Addison Wiley

Addison "Addy" Wiley (born October 24, 2003) is an American professional middle- and long-distance runner.

Wiley is an eight-time NAIA national champion in cross country and track and field. She holds the high school national record for the 1600m with a time of 4:26.16 and the collegiate record for the 1500m with a time of 3:59.17. She placed 5th in the World Athletics U20 Championships in the 1500m in 2022 and won gold in the NACAC U23 championships in 2023. She placed 2nd at the USATF indoor championships in the 800m to qualify for the 2024 world indoor championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

High school career
Wiley attended Huntington North High School in Huntington, Indiana. She was a multi-sport athlete that did not fully commit to running until her senior season. She played on the varsity soccer team and was named All-Conference all four years, earning First Team honors as a sophomore, junior, and senior while leading her team in goals scored. She also played varsity basketball as a freshman and sophomore.

2019
In her freshman track season, Wiley ran the fastest time ever by an Indiana freshman in winning her first state championship in the 1600m in 4:46.93. She added another All-State performance by placing 7th in the 800m in 2:13.26.

As a sophomore in the fall, she competed in cross country for the first time. Despite limited running training due to being a member of the soccer team, Wiley achieved All-State by placing 10th at the state championships in 18:28.6.

2020
Wiley was unable to defend her 1600m state championship title in spring of her sophomore year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the fall of her junior year, Wiley achieved All-State status in cross country again by placing 6th with a time of 18:25.9.

2021
On March 26 & 28, Wiley competed in the NSAF USA Meet of Champions in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where she won the mile in 4:48.23 and placed second in the 5000m in 17:16.15.

At the 2021 IHSAA State Track and Field Championships, she became the first Indiana runner to win both the 800m (2:08.62) and the 1600m (4:45.27). She was subsequently named the 2020–2021 Gatorade Player of the Year award winner for Indiana Girls Track and Field.

On June 12, Wiley competed in the RunningLane Track Championships in Madison, Alabama. She won the mile in a new personal record of 4:38.14, the fastest high school time in the nation in 2021 and the fastest ever by an Indiana runner. Her time also ranked No. 9 on the all-time high school list for the outdoor mile.

Wiley next traveled to Renton, Washington to compete in the Brooks PR Invitational. Despite finishing second, her time of 2:04.41 was a new Indiana state record and the No. 5 fastest time in the nation for 2021.

Wiley ended her track season on July 3 at the Nike Outdoor National Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. She won her first high school national championship in the mile with a time of 4:42.78.

On October 30, Wiley finished her high school cross country career, achieving All-State status for the third time by placing 7th with a time of 18:40.2.

Wiley signed her National Letter of Intent with the University of Colorado on November 22, but would de-commit the following summer to enroll at her hometown college, Huntington University.

2022
Wiley opened her senior track season on March 12 at Nike Indoor Nationals at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, New York. She earned All-America honors in both the 800m (3rd in 2:09.52) and the mile (2nd in 4:52.55).

At the 2022 IHSAA State Track and Field Championships on June 3, she repeated as state champion in both the 800m and 1600m. For the second consecutive year, she completed the double that no other Indiana runner has ever accomplished. She won the 1600m in 4:38.69 and the 800m in 2:06.26, both of which were state meet records. She then finished third in the 3200m in 10:38.57, and finally anchored the 4x400 relay team with a split time of 57.03. All four races were run within a timespan of only two hours, 17 minutes.

Wiley finished her high school career as a five-time Indiana State Champion and holder of six school records – 200m (26.24), 400m (57.12), 800m (2:04.40), 1600m (4:37.98), mile (4:38.14), and 3200m (10:13.40). For the second consecutive year, Wiley was honored as the 2021–2022 Gatorade Player of the Year award winner for Indiana Girls Track and Field.

On June 11, one week after the state championship meet, Wiley competed in the Midwest Redemption Meet at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Her 1600m time of 4:26.16 broke the national high school record of 4:33.29, set by Alexa Efraimson in 2014. Her time converts to a 4:27.71 for the mile, faster than the overall national record of 4:28.25 set by Mary Cain in 2013 and the outdoor mile record of 4:33.87 set by Katelyn Tuohy in 2018.

Wiley next competed in the Nike Outdoor National Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 19. She won her second national title, this time in the 800m. Her winning time of 2:04.64 was the No. 5 fastest time in the nation for 2022.

The following weekend, Wiley again competed in Eugene in the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships. She won her first USA Track & Field national title in the 1500m with a time of 4:15.53. Her placing earned her a spot on the United States team that would compete in the World Athletics U20 Championships the following month.

