High School 300 Record Holder Mariah Maxwell Leads Incredibly Deep Field; Mia Maxwell To Double In 60, Triple Jump; Dumas, Hickey, Barada Clash In 600; NXN Podium Rematch In Nike Mile

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

RunnerSpace/John Nepolitan photos

WATCH THE MILLROSE GAMES LIVE JAN. 30 & FEB. 1 ON RUNNERSPACE+

High school track and field's biggest stars take centerstage in New York City Friday Jan. 30 and Sunday Feb. 1 for the 118th Millrose Games at The Armory.

Here is an event-by-event breakdown on the girls side:

(Start times are Eastern Standard Time)

Friday, Jan. 30

Girls Invitational Weight Throw – 7 pm

Another top two match up – Ainsley Cuthbertson (Lexington MA) and Taylor McGiness (Smithfield RI) – follows the boys competition to close out day one.

Cuthbertson brings her US#1 mark of 57-9.75 (17.62m) and 8-1 season record to The Armory for the first time. Cuthbertson has improved her mark by over 10 feet from her junior season when she threw 47-1.50 (14.36m).

Cuthbertson’s only loss this season is to McGiness, who threw her US#2 56-10 in her season opener against Cuthbertson at the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 27. McGiness is one of two returning competitors from last year’s Millrose Games, finished 10th overall. Julia Smith (Port Richmond NY), ninth, is the other.

Sunday, Feb. 1

Girls NYAC Invitational Pole Vault – 11:41 am

Addison Kleinke (Churchill OR) will make her Armory debut after clearing a US#1 14-1 (4.30) to win the elite high school title at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno on Jan. 17.

Kleinke is the only entry in this year’s Millrose field that has had multiple clearances over 14 feet in her career (three) and will be targeting Hana Moll’s meet record of 14-7.25 (4.45m).

Elise Schroeder (Arrowhead WI), second to Kleinke at the Pole Vault Summit, brings in a personal best clearance of 13-8.5 (4.18m), which she made to win last summer’s Nike Outdoor Nationals title by beating Kleinke by four inches. Schroeder’s best clearance this winter is 13-3 (4.05m).

Girls Cleary Gottlieb Invitational 300m – 1:08 pm

No race is deeper in the high school competition than the girls invitational 300, which will feature eight of the top 10 nationally ranked athletes among three sections.

Newly-minted 300 high school record holder Mariah Maxwell (Humble Atascocita TX) will aim to lower her time of 36.24 from the VA Showcase, facing Sophie Rambo (Grassfield VA), Ataja Stephane-Vazquez (Southeast Guilfoed NC), Maya Arrendell (Bullis MD) and Kennedy Brown (Bullis MD). Maxwell is also slated to race in the professional 60 later in the evening.

Rambo, who finished third in last year’s 300 race, enters Sunday’s race with a national record to her name, too, in the 500 from the VA Showcase, running 1:10.07. She also won the open 300 in a personal best and US#4 37.45.

Stephane-Vazquez, eighth last year, has seen big improvements in the 300, lowering her junior time of 38.47 to 36.93 in her senior season, earning her current US#2 ranking. However, Rambo got the better of Stephane-Vazquez at the VA Showcase, winning by .14 seconds.

Arrendell has made early waves in her young career, establishing a new freshman class record 37.42 in the 300, good for US#3. Arrendell also ran 6.92 in the 60 and 23.75 in the 200, both ranked top 10 nationally, too.

Brown rounds out the top five in the country with her time of 38.00, which she ran at the Jim Mitchell Invitational on Dec. 20 to finish second to her teammate Arrendell.

The other top 10 nationally ranked athletes competing are Breanne Barnett (Baldwin NY), Rhia Randolph (West Orange NJ), Taylor-Nicole Overton (Vero Beach Senior FL) and Kassidy Hopkins (Bullis MD).

Brooke Llyod, US#2 in the 400, and middle school stars Camryn Dailey and Morgan Doggett are entered, too.

Girls Joan & Don Young Invitational 600m – 1:27 pm

Elite 800 runners Natalie Dumas (Eastern Senior NJ), Jane Hickey (Ursuline School NY) and Ellie Barada (Bloomington South IN) will all step down in distance to challenge the top 10 all-time list for the 600.

New Balance Nationals Outdoor 800 champion Dumas expects to be on the track after scratching late from the 500 at the VA Showcase. Dumas has raced once at The Armory this indoor season, running a US#2 2:07.73 at the U.S. Marine Corps Holiday Classic. This will be her first ever 600.

Hickey has the nation’s fastest 600 this season, posting 1:28.68 at the Molloy Stanner Games on Jan. 11, which ranks No. 6 all-time in high school history. Hickey is also top 10 in the country in the 400, 500 and 1,000.

