Henry Wynne (born 18 April 1995) is an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who specializes in the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

and mile. Competing for the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, he was the 2016 NCAA indoor mile champion. After graduating from Virginia in 2017, he joined the

Brooks Beasts Track Club Brooks Beasts Track Club is a professional running team based in Seattle and sponsored by Brooks Sports. The group includes runners specializing in distances from the 800 meters to the 5000 meters. The group trains primarily in Seattle under coach ...

and has since set personal bests of 3:32.94 in the 1500 m and 3:51.26 in the mile. He is a two time US Indoor Championship runner-up and in April 2024, was part of a Brooks Beasts quartet that set the world record in the DMR.

Athletics career

High School

In 2013, during his senior year at

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school in Westport, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in District Reference Group A (along with ...

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, Wynne won national titles in the mile indoors and out at

New Balance Nationals Indoor New Balance Nationals Indoor (NBNI), formerly known as the National Scholastic Indoor Championships (NSIC), are one of two American high school national championship indoor track and field meets, along with Nike Indoor Nationals. High school pa ...

and New Balance Nationals Outdoor. He graduated from high school with personal bests of 1:49.93 in the

800 m The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

, 4:05.04 in the mile, and 9:04.34 in the

3200 m 3200 meters is an uncommon long middle-distance, or short long-distance, track and field running event that is 200 m longer than the much more common 3,000 metre run, and slightly shorter than the two mile run. At exactly eight laps on a st ...

and with a total of 22 Connecticut state titles and 5 New England titles.

University of Virginia

In fall of 2013, Wynne enrolled at the University of Virginia, joining the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

cross country and track and field teams. After redshirting his freshman cross country season, Wynne made his Virginia debut during the 2014 indoor season where he would run a personal best of 4:04.37 in the mile and go on to place eighth at the ACC Indoor Championships in the same event. Outdoors, he ran 3:46.48 over 1500 m and finishing his freshman season placing eighth at the USA Junior Championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. In 2015, Wynne placed fifth at the ACC Indoor Championships in the mile and finished sixth as part of Virginia's DMR at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In June, he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1500 m, but failed to advance to the final. During the 2016 indoor season, he broke four minutes in the mile for the first time, running 3:58.74 at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational in Boston. In February, ACC titles in the mile and DMR, and on March 12, competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, he took first place in the mile in 4:06.63. After setting a 3:38.05 personal best in April and taking the ACC 1500 m title in May, Wynne placed third at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing behind

Clayton Murphy Clayton Murphy (born February 26, 1995) is an American middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2015 Pan American Games. He ran collegi ...

and

Izaic Yorks Izaic Yorks (born April 17, 1994) is an American middle-distance and long-distance runner. Yorks won 1500 m at 2018 NACAC Championships. As a member of the Washington Huskies, Izaic Yorks is an eight-time NCAA Division I All-American cross coun ...

. Later that summer, he represented the United States at the

NACAC U23 Championships The NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics is an under-23 athletics competition held between the member associations of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC). Rules and regulations were approved at an extraor ...

, winning gold in the 1500 m. After missing the 2016 fall cross country season due to a knee injury, Wynne placed second in mile at the 2017 ACC Indoor Championships in February and placed fifth at the ACC Outdoor Championships in the 1500 m. However, his high hopes of a strong showing at his final NCAA Outdoor Championships were squashed after a bout of pneumonia just before the East Regional Qualifier, causing him to place just eleventh in his heat, dashing his hopes of qualifying for a final NCAAs. Wynne competed at the 2017 USA Championships in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, placing 33rd overall.

Brooks Beasts

Following his 2017 season and the conclusion of his collegiate career, Wynne signed professionally with

Brooks Brooks may refer to: * Brook (small stream) Places Antarctica * Cape Brooks Canada *Brooks, Alberta United Kingdom * Brooks, Cornwall * Brooks, Powys, a location United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas * Brooks, California *Brooks, ...

, joining the

under coach Danny Mackey. Just two days before he signed the contract, he underwent knee surgery, something him and Mackey had hidden from Brooks during contract negotiations, causing the Brooks sports marketing department to be "very unhappy" when they learned of it. Coming off his operation, he struggled through the 2018 season, but managed personal bests of 3:55.23 in the mile and 13:30.43 over 5000 m. In early 2019, Wynne finished second at the USA Indoor Championships and ran a mile personal best of 3:51.26, placing him sixth on the all-time US list at the time. Later that year, he ran a 3:35.14 1500 m PB in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and finished eighth in the at the USA Outdoor Championships. In May 2021, he ran a 1500 m personal best of 3:34.08 to take fourth at the Portland Track Festival. The following month, at the 2020 US Olympic Trials (held in 2021), Wynne placed fifth in 3:37.70. In 2022, Wynne placed third over 1500 m at the USA Indoor Championships and qualified for the 1500 m final at the USA Outdoor Championships, placing twelfth in 3:48.03. At the Boston University Last Chance Indoor Qualifier in February 2023, Wynne ran his fasted mile since 2019, clocking a time of 3:52.51 to take the win. At the 2023 USA Outdoor Championships in July, Wynne placed fifth in 3:35.99 and, in August, ran a 1500 seasons best of 3:34.67 to take the win at the Ed Murphy Classic in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

. On April 19, 2024, at the Oregon Relays, Wynne, alongside Brooks Beasts teammates Brandon Kidder, Brandon Miller, and Isaiah Harris, set a world record in the

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event ...

. After a 2:49.60 1200 m leg by Kidder, a 46.60 400 leg by Miller, and a 1:45.75 800 m split from Harris, Wynne anchoring the quartet running the 1600 m leg, needed a split in the low 3:50s to secure the record. Running completely solo, he ran a split of 3:52.63, breaking the previous record of 9:15:50 set by

Kyle Merber Kyle Merber (born November 19, 1990) is a former American mid-distance runner who specialized in the mile and the 1500 metres. He was sponsored by Hoka One One and competed for the New Jersey New York Track Club before retiring from the sport in ...

, Brycen Spratling,

Brandon Johnson Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...

, and

Ben Blankenship Ben Blankenship (born December 15, 1988) is an American middle distance runner. He is a world record holder as a member of the 2015 USA Distance medley relay team, of which he ran the 1600-meter anchor leg. Running career Elementary school Bl ...

at the

2015 IAAF World Relays The 2015 IAAF World Relays was the second edition of the biennial, global track and field relay race (athletics), relay competition between nations. As in the previous year, it was held in May in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas, Bahamas. Apar ...

, by 0.92 seconds with a time of 9:14.58.

Championship results

International competitions

USA Championships

NCAA Championships

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Henry Living people 1995 births University of Virginia alumni Virginia Cavaliers men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Connecticut American male middle-distance runners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen