The Steeplechase is distinctly a New York event, and although we didn't sweep the event at Outdoor Nationals this year, we did see two significant runs. Check them out below.
Stokes Comes Back For More Gold
A week after the State Meet, and at a race distance 1000m less, Parker Stokes (Maine-Endwell) once again came to dominate the event. During the last lap, Stokes kicked away from the field to a NY #11 All-Time mark of 5:53.74. Behind him, a duo from Goshen, Liam Higgins (5:57.04) and Louis Greco (5:57.45) run to silver and bronze, becoming the third best school for the event based on a combined two-man average, behind North Rockland and Corning. New York took home the first four medals on the podium, as well as being 4 of the 5 only athletes under 6mins for the event.
Trainor Makes Redemption Run
A week after a state meet that saw sophomore Sarah Trainor trip over a water barrier, derailing what could have been a State Title run, the FDR steepler came back and took runner-up in the Nationals event. The race was won by Ohioan Taylor Ewert, more notably known as a racewalker whose parents met up at the Syracuse University Track & Field Program. But Trainor was right on her back, closing the gap in the final stretch. She would cross the line in 6:41.47, breaking the former Sophomore State Record of 6:44.63. That Record was held by Shelby Greany of Suffern, set in 2007. The mark is also NY #7 All-Time.
Ewert would miss the Soph National Record by less than a second, but the next seven athletes to cross the line were all New Yorkers. State Champ Aziza Chigatayeva would take fourth overall, with third place going to Brooke Rauber. After the race concluded, Trainor congratulated Rauber on the effort, as Rauber was also a victim of a fall a week earlier at the State Meet. Shared experiences, for both better or worse.
