Edward Cheserek has been running fantastic times for the past two years, but the junior from St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) notched his first national high school track record on Saturday during the 105th Millrose Games at the Armory in New York City.
The native of Kenya placed eighth in the 5,000-meter run against older, elite runners, but his brilliant time of 13:57.04 established a national prep record. The previous record of 14:06.78 was set only one year ago by Lukas Verzbicas, who graduated after his junior year of high school to attend college.
Ajee Wilson, a senior from Neptune (N.J.), placed fourth against older, elite entries in the women's 800-meter run in 2:04.13, which is No. 2 all-time for preps.
Samantha Nadel of North Shore (Glen Head, N.Y.) won the girls mile in 4:46.19 for the second year in a row, while Zavon Watkins of Liverpool (N.Y.) used a strong finishing kick to capture the boys mile in 4:13.83.
National 500-meter record holder Strymar Livingston of Columbus (Bronx, N.Y.) also ran against the elites and finished sixth in 1:03.39. His record is 1:01.68.
*State champion Maggie Drazba, a junior from St. Marys (W. Va.), placed second in the junior women's 6K during the USATF Cross Country Championships in St. Louis, Mo. She was timed in 21:07.7.
In the junior men's 8K, the top prep runner was Darren Fahy of La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), who finished seventh in 25:09.2.
