The last day of a major championship always has enough surprises for many. Some athletes overcome obstacles, some add obstacles, some forget how to race, some, for the first time, remember.
We saw the culmination of months of work preparing for the event and a season of training, built on several seasons of training, to run, jump, and throw with the very, very best in the nation!
Here is what we saw on Day 4:
- Mariah Maxwell ran 22.84, a performance that gave her the #4 in high school history and US leader in 2026. Mariah’s time was the second fastest in meet history, just behind the 22.81 MR! In second place? Mia Maxwell, who would win the triple jump that very day!
- Four days, four wins for Marcelo Mantecon! On Thursday, Marcelo won the 5,000m, on Friday, the 2 mile , on Saturday, Marcelo anchored the DMR, and on Sunday, the mile in 4:00.66, giving him four big wins at NIN. On Friday, Marcelo told NSAF’s Paul Limmer and RBR’s Larry Eder, “I love to race!” And that, he did.
Coach Paul Limmer with Marcelo Mantecon. Paul is a long-time NSAF board member, and Marcelo won 4/4 at the 2026 NIN, photo by Larry Eder /RunBlogRun - Jake Odey-Jordan just flew around the 200-meter track in 20.72! That was the number 9 all-time U.S., garnered Jake the win, and had fans whooping it up! Jake had also run the 60 meters!
- The Girl’s Championship Mile pitted Braelyn Combe against Ellery Lincoln. Braelyn ran the 800 meters in 2:25, which was very slow for this crowd. Braylyn began to run, and those long, strong legs dominated the last 800 meters, running 2:12.7 for the last half of the race, finishing in 4:38.18, the #3 time in meet history! In the second, Ellery Lincoln kept it a very close race!
- Dillon Mitchell goes fast, lists real fast. Dillon ran 6.67 in the 60 meters, the fourth-best time in meet history. Dillon ran a wind-aided 9.98 for the 100 meters last weekend (5.69 wind) and, then, a legal 10.19. And Dillon is sixteen years old!
- One final note: watch for our final indoor season newsletter, #25, next week, with great wrap-ups of NIN and World Indoors!
