Dalton Hengst (Junior, McDonogh)
Photo by Brandon Miles
Like Asfaw, Hengst is coming off a spectacular cross country season where he captured an MIAA title, a MD-DC state title, ran a MD #1 time of 15:11 and qualified for Foot Locker Nationals with a fifth-place effort at Foot Locker Northeast. One of the top distance runners in the state since he stepped onto the course as a freshman in 2014, Hengst spent much of last indoor and outdoor season traveling up and down the Atlantic Coast competing in invitational miles.
He finished seventh at both the Millrose Games and New Balance Indoor Nationals in the mile. His time of 4:11.42 is the second-fastest by a Maryland runner in MileSplit's database since 2000, only a few seconds behind state record holder and eventual Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz. He ran a personal best of 4:10.43 in the outdoor mile at the New York Relays. Still only a junior, Hengst has two more years to rise farther up the national rankings in the distance events.