Tuesday night brought another big performance from Talitha Diggs. The Saucon Valley senior dropped the second fastest time in Pennsylvania state history over 400 meters, winning the event at the Eastern States Championship in 53.98.
Diggs rolled to the victory at the Armory, running a new indoor PR in the process, topping her previous best of 54.21, which she ran last year at New Balance Nationals Indoor. The time is a current US No. 2, trailing only NJ's Athing Mu's 53.14. The performance moves Diggs up to PA No. 2 all-time, trailing just Nicole Leach of West Catholic, who ran 52.19 in 2004.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talitha Diggs | 12 | Saucon Valley | 53.98 | 5 | |||
| 2 | Margaret Conteh | 11 | Girard College HS | 54.94 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Mia D'Ambrosio | 12 | Schalmont | 57.01 | 5 | |||
| 4 | Anissa Moore | 9 | Bishop Loughlin | 57.16 | 5 | |||
| 5 | Tess Darnell | 11 | Red Bank Catholic HS | 57.41 | 4 | |||
It's just the second time Diggs has run under 54 seconds in the open 400 meters -- indoors or outdoors -- though her outdoor PR stands at 52.82 from the PIAA State Championships last year.
Next up for Diggs will be the PTFCA Indoor State Championships at Penn State. Leach holds the meet record there with a 53.82 from 2005. Diggs will surely make a run at the meet record and possibly the state record on March 1.
Girard College's Margaret Conteh was an impressive second place to Diggs on Tuesday night. The junior went 54.94 for a new PR and PA No. 2, even topping her outdoor best of 55.37 from last spring. Also from Girard, Donovan Sanders improved his own PA No. 2, running a time of 48.74 for second in the boys 400 meters.