Jazmine Fray dropped a 2:13 anchor leg on Kellenberg's Sprint Medley Relay to sweep past race leader St. Anthony's en route to US #2 4:07.78.
Northeastern track stars brought their 'A' games to the Millrose Trials at the New York Armory on Wednesday night in efforts to qualify for the prestigious 108th NYRR Millrose Games.
The high school mile races, always two of the most highly anticipated and selective races of the Games, yielded top US performances in the girls' race and an electric matchup in the boys' race, though it was the Benjamin Cardozo (NY) girls who stole the show in blazing the season's first sub-3:50 clocking for the 4x400m.
The Cardozo ladies clocked splits of 57.5, 57.1, 56.6 and 55 to blow Medgar Evers out of the water, 3:47.21 - 3:51.38, in the PSAL division. Racing all alone in Heat 6 were former national leaders Paul Robeson, with the nation's top 400m runner Amanda Crawford, who still set a new US #2 3:50.19 mark with splits of 58.4, 57.9, 56.6 and 57.0. Evers' time stands as US #3.
The boys also yielded nearly nation-leading times, as Richard Rose's Boys & Girls (NY) squad had a huge late-race surge for US #2 3:21.67 (splits 47.9, 51.7, 52.0) and Clara Barton (NY) sped to US #3 3:22.23 (splits 49.2, 49.7, 53.1, 50.0).
The winners of the Boys and Girls Invitational Miles would earn an automatic invite to the New Balance High School Mile at the Millrose Games, one of the meet's premier events.
In the Girls Invitational Mile, the pack went through the first quarter together in about 72 seconds, as the pack did not start to separate until the halfway mark, which leaders Mady Clahane (Cumberland Valley, PA) and Paris Calcagnini (Sacred Heart, NY) reached in just under 2:29.
Clahane took control of the race at 1,200m, splitting about 71 for the bell lap to finish in a season-best 4:58.11, good for US #4. Hers was the only sub-5 minute clocking of the evening as runner-up Rachel Suss (Metuchen, NY) finished second overall in US #8 5:03.24. As the only returning Millrose Games qualifier and with an indoor PB of 4:49, Clahane was the heavy favorite heading into Wednesday night and the race developed exactly as pundits expected. Her time stands as US #4.
The boys race posed an interesting set-up as defending Millrose Games and Trials champion Luke Gavigan (Tappan Zee, NY), the nation's fastest returner in the mile, squared off against a field that included Columbia commit Sam Ritz (Germantown Academy, PA), ranked US #1 in both the 800m and 1k, but who performed well below expectations at the Hispanic Games over the weekend. Pat Tucker (St. Anthony's, NY), a 4:17 1,600m runner this season, and cross country standout Blaise Ferro (CBA, NJ) also stood to challenge.
The pack dawdled around 70-second pace for the first two laps behind Gavigan before Tucker broke things open with a 58-second third lap. But at 200m to go, it was Ritz who showed the field why he owns the nation's top mid-distance marks as he closed the second half in 1:57.6 and earned the auto Millrose bid with a time of 4:16.69. Tucker faded to third (4:20.68) and Gavigan to fifth (4:23.94) as Ferro snuck into second (4:20.68). Mitchell Daddario (Sweet Home, NY) ran for fourth overall (4:22.24).
Other Millrose individual qualifiers included the winners of the 55m dash. Zach Warden (Newburgh Free Academy) with his 6.46 to hold off Anton Porter and Rai Benjamin, while Sarah Militano (Miller Place) ran 7.28 to defeat Ariel Strunkey (Taft).
In the boys' CHSAA 4x800m relay, St. John the Baptist's anchor threw down a 1:57.5 split to briefly secure the lead, but defending national champions Chaminade made up ground in the final quarter to win in a new US #2 7:59.59 (splits 2:01.17/1:59.22/2:00.92/1:58.26). St. Anthony's finished runner-up in US #3 8:00.8 (splits 1:59.85/1:58.47/2:03.34/1:59.12), with St. John's third in US #6 8:02.53 (2:03.22/1:59.5/2:02.46/1:57.53).
But perhaps the most exciting race of the evening was the CHSAA Girls 1,600m Sprint Medley. Only two teams were ever in contention for the win - Kellenberg and St. Anthony's, as both squads held steady over nearly even splits of about 60 seconds for the 400m leg and 26 seconds for the first 200m leg. On the third leg, St. Anthony's broke it open, splitting 25.2 over Kellenberg's 27.0. But in the 1,600 Sprint Medley, it's all about who's running the 800. St. Anthony's anchor split a respectable 2:18.4, but it was not nearly enough to hold off Kellenberg's Jasmine Fray, who split 2:13.02 to lead her squad to US #2 4:07.78.
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