At the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, Wiley qualified for the final by placing second in her heat with a time of 4:19.39. In the final, Wiley placed 5th with a personal record of 4:11.43.

2022
Wiley began her collegiate career at Huntington University in the fall of 2022. She won her first three cross country races, the Louisville Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, the Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Crossroads League Championships hosted by Marian University in Shelbyville, Indiana. At the 2022 NAIA Cross Country Championships held in Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida, Wiley finished in second place to earn her first collegiate All-America honor with a time of 16:58.9. Huntington placed 13th overall in the team standings.

2023
Wiley opened her track season at the Camel City Elite Races at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her mile time of 4:32.15 set a new NAIA national record and was the fastest collegiate time ever run at the Camel City Elite Races. She had to decline the $6,000 winnings due to NAIA regulations. It was the first time a collegiate athlete had won an Elite Race at Camel City.

On February 18, Wiley competed in the 1500m at the 2023 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In a field consisting of 10 professional runners and only two collegiates, Wiley led the race for the first 1200m before ultimately placing 4th with a time of 4:18.84. She again had to decline the $1,500 prize money.

At the 2023 NAIA indoor track and field championships held in Brookings, South Dakota, Wiley won five national championships and broke one meet record in a span of only three hours, 55 minutes. She started the day by winning the mile in 4:48.04. An hour later, she won the 600m in a meet record time of 1:29.47. Forty-five minutes later, Wiley won the 800m in 2:10.93 and only thirty-five minutes later, she won the 3000m in 9:47.57. She finished the day by anchoring Huntington's Distance Medley Relay team to victory in 11:46.74. Only 13 female athletes in NAIA history have won five or more indoor titles in a four-year career; Wiley accomplished it in less than four hours. She was named the meet's Most Valuable Performer and the Huntington women's team finished as the national runner-up.

Wiley was named the 2023 NAIA women's indoor track & field National Track Athlete of the Year and the 2023 NAIA Women's Indoor Track & Field National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. In addition to her five national championships, she maintained a 3.512 cumulative GPA.

Wiley began her outdoor season on the roads, competing in the USATF Mile Road Championships in Des Moines, Iowa on April 25. Despite being the only non-professional runner in the 20-woman field, she placed 3rd with a time of 4:30.94. Her time was the 6th fastest in the nine-year history of the event. As an amateur, she had to decline the $1,500 prize for third place.

Wiley remained in Des Moines to compete against another professional field in the Drake Relays. She placed 4th in the 1500m with an NAIA record time of 4:12.53. She suffered her only loss of the year to a collegiate runner in a track final, losing to Canadian Simone Plourde of the University of Utah.

At the end of May, Wiley competed in the NAIA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship held at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. She added two more national championships to her résumé, winning both the 800m (2:04.29) and the 1500m (4:14.56), along with running a leg of Huntington's 5th place 4 × 800 m relay in 2:01.25. The Huntington women's team placed 6th in the team standings.

Wiley was named the 2023 NAIA women's outdoor track & field National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and the Crossroads League Female Athlete of the Year. In total, she won seven NAIA national championships, nine NAIA All-America honors, nine Crossroads League Athlete of the Weeks honors, six NAIA Athlete of the Week honors, and was the NAIA Runner-up in cross country during her freshman year. Wiley also set five NAIA records and established two more NAIA all-conditions/out-of-competition records.

Wiley began her summer racing schedule at the Music City Track Carnival at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee on June 3, part of the American Track League professional series. Her winning time of 4:03.22 time was the second fastest collegiate time in history behind only Jennifer Simpson, who won four Olympic and World Championship medals in the 1500m including the 2011 World Championship gold medal. The time broke the meet record of 4:03.64 set by 2021 Olympian Cory McGee and also met the World Athletics Championships standard of 4:03.50. Wiley again had to decline a cash prize, this time for $2,000.

Wiley next competed in the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. On July 6, Wiley won her semi-final heat with a time of 4:09.53, finishing ahead of 2021 Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu and Olympian Cory McGee. Two days later, she finished 5th in the final with a time of 4:04.25. As a result of her placing, Wiley earned a spot on the United States team that would participate in the NACAC U23 Championships later that month but had to decline another $2,000 prize.

On July 23, Wiley represented the United States in the NACAC U23 Championships in San José, Costa Rica. The meet consists of athletes from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Competing in the 1500m, she won the gold medal and set a new meet record with a time of 4:05.84, her third sub-4:06 performance since the start of June. The previous record of 4:15.52 was set in 2014 by Canada's Jenna Westaway.

