After the biggest high school outdoor track meet in NY last weekend, our runners split up between the New Balance Outdoor National Championships in Greensboro, NC and the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, IN.
The following is a distance review from Greensboro at New Balance:
Big news from the first day came from one of the top distance harriers in all of New York: Peru senior Dan Lennon. He finished an incredible third in the 5000m Championship, running 14:37.32. He was followed by another standout--and NY Second Team All-Distance runner--Paddy Grandinali of Warwick in 7th (14:48.16). Mitchell Kun (Sheepshead Bay) rounded out a great showing from our New Yorkers, in 17th place.
Three girls placed in the 5000m Championship: Jessie Smillie (Connetquot) ran an 18:31.34, followed closely by Stephanie Gerland (Garden City) and teammate Erin Melly.
Section IX Champion and NY Second Team All-Distance runner Gianna Frontera is the 28th fastest 2-mile runner in the country! She came across the line in 10:49.17. In the "Emerging Elite" category, Staten Island's own Christina Melian won in 10:54, followed by state-mates Henna Rustami of Syosset in 4th, Meagan Jaskot of Blaurvelt in 20th, Elizabeth Stirling of Wantagh in 21st, MaryKate O'Meara of Pearl River in 22nd and Briana Hayes of Manorville in 28th. Anoush Shehadeh (Larchmont) finished 2nd in the Freshman 1-mile race, while Jazmine Fray of Freeport won the Freshman 2-miler.
Thomas Awad finished an impressive 3rd in the 2-mile Championships. The Chaminade senior and NY First Team All-Distance runner finished in 8:59.38--wow. He was followed by Kris Moran (North Babylon) in 10th and Dan Lennon (Peru) in 15th.
In the 1-mile "Emerging Elite" category, Austin Lane of Greenwich took second place in a quick 4:17.44. Derek Palafox (East Patchogue) came in 6th and Marc Violone (Byram Hills) in 18th. In the 2-mile "Emerging Elite" category, Mitchell Kun of Sheepshead Bay finished 10th while Evan Little (LaSalle) and Kyle Collins (Suffern) went 22-23. Marco Pompilj (Collegiate School) won the Freshman 2-miler, while James Burke (Port Jefferson) and Luke Gavigan (Tappan Zee) finished 1-2 in the Freshman 1-mile race.
On the final day of competition, our girls showed why New York is the Steeplechase Capital of the World: The top three girls were from New York, and were the only ones to finish under 7 minutes. Keelin Hollowood of Saratoga Springs is your NATIONAL CHAMPION, followed by runner-up Leila Mantilla (Penfield) and Amber Goodspeed (Middletown). Absolutely incredible!
Ditto on the boys side: the top 9 steeplechase finishers were all New Yorkers, led by our NATIONAL CHAMPION from Fayetteville-Manlius, senior Brendan Smith--who BROKE 6 MINUTES! He was followed by runner-up Steve Rossettie (Corning) and Ross Wightman (Chatham).
Delphi Cleaveland (Arlington) placed 5th in the girls 1-mile Championship with a 5:03.24. This caps off an incredible high school career for Delphi.
In the final event of NB Nationals, New York dominated again, with one of the most exciting finishes of the weekend. New York boys swept 1-2-3 in the 1-mile Championship, with Thomas Awad (Chaminade) out-leaning Eric Holt (Carmel) to take the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, 4:11.84 to 4:11.90. Third place was taken by Kris Moran (North Babylon) in 4:15.30!
Now over to Bloomington, for the USA Junior Nationals:
Fewer runners here, and the event won't be over until tomorrow. That being said, Mary Cain has run the fastest 1500m prelim time, edging out national rival Cami Chapus.
Our lone national champion so far was a convincing one: Brianna Nerud (North Shore) destroyed the elite high school field, finishing the 3000m steeplechase in 10:23.87. She qualified for the World Junior Championships with time to spare!
We'll finish up out USAJNC coverage tomorrow, but to all our national champions and intrepid runners:
WELL DONE!
