Thursday Evening Is Made For The Festival Of Miles

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Schedule of events: 

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Illinois kids have a rich history of track and field action in the St. Louis Metro area; in this case, it will be at the venerable St. Louis University HS venue. The 16th edition of the St. Louis Festival of Miles presented by HOKA has become one of the elite post-season destinations in the state, especially in the Midwest.

The action for the Land of Lincoln kids will commence in the Elite girls' mile at 8p. Annika Swan (Jr., Chicago St. Ignatius) enters with a seed time of 4:50.76 from her 3A state runner-up finish. Swan has tremendous closing speed and is very capable of winning this one. She will face a familiar yet former foe, junior Juliet Frum, now of Mountain Vista, Colorado. Before starring in Colorado, Frum was slated as Illinois top returning cross-country runner for Glenbrook North, and she had finished fifth in the 3A 1600m, two slots ahead of Swan.

In the event's only 800m race, Becca Heitzig (Sr., Lincoln) returns to defend her title. Last year, she won a thriller in 2:09.51. The red-hot Elena Rybak (Jr., Father McGivney) recently ran 2:06.96 at the Running Lane Championship. Watch for her and Paige Stuart (Jr., Blue Springs, MO), the top seed, at 2:06.90. Stuart is the top half-miler in her state.

The nation's top half-miler, "Ali" Allison Ince (Sr., Normal Community), will play her hand in the HOKA-sponsored high school girls' mile. Ince ran 4:39.74 for the mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. According to the meet program, this will be a loaded field featuring many of the nation's top milers. 

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