Five standout youth runners with Williamsburg ties have excelled in cross country, track and the roads for the past three years. Gunner Hammett, who just completed his eighth grade year at Queens Lake Middle School, has set multiple world records and is the most accomplished.
Jonathan Grimm (Jamestown High), Amelia Valenti (Grafton High) and Remington Freeman (Walsingham Academy) will become juniors this fall, and Isabella Strumke is a homeschooled 12-year-old sixth grader from Toano.
Hammett’s most spectacular race this year was a win in the Brooks PR Invitational 800 meters, where his 1:54.94 time came within .74 seconds of Cooper Lutkenhaus’s junior boys meet record. Lutkenhaus, 17, is still in high school and is now one of the fastest 800-meter runners in the world.
He shocked the track community last year with a World Championships qualifying 1:42.77 at the U.S. trials, then won the world indoor 800-meter title in March, as well as the USATF outdoor title this summer. Lutkenhaus has a world under-18 800-meter record of 1:42.08.
Similarly, Gunner now has at least 11 world age records at 200, 600 and 800 meters. He has an outdoor 800 PR of 1:54.45, at age 14. He holds the world age-13 record at 1:56.23, and the world age-12 world record at 1:58.22, the first 12-year-old to break the two-minute barrier. As he follows in the footsteps of Lutkenhaus in coming years, it will be thrilling to see his progress, starting in high school this fall (which school is still to be determined).
Jonathan Grimm will be a junior at Jamestown High and holds the state 5K road record of 14:45. Margaret Fuller
Grimm, who holds the state 5K road record of 14:45 (from DOG Street 2025) had outdoor track PRs this year of 4:11.47 in the 1,600 meters, and 8:56.86 in the 3,200 meters (the sophomore state 3,200 record). He was the Class 4 state champion in the 3,200 (9:10) and runner-up in the 1,600 (4:14, losing only to a UVA commit by a half second). He was eighth in the Championship 2 Mile at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals (9:02.15).
Jonathan emailed, “I didn’t have an indoor track season due to an injury so my outdoor track season was a strong comeback season which I am proud of. This cross country season I’m looking to be one of the best runners in the nation and I’m hoping to be running at Nike Cross Nationals at Glendoveer golf course in Oregon and the Brooks XC Championships at Balboa Park in California. This summer I am putting in a strong training block in preparation for a great cross country season!”
Valenti lives in Williamsburg, but competes for Grafton High, as her father Nick is the cross country and track coach. She ran her 5K PR 17:58 (school record) at the Virginia XC Showcase last fall. Her best times this past year all came in indoor track, highlighted by a 10:55.94 at the Bay Rivers District 3,200 meters, and a 5:08 for 1,600 at indoor regionals. She emailed, “This summer I am training hard for XC. I want to run 17:25 in the 5k this year. For track this year I want to break 5 in the mile.”
Remington Freeman will be a junior at Walsingham Academy and holds school records in 5K cross country, 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. Tyler Freeman
Freeman holds the Walsingham school records in 5K cross country, 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. She won the VISAA Division III cross country title last fall (19:17), along with a second in the Virginia XC Showcase (19:13) and a third in the State Catholic Championship (19:12).
On the roads, she was third overall (19:15) at the Blue Talon Bistro Turkey Trot 5K, and third overall at the ASCV 5K in Richmond (19:11). In outdoor track she had an 800 PR of 2:23.49 for second at the TCIS Championships, and a 5:13.20 in the 1,600. Her 3,200-meter PR of 11:20.19 won the Walsingham Invitational.
Her father, Tyler, emailed, “This summer, Remington is continuing to train with Endorphin Fitness, 757 Swim, and 1607 Athlete Performance Center, and will compete this weekend at the USA Triathlon Junior Elite National Championships. This fall, she plans to dedicate more of her training to running while continuing to train in the pool and on the bike as she transitions her focus to cross country. Her goals are to continue setting personal bests in cross country and in the track 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. She is excited to see how an increased emphasis on running, while continuing to swim and cycle, translates into continued improvement.”
Strumke has changed focus this year to wrestling, but still excels on the roads and in track, where she is a five-time All American and holds six state road records, four for the 9-and-younger category (5K, 8K, 10K, 10 miles) and two for 10-14 (8K, 10K).
Her father Todd emailed, “This year she decided that she wanted to focus on wrestling for the first time. While Isabella continued to run during this period, it was focused on just staying in shape for wrestling and she didn’t do any specific running training until about ten days before the April Run the DOG Street 5K. While Isabella has made a habit out of surprising me, I was not prepared for her to run an 18:30 (3 seconds off her PR) that day in a race she didn’t really train for. The only other race she has run so far this year was the Virginia Regional Ballet 5k in May, in which she ran a 19:12 in spite of finishing with one shoe on.”
“She will be running the Elizabeth River Run 10K in September but as a result of the family going overseas for a while, that will be her last race of the year. She has not run at all in two months as a result of being away at wrestling camps and competing in tournaments across the country. A big goal for the next year is to break Aurora Scott’s 14-and-younger state 5K record of 18:07, as well as to break 18 minutes in the road 5K. While Isabella has overwhelmingly been focused on wrestling this year, she decided to take a break for a bit and run in the 3,200-meter race at the middle school state championship, where she set a PR 11:33, taking second place overall, and only losing to a very fast 8th grade girl.”
“Isabella’s focus on wrestling (her favorite sport) this year has really paid off. Among her accomplishments, she won the prestigious Triple Crown award, which means she won wrestling state titles in Folkstyle (the style they wrestle in school) and in Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, which are the two styles they do at the Olympics. If you include all styles, Isabella is now a six-time wrestling state champion. She also won a spot on the Virginia national team and traveled to Indiana in June to represent Virginia against teams from across the nation. She ended up going 8-1 over the week, losing only to a multi-time national champion. This past weekend Isabella had another breakthrough in Atlanta where she beat a high school All-American who graduated from high school this year and will be wrestling in college. She is also now regularly beating high school girls who have medaled in their state tournaments.”
Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.