One week to go until Nike Indoor Nationals and the National Scholastic Indoor Championships! With that said, a handful of meets this week really stood out, especially the New England Championships. We recap this week's top performances, lay out some great additional articles of interest and share a special surprise for the week ahead.
Distance Gala Weekly Special!!! With the two indoor championships taking place this week, the staff of Distance Gala Weekly will put out a special championship edition this Wednesday. We'll break down each championship distance race at both events, covering anything from 800m-5k and the distance relays. Stay tuned and make sure to check back on Wednesday for our complete previews. Nike Indoor Nationals Website / National Scholastic Indoor Champs. Website
New England Championships The New England Championships took place this past weekend, pitting many of the top distance runners from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island against one another. In the end, the two mile races shown brightly, while the girls 4x800m relay also impressed. In the girls two mile race, Emily Jones (Sr., Bromfield, MA) showed once again why she is one of the top distance runners in the country. Jones ran away from the field to an easy victory, crossing the line well ahead of runner-up Kelsey Karys (Sr., Newton South, MA) 10:35.47-10:53.47. Jones and Karys were the only two runners under 11 minutes. In the boys race, Andrew Springer (Sr., Westerly, RI) continued his impressive indoor campaign, taking home the two mile title in a U.S. #1 mark of 9:02.58. Springer outdistanced himself from in-state rival Nick Ross (Jr., East Greenwich, RI) over the final stages of the race, running to a new meet record. Ross finished second in 9:11.16. The other main highlight of the day was Newton South's (MA) 4x800m relay victory. The strong quartet of Juliet Ryan-Davis, Melanie Fineman, Kathy O'Keefe and Bridget Dahlberg, crushed the rest of the field, winning by nearly 28 seconds in a new U.S. #1 time of 9:04.13. Other major race winners came in a variety of events. Jenna Davidner (Jr., Oliver Ames, MA) won the girls mile in 5:00.93, nipping Meg Ryan (Jr., Fairfield Warden, CT), who ran 5:01.11. In the boys mile, Alex Kramer (Sr., North Andover, MA) won in 4:21.50. Meanwhile, Danbury (CT) continued their masterful 4x800m relay success, winning the boys race in 7:59.43, while South Kingston (RI) finished second in 8:04.05. New England Championship Results
New York State T&F Championships New York consistently proves that they are one of the top distance states in the country and every year they prove it once again at their indoor state championships. Most of the state's top runners were on hand to go head to head against one another, with some surprising results. A pair of big victories came from Alex Hatz (Jr., Fayetteville-Manlius, NY) and Emily Lipari (Jr., Roslyn NY). Hatz continued to show that he will be a force to deal with this spring, as he won the 1,000m race in 2:27.86, nearly two seconds ahead of the competition. Lipari also came up with a big win, beating Foot Locker finalist Shelby Greany (Sr., Suffern, NY) 4:32.59-4:36.41 to win the 1,500m. However, Greany did pick up a big victory in the 3,000m, taking home the title in 9:53.99, beating many of the top distance runners in the state. Lizzy Predmore (Fr., Shenendehowa, NY) placed second in 9:55.93, while Aisling Cuffee (So., Cornwall, NY) placed third in 9:56.40. Robby Andrews (Sr., SWR, NY) had a big weekend as well, taking home the title in the 3,200m and finishing second in the 1,600m. Andrews beat Sean Curry (Sr., Grimes, NY) to the line in the 3,200m race, beating Curry 9:13.67-9:16.14. Sophomore Otis Ubraico (So., Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, NY) placed third in 9:19.46. Andrews came back shortly after to place second to Jordan Hamm (Sr., Caisius, NY) 4:19.34-4:20.65. NY State Champs Results Boys / Girls
York Invitational (IL) Every year the York Invitational, at York High School in Illinois, hosts some of the top distance talent in the state on the boys side. This year was no exception. Foot Locker finalist Steve Sulkin (Sr., York, IL) won the boys 3,200m run in 9:17, besting runner-up Tyler Jermann (Jr., Naperville North, IL), who ran 9:24. Jeff Thode (Sr., Conant, IL), who won the Illinois state title this past fall, won both the 800m and 1,600m events, running an impressive double of 1:55.16 and 4:14.16. York Invite Results
Recruiting Information You Should Read Well, we discussed two weeks back about the wonderful recruiting give and take coaches Jay Johnson and Alan Versaw were providing high school athletes. In the first three parts the two coaches talked about the recruiting process and many of the ins and outs of going through the detailed event. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Versaw once again take a look at the recruiting game in Parts IV-VI. This is a must read for any high school coach and athlete. Recruiting Give & Take: Part IV / Part V / Part VI Coach Jay Johnson's Website
Additional Articles of Interest ESPN Article on Minnesota 800m Star Zach Mellon (ESPN Rise) USATF Proposes U.S. v. Jamaica Sprint Dual Meets (USATF) U.S. Squads Dominate NACAC Cross Country Champs (U.S. Distance Runner) NYRR Commits $190,000 to U.S. Distance Running (Running Times)
To submit an article or results to Distance Gala Weekly please contact Scott Bush at: [email protected]
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