In case some of you didn't realize, today was the Brooks PR Invitational. Some ridiculous stuff went down in the meet's best edition yet.
In the first event of the day, Anna Rohrer (Indiana) took down Destiny Collins (California) in the two mile 9:59.96 to 10:00.90. Oh, and Hannah DeBalsi was third in 10:03.24. Just how good is that? I'm pretty sure that's either the best or second best girls two mile race ever (last year's Brooks PR meet had Bethan Knights over DeBalsi in 9:53.54-9:55.05, with third place Stephanie Jenks finishing in 10:06.54 - national record and probably the first time two girls under 10:00 for a full two miles?)
US#1-10 for the Girls 2 Mile rankings were all just run in the same race today. If we include indoor and 3k/3200m marks, that was the US#2 mark for Rohrer over the US leader Destiny Collins, with a new US#5 Hannah DeBalsi in a race that also featured two more US Top-10 athletes (#6 Fiona O'Keefe and #8 Audrey Belf). Great racing!
In the second event of the day saw the top 13 outdoor times in the Boys 2 Mile, but the headline was junior Andrew Hunter (Virginia) outkicking Grant Fisher (Michigan), who hadn't lost a race to a US High Schooler since 2013! They ran the two best times in the 3k/3200m/2Mile this year at 8:42.51 vs. 8:43.57, and on a big last lap (54 seconds being reported on LetsRun). Washington standout John Dressel finished third with a new PR of 8:50.07.
The next events, the 400's, were solid but not that outstanding (for a national championship meet like Brooks): 53.40 for Aaliyah Abrams (Georgia) to win the girls race and 46.38 for Michael Norman (California) in the boys. Neither was a PR as Abrams ran 53.10 at her state meet and Norman ran US#1 (and tied the NFHS record) at 45.19 at his state meet.
In the 100m Hurdles, US leader Jasmyne Graham (California) won in 13.36. From a Washington perspective, great race for Inglemoor's Darhian Mills to finish sixth in 13.97! Fresh off her 4A State Meet record in the 300m Hurdles, that puts her in the top 4 All-Time in Washington and the second best wind-legal mark I know of. In the boys race, it was wind-aided as Damion Thomas (Florida) won in 13.62.
The Girls 800m race saw Montana junior Christina Aragon set a new US HS#1 mark in 2:04.00, and US#2 for high school aged athletes (Nike pro and Camas WA standout Alexa Efraimson is still #1 at 2:01.13). Aragon won by just over a second with Colorado's Jordyn Colter (2:05.02) leading another pair of girls under 2:06. Seattle sophomore Erin Ripple (Holy Names) was seventh in 2:10.78.
The Boys 800m was my most anticipated event, with Michigan star Donovan Brazier the headliner. This is a guy that has run 4:07.15 for 1600m and split a 45.92 (FAT) on a 4x4 anchor. I'm of the opinion that he's capable of setting the 800m HSR in the right conditions. Today, he did win and set a new PR, but didn't get close to the record as he crossed the line in 1:47.55 which propels him past Oregon's Elijah Greer to #4 on the All-Time 800m list. Here's to hoping he gets in a fast race this summer and takes a shot at Granville's record!
And then the highlight of the meet, bar none, happened. Certainly one of the biggest moments in prep track history.
Georgia sophomore Candace Hill took to the starting line in the Girls 100m. In a wind-legal 2.0 tailwind, she SHATTERED the High School record with the first sub-11 ever by a US Junior (meaning U-20, not class) and at 10.98 now sits #3 All-Time in WORLD JUNIOR RANKINGS!!!
You read that right, Candace Hill, a SOPHOMORE out of Georgia, just ran the third best U-20 time in WORLD HISTORY at Seattle's Shoreline Stadium at the four year old Brooks PR Invitational. WOW!
Other cool stuff happened at the meet, like Portland junior Ella Donaghu winning the mile in 4:43.07 over fellow junior Katie Rainsberger (Colorado) with the Montana freshman duo of Annie Fuller (4:48.29) and Bryn Morley (4:52.62) finishing in sixth and tenth place. And then there was a Northwest sweep of the Boys Mile as the Idaho trio of Paul Ryan (4:07.97), Elijah Armstrong (4:08.03), and Michael Slagowski (4:08.28) ended up almost a second ahead of the next best miler the nation had to offer in Tennessee's Adam Barnard (4:08.93). Oh, and Tacoma junior Jack Yearian finishing sixth was pretty nice, too. A nice close to the day for the Northwest crew.
But none of that compares. CANDACE HILL, everybody. Wow. She needs to be prep athlete of the year for that race.
One more time:
US High School All-Time 100m:
1. Candace Hill, Georgia (2015) 10.98 w+2.0
2. Kaylin Whitney, Florida (2014) 11.10 w+0.9
3. Angela Williams, California (1998) 11.11 w+1.2
US Junior All-Time 100m:
1. Candace Hill, Georgia HS (2015) 10.98 w+2.0
2. English Gardner, Oregon (2011) 11.03 w+0.6
3. Angela Williams, USC (1999) 11.04 w+1.4
WORLD Junior All-Time 100m:
1. Marlies Göhr, East Germany (1977) 10.88 w+2.0 in Dresden, Germany
2. Katrin Krabbe, East Germany (1988) 10.89 w+1,8 in Berlin, Germany
3. Candace Hill, United States (2015) 10.98 w+2.0 in Seattle (Washington), United States
Best junior woman's 100m race in 27 years, possibly the best clean Womens junior 100m race ever?
