Clayton Young. And maybe Conner Mantz. Young squeezed every bit out of his body but I think the miles just catch up. Mantz is younger but flogs himself so maybe running out of time
Jenna Hutchins. Left HS a semester early. Mistake. BTW- That wasn't allowed in my HS or ANY of my friends, relatives, co-workers HS. . Chose BYU (not LDS) and has been injured 80% of her 4 years there. Never heard of any one in my life (age 58), that "injured."
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I was at a High School Footlocker race in CA years ago. Guy next to me (I'm 5'8" female) was in workout clothes. Tiny guy- 5'6" at most. I later found out it was Conner. Wow- is was slight! Im surprised he can run so fast, but I guess Prefontaine SHORT too
I have a feeling Nuguse's 1500 career is in its waning days. He was only #4 fastest in the US in the 1500 last year and placed fifth at nationals. He underperformed at Millrose this past weekend.
Whatever happened at the World Championships last fall, Hocker is just plain better. And Jonah Koech was more impressive than any other American in 2025 (Diamond league win + nationals win + World Championships finalist + #2 1500m time among Americans).
Strand and Kessler didn't look good at Millrose, but at their best I believe they clearly are capable of going toe to toe with Nuguse. Maybe Nuguse can still beat them in Diamond league-style races. For now. But I doubt he will ever beat them again in an unrabbited outdoor race.
Given his blend of speed and strength Colin Sahlman is due for a major breakthrough in the 1500/mile and will soon establish himself as a top-tier US runner in the event. I am on record predicting he will break 3:30 this year, and I stand by that. He entertains the idea he is an 800 runner, but this is absurd. In the course of his career, I believe he will have more success in the 5000 than in the 800. And I say this as someone who believes he will run 1:43 this year.
Nuguse is still definitively better than the next tier of young runners -- Gary Martin, Nathan Green, Liam Murphy, Marco Langon, Abel Teffra, Joe Waskom -- but going forward who knows. Martin ran a 3:48 mile last year (same time Nuguse just ran at Millrose) and placed top 10 last fall in the NCAA cross country meet--a big improvement in his endurance. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him dip under 3:30 this year. Murphy is a 3:33.02 guy who placed top 10 at both NCAA XC in 2024 and USA cross country nationals two months ago. I assume he will move up to the 5K/10K but we shall see.
Josh Hoey had the fastest 1500 time by any American in 2025 and will be dangerous in this event if he chooses to run it.
In short, there is a ton of competition. The young guns are closing in, and closing in fast. Meanwhile, Nuguse is looking less like a super dangerous 3:27/3:43 guy and more like a pretty good but not great 3:30/3:46 guy.
I do think, however, Nuguse could do well in a championship-style 5000 and I hope he moves up.
Does anyone have more insight into Nuguse's training? I can't help but feel like he's reached his peak and can't get much faster because he just doesn't have enough of a base under him. From the limited information I've seen, it seems like he does a lot of really fast speed work, but less threshold style stuff compared to Jakob's style of training and even people like Cole Hocker. I know a lot of people here have said something similar too
Another big one is going to be Hoppel. Twice 1:47 this indoor season.
1) Hoey 2) Lutkenhaus and 3) Sahlman / Brazier / Miller is going to be the next team.
Lutkenhaus will beat Hoey
I wouldn't be so sure of it just yet. Hoey, if doesn't do any hot-headed stuff, will be the man to beat. 1:42.50 indoors indicates outdoor WR ballpark while Lutkenhaus is yet to replicate his last years performance.
Ollie got lucky with his team medal, now would be a good time to accept it’s done or move up a distance or something cause his own individual performance level in middle distance is not there anymore. How him and stewie lived off past performance for so long is crazy