Hiltz Runs 8:34.98 To Win 3,000, Plans To Double at USATF Indoors In Two Weeks

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Photos by Tavan Smith

RESULTS/VIDEOS

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Early in 2026, Nikki Hiltz is looking like a global contender yet again.

Hiltz won the women’s 3,000 meters on Saturday at the ASICS Sound Invite at JDL Fast Track in 8:34.98, working their way up from the back of the pack over the course of the race and taking the lead with 800 meters to go. 

The race played out exactly to Hiltz's advantage, going 2:55 pace for the first two kilometers and then 2:45 to close.

Sinclaire Johnson tried to answer in the final lap, but Hiltz’s kick proved too powerful.

“I couldn’t hear anything, it was so loud,” Hiltz said of the last lap. “But you always assume that someone’s right on you… that field was so deep, I assumed I was gonna get pushed to the line. I’ve been in this sport long enough to know that you never ease up.”

In two weeks, Hiltz will run at the USATF Indoor Championships at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island. Last year, they won both the 1,500 and 3,000 but did not compete at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China. This year, Hiltz plans to double again at USAs, and that could leave options for Poland and World Indoors.

The schedule is probably too tight to attempt a double at Worlds. It would mean racing three days in a row.

“I don’t think it’s possible to double at Worlds,” Hiltz said. “I think I respect the world competition too much to go in and double. Right now, I’m probably leaning more (towards the) 1,500, honestly, but we’ll see. Now I have the standard in both.”

Hurta-Klecker back in form, runs first indoor sub-2

On Athletics Club’s Sage Hurta-Klecker earned a big personal best in the 800 on Saturday, running 1:58.78 to eke out a win against Atlanta Track Club’s Olivia Baker.

Saturday’s performance was Hurta-Klecker’s first win of 2026, and it was her first time breaking two minutes indoors. After taking fifth place in the 800 at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September and competing in the mixed 4x2k relay at the World Cross Country Championships in January, she returned to the track two weeks ago at the Millrose Games and put up a respectable 2:36.76 in the 1,000, a few seconds off of her personal best.

Saturday's performance was much more in line with the Hurta-Klecker at the end of 2025 and suggests that she’s back in the same rhythm that made her a 1:55 runner last fall.

Baker, too, is one to watch after this weekend; she also broke two minutes for the first time indoors, running 1:59.18 and putting up yet another top-three performance in a high-caliber meet. In her previous two races, she took third in the 600 at Millrose and second in the 800 at the Dr. Sander Invitational, running 1:25.91 and 2:00.46, respectively.

In the women’s 5,000, Annie Rodenfels broke the facility record with a 15:13.72 performance. She took the lead with 1,200 meters left and gradually pulled away from the pack, eventually winning by nearly eight seconds.

In the last event of the night, New Balance’s Emily Mackay won the women’s mile in 4:22.43, running a blistering 29.58-second final lap to pull ahead of N.C. State freshman Sadie Engelhardt.

Engelhardt, who ran 4:23.84 for second, would have been second in NCAA history as of Friday night, but a slew of fast performances in Seattle and Boston pushed her to sixth all-time.

Highlights from the Camel City sections (B heats) 

- Nike Swoosh TC’s Kaylee Mitchell won a tight 3,000 in 8:46.65, beating Saucony’s Katie Camarena by just over a tenth of a second.

- North Carolina’s Vera Sjoberg ran 4:29.14 to win the mile, breaking 4:30 for the second time in her career.

- Laura Pellicoro of the Brooks Beasts won the 800 in 2:02.19, an indoor personal best.