MIHS Senior Owen Powell Sets National Record Winning Woodbridge Cross Country Classic

Mercer Island, WA, September 23, 2024 – Mercer Island High School senior cross country runner Owen Powell won the Doug Speck Sweepstakes race at the Woodbridge Cross County Classic at Great Park in Irvine, California, on Saturday with a national record breaking time.

Powell was neck-and-neck with Josiah Tostenson from Crater, Oregon as they came to the finish line. Powell pulled out the win with a time of 13:30.3 to Tostenson’s 13:30.5, which are the two fastest times ever recorded on a 3-mile high school cross country course.

Sophia Rodriguez, a sophomore at MIHS, and Victoria Rodriguez, a senior at MIHS, both competed at the Woodbridge Classic in the Bob Day Sweepstakes race. Sophia finished in seventh with a time of 15:47.5 and Victoria finished tenth with a time of 16:08.6.

Watch Interview with Owen after his win

Boys – Doug Speck Sweepstakes Results

Girls – Bob Day Sweepstakes Results 

At the end of the 2023-24 school year Powell was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Washington Boys Track & Field Player of the Year. Powell is the first Gatorade Washington Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Mercer Island High School.

Last year Powell set a state record in the 800-meter run at the Portland Track Festival with a time of 1:48.60, shaving more than two seconds off his personal best which ranked him No. 4 nationally among prep competitors in the spring. His second-place finish of 4:02.04 last year in the mile at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays ranked No. 8 nationally in 2024, while his top 3200-meter run (8:41.03) at the Arcadia Invitational ranked No. 11.

Powell won the Washington 3A State Championship in the 1,600-meter run in 2023 and 2024. He also won 3A State Championship in Cross Country and the 800-meter run in 2024.