Wiley continued her 2023 track season at the Ed Murphey Classic held at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, another stop on the American Track League professional series. She defeated a professional field that included 2023 World Championship team member Kaela Edwards to win in a personal record of 1:59.00, the fastest collegiate time in the nation in 2023. Wiley became the only female collegiate runner to ever run under 2:00 in the 800m and under 4:04 in the 1500m in her career. The following day, she competed on the roads again, this time in the Beale Street Murphey Mile against another field of professionals. Wiley bested a field led by three-time NCAA Champion Dani Jones to win in 4:37.7. Wiley earned $1,000 for each win but was required to decline it as an amateur athlete.

In September, Wiley made her first appearance on the European track circuit at the Galà dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland. She placed 2nd to Jamaica's Natoya Goule with a new PR of 1:57.64, making her the second fastest collegiate 800m runner of all-time behind only Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu. Both Wiley and Goule broke the meet record. Wiley's time ranks No. 3 in the US and No. 8 in the world for 2023 and makes her the 11th fastest American of all time.

On September 8, Wiley competed in her first Diamond League event, the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium. She placed 8th in a field of 15, all but one of whom had previously competed in the Olympics and/or World Championships. Her time of 3:59.17 broke the all-time collegiate 1500m record of 3:59.90 set by Jennifer Simpson in 2009. It also made her the 10th fastest American of all-time and ranks her No. 2 in the US and No. 19 in the world for 2023. Wiley joined Mary Slaney as the only American women in history to run both sub-1:58 for 800m and sub-4:00 for 1500m during a career. She became the third youngest runner to ever accomplish the feat at the age of.

Wiley represented the United States at the World Road Mile Championships in Riga, Latvia on October 1. She placed 9th with a time of 4:36.03.

On November 17, 2023, Wiley won the NAIA cross country national championship in Vancouver, Washington, in a time of 21:04.2.

2024
On January 9, Wiley was named to the 2024 Bowerman Preseason Watch List, becoming the first NAIA athlete to ever receive the honor.

Professional career
On January 23, 2024, Wiley announced that she had signed a professional contract with Adidas and would forgo her final three seasons at Huntington University. Three days later, she made her professional debut at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational at the University of Louisville where she won the 800m.

At the USATF Indoor Championships, Wiley placed 2nd in the 800m in a new indoor personal best to qualify for the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom. In Glasgow, she placed 3rd in her first-round heat but failed to qualify for the semifinals.

Honors and awards

 * 2020-2021 Gatorade Player of the Year Indiana Girls Track and Field
 * 2021-2022 Gatorade Player of the Year Indiana Girls Track and Field
 * 2022 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Cross Country Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 NAIA Women's Indoor Track and Field National Track Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 NAIA Women's Indoor Track and Field National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 NAIA Women's Outdoor Track and Field National Scholar Track Athlete of the Year
 * 2022-2023 Crossroads League Female Athlete of the Year
 * 2023 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Scholar Athlete of the Year

Other

 * Youngest American to ever run sub-4:00 for 1500m - 19 years, 319 days (Previous youngest Mary Decker - 22 years, 9 days)
 * One of only two Americans to ever run sub-4:00 for 1500m and sub-1:58 for 800m - 19 years, 319 days; Mary Decker - 24 years, 361 days
 * 3rd youngest female to ever run sub-4:00 for 1500m and sub-1:58 for 800m
 * 2nd youngest American to ever run sub-1:58 for 800m - 19 years, 315 days (Athing Mu - 18 years, 313 days)

Personal life
When Wiley was 10-years-old, doctors discovered an extremely rare tumor known as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor between her right lung and her diaphragm. An IMT occurs in less than one in one million people and roughly 150–200 cases occur in the United States each year. The tennis ball sized tumor was pressing on her lung and causing high fevers, extreme fatigue and headaches. IMT's are usually benign but Wiley's was not. Doctors were able to completely remove the tumor surgically and no further treatments were necessary other than routine checkups. During the surgery, parts of her lung and diaphragm were removed and are held together today by two titanium staples.

In September 2023, in conjunction with her first track meets on the European circuit and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Wiley announced a fundraiser for patients at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, the hospital where she received her life saving cancer treatments ten years earlier. She promised to match donations up to $5,000. She has previously stated in an interview, "As a cancer survivor, I also like advocating for other children battling cancer, as a professional runner someday I plan to donate a large portion of my prize money to support children experiencing cancer."