Thursday's
Festival of Miles competition boasted a slew of competitive racers, including
some top runners from Iowa. Camden Cox, a
junior from Ankeny Centennial, had a fifth-place finish in the High School Boy's
Elite Development Mile with a time of 4:17.61.
This mile time beats Cox's personal best in the 1600m by nearly 5
seconds. Ryan Murphy, another Iowa
runner, also competed at the Festival of Miles, placing seventh in the Big
River Running High School Boys Mile Championship. The Linn-Mar alum and University of Arkansas
prep ran his mile with a time of 4:12.46, smashing his previous mile personal
best of 4:21.05, a time he ran at last year's Festival of Miles race. Along
with this great race, Murphy won the 1600 at the Iowa State High School Track
and Field Championships this May, and earlier this spring at the Drake Relays. Iowa
also boasted some younger runners in the Children's Hospital Junior High
Invitational Girls Mile, with Aubrey Scott from Pleasant Hill Middle School
placing eighth with a time of 5:33.42 and Ainsley Erzen from Carlisle taking
home the gold with a time of 5:12.60.
Ainey Akok of Ames was the champion of the Boys Junior High Mile with an exceptional time of
4:36.24.