NEW YORK, NEW YORK, March 13–16 — When Mia and Mariah Maxwell achieved their eye-opening 2-3 finish in the women’s 60 at USATF Indoors, with HSR-tying and No. 3 all-time marks of 7.13 and 7.14, it was obviously a landmark moment for them.
However, it also wound up leading to the twins passing up the short dash for their Nike Indoor Nationals seasonal finale (even though Mia wasn’t planning on running at Worlds). Still, sprint and jump fans at The Armory would ultimately get to see the twins in the 200 and Mia in the triple jump.
They got their money’s worth.
On the oval, Mariah improved to No. 4 all-time, blasting a 22.84 and passing her sister’s season-leading 22.89 mark while boosting her own PR from 22.97 (’25). Mia settled for runner-up in the 200 at 23.04 but also captured the TJ with 43-¼.
Even though it was her only event, Mariah had to dig deep to win, and not just to beat her sister. “My legs were starting to get a little tired and I was just trying to break the stagger with (frosh) Melanie [Doggett, 3rd in 23.10], because she’s so talented, and after I got in front of her I just started running for my life.”
For Mia, the scheduling meant she had to run the 200 final prior to her third attempt in the TJ, where she is the No. 2 all-time performer at 44-6 (13.56) from December. She returned to the runway motivated to get a ‘W’ before the day was done — and did so on her penultimate jump. “My coach was like, ‘Calm down, you’ve got this. Just execute and do what we did in practice.’”
While the girls’ side of the Nike Indoor action did not feature any national records, there were a number of other all-time list revisions.
Perhaps the best of those was Blair Bartlett’s performance in the 5000. The Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, New Jersey) star finished runner-up at Nike Cross Nationals in her first harrier campaign, earning a Team USA spot in the World U20 Championships. While it was her track debut at the distance, it seemed certain she could run a time that would place her in the event’s all-time top 10.
That place wound up being No. 3, as the junior battled for 25 laps with Averi Lowen (Bowdoin, Georgia) before a scintillating 31.17 final circuit brought her home in 15:28.07. While the Georgian could not match that, she was still rewarded with 15:32.94, No. 5 all-time.
In Friday’s shot put, Jaslene Massey (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo, California) came in with a new outdoor PR of 52-10¼ but was still an underdog against national leader (53-7½) Addyson Stiverson (Montrose, Michigan). However, it was Briana Davis (Red Oak, Texas) who was leading with a second-round 52-0 (15.85) when Massey came up for her fourth throw. She wound up bypassing the 53s all the way to 54-2¾ (16.53), which held up for the win and No. 6 all-time.
“I’m still shaking… it’s kind of surreal,” she said with a big smile. “[But] I hate losing, so I was expecting to win, and I knew I had to PR to do it.”
Amazingly, Massey’s breakthrough shot triumph was arguably not even the biggest thing she did all weekend. The next day she was home in California continuing an early outdoor season that has already become historic. A 165-6 (50.44) discus thrower in ’25, she has progressed over the past 4 weeks from a pair of 179s to 184-11 (56.36) on March 7. She then added more than 3 feet Saturday at the Irvine Invite for 188-7 (57.48), No. 4 all-time.
Cate Bryant (Memorial, Houston, Texas), who scored 5087 in the heptathlon outdoors last year and won the Nike title, moved to No. 6 all-time in the pentathlon with 3875.
In the 400, Kaddel Howard (Cedar Crest, Lebanon, Pennsylvania) ascended to No. 8 with a 52.65 victory. In the 60H, with her 8.12, Destiny Coleman (Woodlawn, Maryland) now shares the same spot on that ATL with Olympic long hurdles medalist Jasmine Jones.
Without the Maxwells in the 60, none of the championship entrants broke 7.30 and the meet’s fastest times came from the frosh and middle school divisions by Doggett (Landmark, Fairburn, Georgia) and home-schooled 8th-grader Camryn Dailey (Raleigh, North Carolina) at 7.26 and 7.27.
The distances were strong across the board, with Saturday’s 800 being perhaps the most highly anticipated battle featuring last spring’s Nike and New Balance Outdoor champs: Ellie Barada (South, Bloomington, Indiana) and Natalie Dumas (Voorhees, New Jersey). Dumas ran 2:00.11 in ’25 but had clocked just 2:07.73 this winter coming in while Barada had a new 2:03.02 PR (No. 8 all-time).
Dumas immediately went to the front, with 30.07 and 61.52 splits, but with a lap to go, Barada had another gear that her rival did not, and triumphed 2:04.32 to 2:05.50. “In the past races, this indoor season, I haven’t made a decisive-enough move,” she said. “I’ve learned from those races… so I was telling myself during this race, why not just go for it?”
In Friday’s 2M, Lowen tried to capture what had eluded her in the 5K, but Leah Starkey (Ocean Township, Oakhurst, New Jersey), who had missed most of indoor with injury after taking 7th in the Brooks XC nationals last fall, was ready for a massive breakthrough. She PRed by more than 30 seconds with her 9:48.02 while Lowen was again the bridesmaid with 9:52.57.
800 champ Barada came back for Sunday’s mile, but it was another Californian who would not be denied. Braelyn Combe (Santiago, Corona, California) closed in 29.61/62.46 for a 4:38.18, leaving Ellery Lincoln (Lincoln, Portland, Oregon) back at 4:39.98 while Barada was 4th.
