High school Parsons was coached by Patrick Castagno and competed in cross country or track and field all 12 seasons. Parsons raced a personal best of 1:58 in the
800 meters, 4:12 in the
mile, 9:00 in the
3200 meters, and 14:47 in the
5000 meters at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Parsons also individually qualified for
Nike Cross Nationals as a senior. Parsons led his team to multiple state championships, including going undefeated during the 2012 season by winning the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track Delaware state championships for the
Tatnall School.
College Parsons ran for Rollie Geiger at
North Carolina State. He achieved personal bests of 3:44 in the
1500 meters, 13:52 in the
5000 meters, and 28:43 in the
10,000 meters. In
cross country, Parsons was a four-time participant at the
NCAA Cross Country Championship placing as high as 51st during his final cross country season at the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championships with a time of 30:33 for
10,000 meters.
Professional In 2018, Parsons traveled to Germany to visit his mother’s native country. He was hesitant to continue in track but decided to turn pro by signing a three-year deal with
Adidas in 2018. Parsons teamed with
Drew Hunter to found the professional running team,
Tinman Elite.
2019 In February 2019, Parsons acquired
German citizenship in an attempt to qualify for the
2020 Summer Olympics in the 5000 metres. At the Payton Jordan Invitational (April 2019) Parsons ran with two of his teammates (
Drew Hunter and
Jordan Gusman) in an attempt to meet the World Championships qualifying standard (13:22.5) in the 5,000 m. Parsons ran 13:22.32; right behind his teammates who ran 13:21. He would go on to represent Germany
5000 m at the
2019 World Athletics Championships held in
Doha, Qatar. He did not advance to the final.
2022 Parsons competed in the
3000 m at the
2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, finishing seventh in his qualifying heat, not advancing to the final. In April 2022, Parsons became the first person to break 4 minutes in the mile on
Delaware soil, running 3:58.17 on the track of his alma mater,
Tatnall High School. In May, he ran a 5000 m personal best of 13:21.17 to take tenth at the Track Meet in
San Juan Capistrano, California. Following a second place finish at the
German Championships, he was selected to compete at the
2022 World Championships in
Eugene, Oregon in the
5000 m. He advanced to the final as a time qualifier with a 13:24.50 in the first round and
ran 13:45.89 to place 15th in the final. Later that summer, he competed at the
2022 European Athletics Championships, placing
sixth over 5000 m.
2023 In January 2023, Parsons ran a 5000 m personal best of 13:12.78 at
Boston University, setting a
German indoor record in the process. In February, he ran a 3000 m personal best of 7:39.94 at the
Millrose Games in
New York City and the following month finished seventh at the
2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships over
3000 m. He competed in the
5000 m at the World Championships in
Budapest, Hungary. However with 900 metres to go in his qualifying heat, he tripped, dashing his hopes of making another world final. == Championships results ==