Tostenson anchors Oregon Distance Project to meet-record victory at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia

The buzz coming into Thursday’s opening events at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor was that the boys 4xMile relay record could be in jeopardy at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

While they might not necessarily have been considered the national favorites — Herriman of Utah inherited that nod by a nose with its 16 1/2-minute potential — the Crater High quartet of Preston Schmidt, Maxwell Miracle, Tayvon Kitchen and Josiah Tostenson made sure to do justice to all those pre-race expectations.

Running as part of the Oregon Distance Project, the group ran the third-fastest outdoor 4xMile time in high school history and crushed the meet record with a total winning time of 16 minutes, 54.80 seconds. Newbury Park of California set the all-time record of 16:29.31 in 2022 at the New Balance Nationals Indoor.

“It’s super special,” Tostenson said to Runnerspace.com following the victory. “Coming out here, I knew this was my last relay with the team. That was super sad to think about, but if there’s one thing in my head, I said, I have to deliver and I have to get it done with my squad one more time.”

The win set an Oregon high school record, and marked a season sweep for the foursome in the 4xMile after they teamed to win the New Balance Nationals Indoor title in 16:59.08 this past March.

Lightning in the area forced a lengthy delay before the Oregon Distance Project crew could take the track, but they were more than ready to perform under the lights as they smashed the previous meet record set in 2022 by New Jersey’s Union Catholic (17:12.34).

Then again, when you have one of the greatest high school duos in running history on your side in Tostenson and Kitchen, there’s always a chance at a memorable result.

“It was just a grind,” said Miracle during the team interview. “We all just tried to get good positioning just to set up these two (Kitchen and Tostenson). They know how to finish it off, so I thought our placement definitely worked out well.”

In a switch from the indoor nationals, Schmidt took out on the first mile leg and had no aspirations other than to give his senior teammates a chance.

“Coming in, I really was just happy to run with these guys again before they graduate,” the junior said.

Schmidt took the team out with a 4:23.49 mile, handing the baton off to Miracle with ODP in 10th place.

“There was like two groups that were in front of me once I got the handoff from Preston,” said the sophomore Miracle of his relay leg. “I just went from the first to the second, and then the last lap comes on and I saw that no one was speeding up and I was like, ‘I got this, I’ve got that speed.’”

Miracle closed the group to third place with his 4:18.14 mile, then everyone put their faith in Kitchen being able to battle through a nagging injury caused by a fall last Sunday during the 5,000 meters at the Portland Track Festival.

It was only minutes before the race that Kitchen got the OK from ODP coach Justin Loftus that he would be racing Thursday night.

“(Wednesday) I was doing strides and I couldn’t even run a 30-second 200 (meters),” said Kitchen, who set an all-time record in the 3,000 last February (7:55.48) and boasts sub-four speed in the mile. “I was just not feeling good. This morning when we went out for our shakeout, I couldn’t run our full two miles. I was doing strides and it just wasn’t looking good, but I started feeling better and I was like, ‘Coach, I need to race. I have to do it.’”

By Kitchen’s standards, Thursday’s split certainly wasn’t his best, but it was plenty good enough. Kitchen turned in a time of 4:11.60, which closed the gap between the leading Utah teams of Herriman and American Fork XC and wound up being the third-fastest tour of the night.

“It didn’t feel good, really, for a second, but I knew that I needed to put Josiah into position,” said Kitchen. “When I attached to (second-place runner Kaden Evans of American Fork XC), I was like, ‘I did everything I could do, Josiah, you’re gonna have to close these seconds down.’ I knew that he could do it, though.”

And, oh boy, did he.

Coming off running a 3:36.85 in the 1,500 last Sunday at the Portland Track Festival and an Oregon-record 3:59.00 at the HOKA Festival of Miles a week prior, Tostenson proved his mettle yet again as he easily caught up to leading runners Jackson Spencer (Herriman) and Ryker Bement (American Fork XC).

“I think he set me up perfectly,” Tostenson said in crediting Kitchen. “When he was handing it off, I saw that it was not that big of a gap, at least for me. I felt like that was definitely in my ballpark, and from that point on, I was just like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to close this and I’ve got to get it done.”

“I felt like that was something I needed to get off, especially to cement myself as a great miler,” he added. “You’ve got to be able to close that gap.”

Having seen this situation play out time and again, Kitchen noted during the final leg that once he saw Tostenson pull even, it was over for the Utah runners. Herriman held a five-second lead going into the final mile over ODP, while American Fork was three seconds ahead of the Crater group.

“Jackson Spencer, I love that guy, he’s a great athlete,” said Tostenson of running down the leader, “but right now with where my training has been at and how I’ve been leading up and how I’m finishing, I feel really confident in that last 400 meters. The way I was feeling going into that last (400), I felt like it was definitely in my ballpark. Those guys pushed me — I thought they were going to be right on my back until the very end — so it was stressful.”

Tostenson closed in 4:01.58 compared to Spencer’s 4:10.65, with Bement’s final leg at 4:13.06.

“I’d say my legs were definitely sore and not responding as good as obviously they did at the PTF, but still 4:01 felt pretty easy,” said Tostenson. “I feel like I’m in the shape now where I’m going to go out in the mile and run sub-four every time. Now it’s just trying to knock those seconds off. The PTF was a great showcase of where I’m at, but I’m still hungry for a lot more.”

Herriman finished second in 16:59.28 and American Fork XC was third in 17:03.41, both also under the previous meet record time.

The Oregon Distance Project became just the second school in high school history to have two or more sub-17-minute efforts in the 4xMile. American Fork has accomplished it three times.

“People ask how is Crater able to come and do this every year,” said Tostenson. “It’s the grit, man. Tayvon can attest to that today. He went out there and ran for his brothers. We had to go out there and just trust him and he trusted us, and we just went and got gritty and got it done.”

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035