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The 2026 HOKA Festival of Miles is taking place in St. Louis, Missouri and one senior from Utah, Jackson Spencer, just ran the 5th-fastest mile time of any high schooler in U.S. history. It came during a blazing fast heat where three runners all ran sub-4 minute miles.
Alan Webb holds the U.S. mile record among high schoolers with a 3:53.43 mile back in 2001. Colin Sahlman has the third fastest with a time of 3:56.24 back in 2022. Owen Powell of Mercer Island, WA moved onto the leader board last year with the 4th fastest time at 3:56.66 (indoor). And now Jackson Spencer is just a fraction of a second behind him in 5th place.
Utah High School Senior Jackson Spencer Runs 5th Fastest Mile Time In HS History
At the Saint Louis University High School (SLUH) Track & Field Complex where the HOKA Festival of Miles 2026 is being held, Jackson Spencer of Herriman, Utah ran a time of 3:57.24, a record for this meet. Incredibly, two other runners in the heat ran sub-4 minute miles. Carter Smith from Mifflin County, PA ran 3:59.00 and Brian Burns from Bentonville, AR ran 3:59.70.
Here is the race in action:
This was Jackson Spencer’s fastest mile in competition to date. His previous best, according to his Athletic.net results, was 3:58.17 back on April 24th at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays meet. Jackson Spencer’s 1600M time for this event in Saint Louis came out to 3:55.63, a personal best for him.
According to DyeStat.com, going into this race Jackson Spencer had told himself that if he was within range of touching Alan Webb’s 25-year-old high school mile record with 400 meters to go he would push himself all out in pursuit of the record. He ultimately fell short of the all-time HS mile record but 5th all time is pretty, pretty incredible.
A Historical Night
On the women’s side, Junior Ellery Lincoln from Oregon ran the 3rd-fastest mile time in women’s U.S. high school history. She ran a 4:27.65 which is the fastest time ever for a Junior and the 3rd fastest overall.
Here is Ellery Lincoln making history on Thursday night in St. Louis:
For context, Faith Kipygon of Kenya holds the women’s mile world record with a time of 4:07.64. This American high schooler from Oregon, a Junior (!!), is 20 seconds off of the world record. The future is bright for American Track and Field.