Elite Running Invitational to Take Place on Saturday, August 14 at the Newly Renovated James T. Kalperis Track, Falmouth High School; Runners Competing for $25,000 Prize Purse
Falmouth, MA (July 29, 2021) – Falmouth Road Race, Inc., organizers of the Falmouth Elite Mile, an invitational mile open to male sub-4:00 and female sub-4:40-min mile runners, today announced the fields for its 25th running. The field is led by Craig Engels, the returning two-time men’s champion, and Helen Schlactenhaufen, the 2018 women’s runner-up. The Falmouth Elite Mile will take place on Saturday, August 14 at 3:00PM, during the Falmouth Track Festival, presented by ASICS, at the newly renovated James T. Kalperis Track at Falmouth High School. This year’s $25,000 prize purse is thanks to a generous sponsorship from the TCHS Mile sponsor, the Cochary-Gross family.
In 2019, Engels was the men’s national champion in both the 1-mile and the 1500m. He finished fourth in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track Trials 1500m and fourth in both the 800m and the 1500m at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track Trials, narrowly missing both Olympic teams. Engels earned top honors representing Team USA at the World Championships, finishing 10th in the 1500m in 2019 and 7th in the 1500m indoors in 2018.
Challenging Engels in the men’s race are Johnny Gregorek and2021 Olympian Mason Ferlic. The 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist in the 1500m, Gregorek holds the second-fastest indoor mile time in the U.S. with his 3:49.98 set at Boston University in 2019. Unofficially the world-record-holder for the Blue Jean Mile, Gregorek ran 4:06.25 in jeans and raised more than $35,000 for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in memory of his brother, Patrick. Gregorek grew up in Seekonk, Massachusetts.
2020 Olympian Mason Ferlic recently made his first U.S. Olympic Team in the steeplechase. He won the 2016 NCAA D1 Steeplechase while competing for the University of Michigan and represented the U.S. at the 2019 World Athletics Cross Country Championships. He currently trains with five-time Olympian Nick Willis, who is a two-time Falmouth Elite Mile runner-up.
The men’s field also includes Pat Casey, the 2018 NACAC silver medalist in the 1500m and Daniel Herrera, who holds dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship and seeks to improve his Mexican mile record of 3:56.13. Herrera was the 2019 and 2018 Bring Back the Mile Champion. Rounding out the field is Brett Meyer, the DII National Champion at 1500m; Craig Nowak, a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State; Gordie Beamish of New Zealand, the 2019 NCAA indoor mile champion; Bryce Richards, who set a top mile time of 3:57.61 this season; and Drew Piazzi, who grew up in Danvers, Massachusetts and ran for UNH and Virginia Tech. Making his Falmouth Elite Mile debut is four-time Canadian 1500m champion and Olympian Charles Philbert-Thiboutot, aka ‘CPT’.
In the women’s race, 4:27-miler Schlactenhaufen, who resides in Boston, Massachusetts, recently finished fifth at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track Trials 1500m and was the 2018 Falmouth Elite Mile runner-up. She will face competition from Sinclaire Johnson, the 2019 NCAA 1500m champion and Sara Sutherland, a four-time NCAA All-American at the University of Texas.
The trio of Katrina Coogan, a Georgetown All-American who just ran the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials; Taryn Rawlings, a 1500m standout who competed at the University of Portland; and Karisa Nelson,the 2017 NCAA indoor mile champion and 2019 NCAA indoor mile runner-up will also set a fast pace for the women’s event.
Racing for the first time in Falmouth is Alli Cash, who ran two world-leading marks in the indoor mile this year and Katie Wasserman, a Columbia and Notre Dame standout who finished second at the 2021 D1 NCAA 5,000m Championships.
Coogan and Sutherland will run both the Falmouth Elite Mile and the 7-mile ASICS Falmouth Road Race.
The Falmouth Elite Mile has played host to more than two dozen Olympians, including Corey McGee, Nick Willis, Morgan Uceny, Amy Rudolph, Carmen Douma-Hussar, Carrie Tollefson, Suzy Hamilton, Donn Cabral, Marc Davis, Robert Gary, Jason Pyrah, and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano. The event records are currently held by Hamilton (4:25.27, 2002) and Jordan McNamara (3:54.89, 2011).
The inaugural Falmouth Elite Mile was held in 1995 and won by Erik Nedeau (4:03:41) and Julie Henner (4:32:41).
For complete Falmouth Elite Mile field lists field list, including bios: (link)
For more information on the Falmouth Elite Mile, please visit www.falmouthroadrace.com, our on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Falmouth Road Race, Inc.
The ASICS Falmouth Road Race was established in 1973 and has become one of the premier running events of the summer season. Each year the race draws an international field of Olympians, elite and recreational runners out to enjoy the iconic 7-mile seaside course. The non-profit Falmouth Road Race organization is committed to promoting health and fitness through community programs and philanthropic giving.
About the James T. Kalperis Track
Completed in the summer of 2020, the James T. Kalperis Track at Falmouth High School features a BSS 300 polyurethane surface certified by World Athletics and serves as the site of the Falmouth Elite Mile and the Tommy Cochary High School Mile the night before the 7-mile road race. Manufactured by Beynon Sports Surfaces and funded by Falmouth Road Race, Inc., for more.