Barada, last year’s runner-up in the 600 in 1:29.83, will race her second 600 of the season after having run a US#3 1:30.44 at the Misfits Invite on Jan. 18. Barada is the reigning Nike Outdoor Nationals 800 champion.

In addition to those three, Charlize-Trinity McKenzie (Cedarburg WI) is another to watch out for given her recent success. Currently US#2, McKenzie ran 1:30.23 at the Mondo Invitational on Jan. 17, dropping nearly four seconds off her previous best from her junior campaign.

Girls Allison Kohlberg Invitational 60m – 1:42 pm

Two of the fastest girls 60 times in high school history were ran at last year’s Millrose Games and one of them is back in 2026.

Freshman Melanie Doggett turned heads last year when she ran 7.17 seconds as an eighth grader in the girls invitational section, moving her to third on the all-time indoor list. The only person to beat Doggett was current University of Georgia freshman Lisa Raye, who broke the high school record in 7.13.

Doggett will not only be a favorite to win this year’s race but perhaps take a crack at lowering Raye’s record time. Doggett ran her first 60 of the indoor season Dec. 20 at the The Galleria Games in a US#2 7.29 but has done longer races since, including a 300 at the VA Showcase in 37.08.

Doggett’s competition, Mia Maxwell, is no slouch though. Maxwell has also ran 7.29 this season and has the fastest 200 time in the country at 22.89. Maxwell finished third to Doggett in last year’s Millrose race by .07 seconds.

Girls Debevoise & Plimpton Invitational 60m Hurdles – 1:58 pm

Kassidy Hopkins (Bullis MD) and Destiny Coleman (Woodlawn MD) both posted the top two times in the country at the VA Showcase, running 8.22 and 8.29, respectively.

They will revisit that 60 hurdles race at Millrose, but this time around, they’ll both face US#3 Jasmine Robinson.

Robinson was an unstoppable force over the short and long hurdles during the outdoor scene last spring and summer, running 13.22 in the 100 hurdles and 39.81 in the 300 hurdles. This indoor season, Robinson has added the 60 hurdles to her arsenal, running a personal best 8.36 at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational to win by over three tenths-of-a-second.

Nia Armstrong (Sickles FL) and Naomi Booker (Tomball TX) are another pair of contenders. Armstrong is US#5 in 7.40 and Booker is US#6 in 7.43.

Girls Blue Owl Invitational 4x800m Relay – 2:04 pm

IMG Academy made it look easy when their team ran a US#1 9:06.93 at the VA Showcase to win by over 10 seconds. That won’t be the case this weekend.

IMG Academy will rehash last year’s electric race with Union Catholic NJ, where IMG won in 8:55.47 to 8:58.48. IMG Academy went onto break the national record a month later at New Balance Nationals Indoor in 8:46.04.

Girls Columbia Doctors Invitational Triple Jump – 2:16 pm

With a 60 already under her belt, Mia Maxwell will be warmed up and ready to go to try and better her US#1 44-6 (13.56m) in the triple jump. It will be her first triple jump competition since establishing the second-best mark in high school history in early-December.

US#3 Alexis Brown (Bullis MD), US#4 Laine McKenzie (Cedarcrest WA), US#8 Brooklyn Lyttle (Elizabeth Seton MD) and US#9 Karis Nartey (Allen TX) all bring in marks over 40-8 into Sunday’s field.

Lyttle (sixth) and Morgan Holley (Union Catholic NJ, seventh) are the only returning long jump competitors from last year’s Millrose entered in the triple jump.

Girls KPMG Invitational 4x400m Relay – 3:17 pm

Motor City MI and Winslow Township NJ are the top-returning teams from last year’s invitational section and will welcome nationally ranked Dudley NC, Elizabeth Seton MD and Western MD to this year’s field.

Winslow Township brings in a US#2 3:49.68, which qualified them for Millrose after winning the Millrose Games Trials on Jan. 7.

Girls Nike Invitational Mile – 3:36 pm

The storyline surrounds the top three finishers at Nike Cross Nationals: Natasza Dudek (Ann Arbor Pioneer MI), Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville NJ) and Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake CA).

Williams and Dudek met a week prior in Boston at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where Williams ran three seconds faster than Dudek, 4:41.55 to 4:44.86, in their first mile races of the season.

This will be Bartlett’s first race since competing for the U.S. U20 team at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, finishing 16th overall as the top American. Bartlett owns a mile personal best of 4:39.63.

Abigail Hennessy (Westford Academy MA) brings in the top mile time from the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix race in 4:40.87, six seconds off her personal best of 4:34.69 from last summer at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. Hennessy is also US#1 in the 3,000 in 9:15.79.

Chiara Dailey (La Jolla CA) and Ellery Lincoln (Lincoln OR) are another pair of sub-4:40 milers, each running 4:39.