Siblings shine bright

Ada and Owen Thiel made their presence felt at one of the nation’s top high school track meets.

Owen Thiel set a personal best en route to a third-place finish in his 3,200-meter heat, finishing in 8 minutes, 50.57 seconds. That’s good for the fourth-best time by a Montana high schooler ever.

Only Bozeman’s Nathan Neil and Weston Brown have gone faster. The time is also good for 25th fastest in the nation at this point of the season.

The Arcadia Invitational — Arcadia is a suburb of Los Angeles — has earned a reputation as one of the fastest two-mile races in the country, according to Glacier distance coach Cody Moore.

“Everyone goes there with the intent of running really, really fast,” Moore said, noting that a win is a bonus, but a fast time is expected. “You don’t see that as often in high level running, 110% doesn’t happen often, so you pick and choose which meets to choose where to lay down our best times.”

Arcadia is a good time to go all out.

The qualifying standard for the 3,200 is 9:20.22. Based on 2025’s times, only Thiel and Bozeman’s Miles Halvorson set qualifying times in AA.

Moore said that Thiel ran smart in his heat — the second fastest of the day.

“He opened with a 4:28 first mile,” Moore said, adding that Thiel navigated the pack well. “Laps five, six and seven are the place to move up. Those are the hardest laps mentally.”

Thiel did move up and as he came to the bell, he found himself leading. With 200 meters left that lead evaporated, but Thiel still hung with the top two.

In the end Mikah Peters of Brandon, South Dakota won and Aidan Neal of Sandy, Utah finished second. Thiel was right behind.

Peters and Neal closed with a 59-second final lap, while Thiel ran 1:01.

After a disappointing end to cross country season thanks to some health issues, Moore said it’s good to see Thiel — the defending AA 3,200 champion — back competing at his best.

“He had less in the tank than he hoped, but still performed well at State,” Moore said. “To see him come back for track season has been exciting.”

Owen’s freshman sister Ada Thiel added a heat win in the 1,600 at Arcadia as well.

Her 4:55.16 put her second overall, just behind Isla Terrill of Monrovia, California.

The 2025 State AA cross country champion is the only Montana girls to go under the five-minute mark in 2026.

Next on the docket for Ada is to round out the high school season with the Wolfpack, before heading to one of the plethora of high school nationals each summer.

For Owen, another high-level showcase is right around the corner: the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland.

Thiel already had the invite lined up and will run the 1,600.

Before that, he joins his Glacier teammates in Butte on Saturday where he is expected to run the 400 to work on speed training as the high school season ramps up.

Reporter Jon Allen can be reached at 406-758-4426 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.