Boys District 1 Recap

The District 1 distance events delivered strong performances across the board, with fast times, breakout races, and a few surprises. While weather conditions impacted the 4x800 earlier in the week, the rest of the meet ran in favorable conditions—setting the stage for standout showings in the 1600, 800, and 3200.

4x800: 

Regional Qualifiers: Westerville North, Olentangy Orange, Hilliard Bradley, Thomas Worthington

It seems like inclaments in the weather led to slower than usual performances from the top teams. While Westerville North and Olentangy Orange both had low 7:50 performances logged, neither broke 8:00, with Westerville North beating Orange by a few seconds. The other two qualifiers were Hilliard Bradley and Thomas Worthington, who qualified with times of 8:14 and 8:15.

1600:

Regional Qualifiers: Matthew Schroff, Jacob Reash, Casey Carlos, Anton Shishlo

Well, it seemed like Matthew Schroff decided that districts was the day that he would go all out in the 1600. With several of the top runners in the region and state doubling after the 1600, those races may go tactical, meaning that Schroff may not have had a chance to improve on his personal best. His solo 4:08.16 performance is the current U.S. #40, and gave him a handy victory.

After Schroff, we saw Jacob Reash put on a standout performance at districts for the second year in a row, dropping his personal best to a 4:14 and upsetting Casey Carlos. Carlos finished third, followed by Anton Shishlo at 4:22 to claim the final region qualifying spot. Sid Sivakumar and Griffin Ley finished on the outside looking in for regionals, both at 4:28. 

800:

Regional Qualifiers: Gabe Wise, Matthew Schroff, Evan Graessle, Dylan Willis

After his all out 1600, Schroff was clearly fatigued, leading to him being upset for first place. Gabe Wise was the District 1 800 champion with a time of 1:54.49, followed by Schroff at 1:56.47 and Evan Graessle at 1:56.65. Claiming the last regional spot as I predicted was Dylan Willis with a time of 1:57.68, a new open personal best. Outside of those four qualifiers, Noah Kemp and Jonah Hein each ran 1:58, and Jacob Reash and Phyel Richardson both ran 1:59. 

3200:

Regional Qualifiers: Jeffery Kerns, Jacob Bolton, Bradyn Allender, Charles Rizek

Unsurprisingly, the four qualifiers were Kerns, Bolton, Allender, and Rizek, although I didn’t quite get the order correct in my preview article. Jeffery Kerns Claimed the district title in 9:16, followed by Jacob Bolton in 9:20, Bradyn Allender in 9:22, and Charles Rizek in 9:29. Outside of the obvious qualifiers, the next four finishers were sophomores that broke 10:00, including Willis Guard-Batchelder, Ben Canales, Rishi Jha, and Greg Kerns. 

With districts in the books, the regional stage is set. The qualifiers from District 1 have proven they can handle pressure and adverse conditions—now it’s time to see who can step up again and keep their state dreams alive.