With two final days left in 2015, Fayetteville-Manlius senior Kaitlyn Neal tied the knot on what had been an eventful second half of the year. After transferring schools in the summer, Neal led her team to another NXN title, along with a NXN-Regional individual win. Then, in her second meet of the season, on limited race fitness, she blasted away from the field in the mile at the Oscar B. Jensen Relays. Weaving around lapped runners, Neal was made to ran extra distance on a flat track, yet still managed to field the fastest time of the year so far (US #2 if you count Nevada Mareno's 4:43 indoor mark run during XC at a Collegiate Open Meet.)
New York has already been seeing a flurry of All-Time marks for December, showing the influence mild winter weather can have on performances.
- Jess Lawson Sets Strong 1500m Opening Mark (Dec 5th)
- Megan Reilly Goes US #2 All-Time for December 1500m (Dec 26th)
- Abbey Wheeler Hits US #4 All-Time for December 1500m (Dec 28th)
However, Kaitlyn Neal flew past the strong trio in her winning efforts. Using NCAA Conversion factors, her equivalent is as follows.
A 4:55.34 mile is equivalent to a 4:33.54 for 1500m.
Flat Track conversion to Banked Track is by a factor of 1.0099
Neal's Flat Track Mile is equal to a banked track 1500m of 4:30.66
As an aside, Mary Cain holds the national record for the fastest 1500m run during December, with her 4:29.40. Not bad company to be in. The second fastest December Mile is held by Sabrina Southerland, when she went 4:56.25 at the Bishop Loughlin Games in 2012.