More Future Stars Rankings
Middle School Girls Rankings | Middle School Boys 3000m Rankings
Last track season, we highlighted Warren Gardner as he was finishing his 7th-grade year. During that season, he earned personal bests of 10:49 in the 3200m, 5:04 in the 1600m, and 2:28 in the 800m.
Combine these accomplishments with his 17:13 5000m PR from last year, and Warren was already one of the best middle schoolers Mississippi has seen in recent memory. However, that was just his 7th-grade year. Now, he is an 8th grader and has already made major improvements since last year.
At the NMPHC Cross Country Classic, Warren opened up his season with a 17:05. This was a nine-second personal best for him, and he was just getting started.
Shortly after, Warren competed at The Opener, where he broke the 17-minute barrier for the first time with his time of 16:48. In just two weeks, Warren had dropped almost thirty seconds off of his times from last year.
In his most recent performance at The Southern Showcase, he earned another PR with a time of 16:39. For those keeping count, that's a new PR at every race so far this year, and a 34-second improvement since last year.
In the overall rankings, Warren is the fastest 8th grader in the state by over 40 seconds. Historically, he is the 3rd fastest 8th grader to ever run in Mississippi. The only two athletes in front of him are Taylor Brown and Andrew Brown.
Nationally, he is ranked 6th in the U.S. for the 5000m distance. If he were to get close to Taylor Brown's 8th-grade state record of 16:03, Warren would be within the top 3 fastest 8th graders in the country.
The season is still young, and so is Warren. There is no telling just how fast he will continue to run this year and during his future career. Time will tell, but continue to watch out for his performances as he progresses and continues to chase Mississippi history.
