to keep us in good placement.”

On the third leg, Doddington capitalized on Kube’s time with a bit of emotion as the Crater grad completed his final high school race.

After having the Oregon state championships and Nike Outdoors not go his way, the George Fox commit was determined to go out with a bang.

“For me, it was just pure emotions,” said Doddington. “I was coming off with that state loss and that hurt pretty bad and then I was also just reminding myself that this is my last high school race ever and I just wanted to really leave everything out there.”

With three personal-best performances in tow, Tostenson duked it out with Princeton commit Steven Hergenrother to the finish line, raising his hands in victory before finding his teammates to celebrate the accomplishment.

Just crossing the finish line first was a battle with Hergenrother — one of the best milers in the nation — especially with the stakes of a national title, record and bragging rights hanging in the balance.

“Steven definitely gave my hardest battle to the line thus far in my racing career,” said Tostenson. “That was everything I had in those final, last few steps to the finish line.”

“It was amazing seeing everybody rattle off amazing times and that was definitely a lot of pressure,” he added. “I think when I see teammates do well, it just makes me race well. It made it easy to go out there and perform under pressure.”

The DMR record was held by former American record holder and former Olympian Alan Webb and Virginia’s South Lakes High School. That mark was set in 2001 with a time of 9:49.78.

“It is one of the craziest records to get,” said Kitchen. “I’m sure not a lot of people thought this record was going down today. It’s a historic record, so it’s a good one to get.”

It is extra special considering that Kitchen, Kube and Tostenson will be seniors in the fall and still have a chance to lower the time even further.

The reality of being part of a national record relay is something that Kube never expected.

“For me, this is not where I thought I would be with these boys,” he said, “but I’m glad it’s where I am. I’m so excited for next year and the three of us being juniors is crazy.”

This is also the second national DMR title that the group of Kitchen, Kube, Doddington and Tostenson have won together, winning the Nike Indoor Nationals DMR (10:00.06) in March.

Doddington and Tostenson have been a part of all four nationals titles earned by the Crater contingent over the last two years, and both considered the New Balance DMR title as their favorite. Tyrone Gorze, Aidan Chenoweth and Jeffrey Hellmann were also a part of the previous championship relays.

“I just think it’s crazy that we’re consistently at the top in this race,” said Doddington, “and I feel like there’s a lot of teams that can go up and down but (Crater track and field coach Justin Loftus) has coached us that consistency is key.”

Echoed Tostenson: “That itself is truly an honor, because there’s not many people that can say they were a part of four national titles and have a national record. For me, that’s a huge indicator to our prosperity, dedication to the sport.”

The New Balance Championships will also mark the last meet of the 2023-24 season for the Comets, according to Loftus.

The Comets took part in multiple national championships in both the cross country and track and field seasons, and a successful year is now in the rearview mirror.

“There was no discussion of records or winning it all,” said Loftus. “Rather it was doing our jobs and taking our moments this year and putting it all together.”

“It was super emotional for all of them,” he added. “And it’s a lot of ups and downs — mostly ups — throughout the year, to see them come out on top in Philadelphia is truly inspiring.”