Annual showcase brings nation’s top high school milers to St. Louis on Thursday, June 5

St. Louis (May 13, 2025) - The chase for fast times and intense competition has always been the draw of HOKA Festival of Miles. While the 2025 edition on June 5 in St. Louis promises much of the same, the head-to-head match-ups are the story this time around, with all-time greats ready to clash in both the girls and boys races.

The fastest female high school milers in U.S. history, Jane Hedengren and Sadie Engelhardt, are set to square off in the HOKA HS Girls Championship Mile.

Engelhardt broke the high school outdoor mile record last year at HOKA Festival of Miles running 4:28.46. Engelhardt broke the record which was set ten minutes earlier by Allie Zealand, who had bested the record by running 4:30.38. Engelhardt, a California native, took it a step further this past indoor season, breaking the high school national record in the mile when she ran 4:27.97 at the Millrose Games.

Hedengren followed up Engelhardt’s record breaking run with her own five weeks later, powering to a 4:26.14 mile victory at Nike Indoor Nationals. Hedengren has etched her name in the high school record books multiple times this season. Besides her mile record, the Utah native also broke the high school and U.S. U20 5000m records with a 15:13.26 effort indoors, following that up by breaking the 5000m records again outdoors with a 14:57.93 effort, in addition to breaking the 3200m and two mile records, clocking 9:30.68 and 9:34.12.

In the HOKA HS Boys Championship Mile, sub-4 milers are the name of the game. The quartet of Owen Powell, Josiah Tostenson, Tayvon Kitchen, and Tommy Latham are all entered and ready to battle.

Powell, who hails from Washington, broke the high school indoor mile record by running 3:56.66, the fourth fastest prep mile time in history for indoors or outdoors. Powell also ran 3:57.74 indoors earlier in the season, while winning the loaded 3200m contest at the Arcadia Invitational in 8:39.82.

Teammates Tostenson and Kitchen from Oregon both eclipsed the four-minute barrier indoors, as well. Tostenson is the fifth fastest prep miler in history with his 3:57.41 clocking, while Kitchen has run 3:59.61. Tostenson placed second to Powell in the Arcadia 3200m contest, while Kitchen set the national high school record in the 3200m a week later by running 8:33.82.

Georgia’s Latham is the only prep to break four minutes outdoors so far, having done so at the Marist Mile when he ran 3:59.79. Latham placed fourth at HOKA Festival of Miles in 2024, running 4:01.78.

Both the girls and boys championship mile races will have pacers, all but guaranteeing a fast pace from the gun. Two-lap standout Derek Holdsworth, who owns an 800m personal best of 1:45.37, will pace the boys race, while multi-event Maltese national record holder Gina McNamara will pace the girls race.

Fans can watch HOKA Festival of Miles in-person at St. Louis University High School, with the event kicking off at 6:15pm (all times Central) and the championship mile races beginning at 8:40pm. For those who can’t make the event in-person, RunnerSpace will once again provide a free webcast of the event, with the broadcast beginning at 6:00am CT.

Stay up-to-date on the HOKA Festival of Miles by visiting www.stlfestivalofmiles.com.