Birthday: 03/15/03 Mile PR: 3:54.0 (road) - 2022
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:32.61 - 2023
High School: Skyline (Ann Arbor) '21
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Current Residence: Ann Arbor, MI
Hobbs Kessler, in May 2023, set a 1500m personal record of 3:32.61, finishing third at the USATF LA Grand Prix.
In February 2021, he set the High School indoor Mile record with his 3:57.66 clocking, the 12th U.S. prep sub-4, and later in May, Kessler destroyed the American Junior 1500m record, running 3:34.36, that legend Jim Ryun set 55 years ago (3:36.1); he also demolished Alan Webb’s U.S. High School record from 2001 (3:38.26).
For his breakthru year, Track & Field News unanimously selected him as the 2021 High School Boys Athlete of the Year.
FUN FACT: Kessler is a top level rock climber.
FUN FACT II: Two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis has served as a mentor since 2020.
Photo credit: Kevin Morris
Prep indoor Mile and outdoor 1500m record setter and Olympic Trials qualifier: "I could have run a lot faster than I did, but I’m not super worried about that. Who really cares about high school PRs? I would rather not have them represent me.”
By Jeff Hollobaugh, Track & Field News
Really, no...
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“I thought the clock was off for a second. It was cartoonish. It just didn’t seem real.”
By Jeff Hollobaugh, Track & Field News
Enough talk about potential. On a Saturday night in Portland at Lewis & Clark’s Griswold Stadium, Hobbs Kessler (Skyline, Ann Arbor, Michigan) proved to the world...
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"The transition from climbing to running for me was really weird... I think it has been really key for me to learn to let go of my climbing performance."
By Bruce Hildenbrand, Climbing
When Hobbs Kessler set the U.S. High School indoor record for the Mile in Fayetteville, Arkansas in...
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“I was pleasantly surprised, but I wasn’t like, ‘How did I do that?’ I knew I had it in me.”
By Jeff Hollobaugh, Track & Field News
After running a stunning 3:57.66 Mile seemingly out of nowhere, Hobbs Kessler is suddenly one of the most talked-about names in the sport — usually appended to...
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“I kind of started slow, but I was looking at the clock and I was right on where I needed to be. I waited and waited and waited, but I had juice at the end.”
By Jeff Hollobaugh, Track & Field News
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On Sunday, February 7, no result out of ATL3 was more surprising than the...
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