HOKA NAZ Elite standout Nichols becomes first female competitor to win both elite mile races in same year, helping six athletes to sub-4:30 efforts; PUMA Elite’s Kemboi shines in new home in North Carolina, leading six sub-4 male efforts

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

On a night when there were matching achievements of six male athletes running sub-4 miles and a half-dozen female competitors producing sub-4:30 performances Friday at the 10th edition of the Sir Walter Miler, it was only fitting that Abby Nichols accomplished her own unique distance double.

Nichols, representing HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, became the first female athlete to win both the Sir Walter Miler and HOKA Festival of Miles elite women’s races in the same year.

Nichols covered the final 440 yards in 64.34 seconds, surging past HOKA NAZ Elite teammate Krissy Gear, along with former Colorado teammate and Oiselle competitor Madie Boreman in the final 60 meters to prevail in 4:26.80 at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C.

Nichols, who joined men’s winner Amon Kemboi of the North Carolina-based PUMA Elite as champions, became the eighth female performer in meet history to run under 4:27.

RESULTS | EVENT VIDEOS | PHOTOS by Natasha Swanson

Gear, who closed in 64.56, ran 4:27.51 and Boreman achieved a lifetime-best 4:27.71 to take third after leading with 100 meters remaining.

Nichols ran a personal-best 4:26.08 on June 1 at the HOKA Festival of Miles at St. Louis University High in Missouri, holding off Gear in 4:26.52. The women’s elite mile was first added to the HOKA Festival of Miles meet schedule in 2021, replacing the professional 800 meters.

Laurie Barton of the Brooks Beasts Track Club finished fourth Friday in a personal-best 4:28.37, including a 64.83-second final lap.

Katie Wasserman, teammates with Nichols and Gear at HOKA NAZ Elite, placed fifth in a lifetime-best 4:28.89.

Katie Camarena, a former standout at UC Santa Barbara and Portland State, also eclipsed the 4:30 barrier for the first time in her career with a sixth-place effort in 4:29.75.

Jenn Randall, representing Tracksmith, just missed joining the group of sub-4:30 athletes, but did run a personal-best 4:30.23 to secure seventh.

The six sub-4:30 competitors equaled the second-highest total in meet history, along with 2016. A record nine female performers running under 4:30 is still the women’s standard from 2021.

Kemboi pulled away from the lead group in the final 200 meters, covering the last lap in 56.59 seconds to triumph in 3:57.84.

Ben Allen, representing Empire Elite Track Club, achieved a personal-best 3:58.19 to place second.

Dan Schaffer of On Zap Endurance took third in 3:58.57.

Jesse Hunt, an Australian athlete who competed at North Carolina, finished fourth in 3:58.93.

Ryan Adams of Furman Elite, now competing internationally for Mexico, was fifth in 3:59.44.

Andy Bayer, 33, achieved his first sub-4 effort since 2017 by securing sixth in 3:59.54.

Craig Nowak, a former Oklahoma State athlete, just missed joining the group by clocking 4:00.76 to grab seventh.

It marked the seventh consecutive year of the event that at least six male athletes eclipsed the 4-minute barrier.

Erasmo Ordonez of Louisburg College prevailed in the Coaches Clash mile race in 4:44.63.

Laboratory Run Club, based in Raleigh, triumphed in the mixed 4x400-meter relay in 3:49.38.