Track kings: Creekside's Christian Miller, Nease's Rheinhardt Harrison race to USATF title

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, Christian Miller is now atop the nation's high school track scene.

Rheinhardt Harrison also rushed for gold out west to make it a St. Johns County double.

Creekside rising senior Miller raced the fourth-fastest wind-legal high school 100-meter dash time on record on his way to victory in Saturday's USA Track & Field U-20 Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Then, barely 24 hours later, he repeated the feat in the 200 to complete a sprint sweep at the national meet for the nation's fastest junior athletes.

Harrison also brought home Sunday's championship in the men's 1,500, meaning that of the seven flat-course running events at the national junior track meet, athletes from St. Johns County now own three — more than 40 percent.

Sprinter rockets into national elite

Miller, who had run 10.31 at the boys 100 at May's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A championships at the University of North Florida, demolished his personal best in Oregon.

Racing out of lane 4, he built blistering momentum by the second half of the race, crossed the line in 10.06 seconds, three-hundredths of a second clear of Tyler Azcano. From the halfway mark onward, he completed the final 50 meters in 4.15 seconds.

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On Sunday night, he followed up with more of the same in the 200. He turned on the acceleration in the final 50 to set a new wind-legal personal best of 20.51, an 0.14-second margin of victory over University of Nebraska freshman Garrett Kaalund.

Coming off a 200-meter championship at last month's New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, Miller, who also owns a pair of FHSAA titles in the 200, has smashed his way into national elite territory.

His 10.06 would have been fast enough for a fifth-place finish among nationwide competitors at all ages in Friday's men's 100 final. It's also 0.15 seconds faster than the 10.21 that Stanton graduate Kendal Williams ran to win the World Junior Championship in the 100 in 2014, at the same site.

Among wind-legal times, Miller's 10.06 now places him fourth all-time among high school runners in USA Track & Field 100-meter records. Trentavis Friday of Cherryville (N.C.) High ran 10 seconds flat on July 5, 2014, while Jeff Demps of Groveland South Lake ran 10.01 on June 28, 2008, both also held in Eugene. On June 10, Montverde Academy's Issam Asinga ran 10.02 on his home track during the Star Athletics Sprint Series, although Asinga has been timed as low as 9.83 in wind-aided races.

Miller also vaults to the top as the fastest wind-legal 100 for a high school junior in USATF records.

Saturday's performance is likely to further build the buzz surrounding Miller, ranked this summer by MileSplit as the No. 1 boys track recruit nationwide in the 2024 recruiting class.

Nease's Harrison captures 1,500 title

During his high school career at Nease, Harrison won just about every distance running honor available on the track.

On Sunday, he added a national junior trophy, winning the 1,500-meter at the USATF U-20 championships.

Harrison, who became Florida's first-ever high school four-minute miler in June 2022, waited patiently before turning on the acceleration on the final lap of the 1,500. He crossed in 3:48.30 for the national title, nearly two full seconds ahead of runner-up Tayson Echohawk.

A three-time FHSAA champion in cross country with state track titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 to his name, Harrison completed the final 300 meters in 39.84 seconds.

Harrison, who just completed his sophomore year at Oregon, showed no signs of fatigue, even though he had run the 1,500 at the full national championships three days earlier. He had placed fifth in a tightly-bunched heat on that occasion, coming less than a second away from qualifying for the final of the USATF meet against seasoned adult professionals.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Christian Miller: Creekside runner wins USATF junior track & field 100