Meanwhile, 5K winner Bartlett, with the nation’s best 2M mark coming in, didn’t run another individual event but opted for the DMR. There, she brought her teammates from 6th to 2nd with a 4:33.23 anchor, finishing within 2 seconds of Colorado power Niwot’s winning 11:37.89.
NIKE GIRLS RESULTS
60: 1. **Janessa Brown (Buford, Ga) 7.35; 2. Shiasia Mitchell (Mallard Creek, Charlotte) 7.36; 3. Aster Jones (Roosevelt, Portland) 7.37.
200: 1. Mariah Maxwell (Atascocita, Humble, Tx) 22.84 (4, 5 HS);
2. Mia Maxwell (Atascocita) 23.04; 3. ***Melanie Doggett (Landmark, Fairburn, Ga) 23.11.
400: 1. Kaddel Howard (Cedar Crest, Lebanon, Pa) 52.65 (8, 9 HS);
2. *Taylor-Nicole Overton (Vero Beach, Fl) 53.23; 3. Ataje Stephane-Vazquez (SE Guilford, Greensboro, NC) 53.66.
800: 1. Ellie Barada (South, Bloomington, In) 2:04.32; 2. Natalie Dumas (Eastern, Voorhees, NJ) 2:05.30; 3. **Olivia Solomon (New Rochelle) 2:07.11.
Mile: 1. Braelyn Combe (Santiago, Corona, Ca) 4:38.18; 2. *Ellery Lincoln (Lincoln, Portland) 4:39.98; 3. *Abigail Anstett (Visitation, Washington, DC 4:43.72; 4. Barada 4:43.96.
2M: 1. **Leah Starkey (Ocean Township, Oakhurst, NJ) 9:48.02 (8, 8 HS);
2. *Averi Lowen (Bowdoin, Ga) 9:52.57; 3. Addy Ritzenhein (Niwot, Co) 10:05.07.
5000: 1. *Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville, NJ) 15:28.07 (3,3 HS);
2. Lowen 15:32.94 (5, 5 HS);
3. Katie Berkshire (Gaylord, Mi) 16:37.96.
60H: 1. Destiny Coleman (Woodlawn, Md) 8.12 (=8, =11 HS);
2. Aaliyah Turpin (Smyrna, De) 8.22; 3. **Nia Armstrong (Sickles, Tampa) 8.30; 4. Naomi Booker (Tomball, Tx) 8.35.
MileW:1. *Maya Piesik’ (Can) 7:05.34;2. Samantha Benson-Tyler (Schreiber, Port Washington) 7:05.37; 3. *Madigan White (Newfield) 7:38.67.
Relay Evemts
4 x 200: 1. McNamara, Forestville, Md 1:39.03; 2. Woodlawn 1:39.93; 3. Independence, Charlotte 1:40.22.
4×400: 1. McNamara 3:45.64; 2. Western, Baltimore 3:51.69; 3. Banneker, Brooklyn 3:53.16.
4 x 400(mixed): 1. Minisink Valley, Slate Hill 3:38.06; 2. Warwick Valley, Warwick 3:38.68; 3. Spartansburg, SC 3:38.99.
4 x 800: 1. Visitation 9:06.25; 2. Central Bucks East, Doylestown, Pa 9:08.22; 3. Cornwall Central, New Windsor 9:12.23.
4 x Mile: 1. Haddonfield, NJ 20:58.00; 2. Niwot 21:08.02; 3. Spotswood, Penn Laird, Va 21:17.44.
SpMed: 1. Ursuline 3:56.73 (Hickey 2:03.57); 2. New Rochelle 3:57.41; 3. South Lakes, Reston, Va 3:59.08
DisMed: 1. Niwot 11:37.89; 2. Lawenceville 11:40.00; 3. South Lakes 11:51.47.
4 x 55H: 1. Heritage, Lynchburg, Va 33.43.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Nia Harrison (Greenhill, Addison, Tx) 5-11½; 2. *Bailey Hensgens (Ritter, St Louis) 5-11½.
PV: 1. Izzy Robbins (Grand Haven, Mi) 13-8¼; 2. Addison Kleinke (Churchill, Eugene) 13-4¼; 3. Renata Bergstrom (Cherry Creek, Englewood, Co) 13-¼.
LJ: 1. **Parker Coes (Morton Ranch, Katy, Tx) 20-4¼; 2. Brown 20-2¼; 3. Madison Cuplin (Marble Falls, Tx) 19-9¾.
TJ: 1. Mia Maxwell 43-¼; 2. Hensgens 42-4¼; 3. Laine McKenzie (Cedarcrest, Duvall, Wa) 41-6½; 4. Cuplin 41-5¼.
SP: 1. Jaslene Massey (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Ca) 54-2¾ (6 HS); 2. *Briana Davis (Red Oak, Tx) 52-0; 3. *Addyson Stiverson (Montrose, Mi) 48-4½.
Wt: 1. Vanessa Jones (Toll Gate, Warwick, RI) 59-5; 2. Kimberly Beard (King’s, Seattle) 59-4¾; 3. Ainsley Cuthbertson (Lexington, Ma) 56-8¾.
Pent: 1. *Cate Bryant (Memorial, Houston) 3875 (6,8 HS);
2. Chiora Enyinna-Okeigbo (Sunnyvale, Tx) 3746; 3. Caroline Perri (Ryan, Nashville) 3650.
