VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA -- The crowd was on their feet on Friday as Saratoga Springs (NY) and IMG Academy (FL) battled through the girls championship DMR at adidas Indoor Nationals.
Both teams were in striking distance of one another throughout the 1200m, 400m and 800m legs.
It came down to Ella Kurto of Saratoga Springs and Tatum David of IMG Academy for the final 1,600m legs to determine who would take the victory.
But it would be the Ascenders in the end.
IMG Academy's quartet Carly McNatt, Emilia Puskas, Jais Ward, and David won the title in 11:34.86 to be US No. 3 all-time, just behind North Rockland's all-time best of 11:34.85 and Lake Braddock's record of 11:34.54 in 2016.
Despite having a limited season, Saratoga Springs left an impressive mark, too.
Kurto led most of the anchor leg. With 500m to go, Tatum made a huge move to pass Kurto on the outside and continued to increase separation between them. David split 4:46 for her leg to bring home the victory.
Event 28 Girls Distance Medley Championship
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National: N 11:34.54 1/14/2017 Lake Braddock, Burke, VA
S Browning,Skyla Davidson,S Schwers,Kate Murphy
Meet, Armory: M 11:34.85 3/11/2016 North Rockland, Thiells, N
Alex Harris,Camille Cameron,Syd March,Kate Tuohy
Facility: V 12:00.36 2/6/2021 IMG Elite
School Finals
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Finals
1 Img Elite 11:34.86V
1) McNatt, Carly 10 2) Ward, Jais 9
3) Puskas, Emilia 12 4) David, Tatum 10
3:34.486 (3:34.486) 4:32.526 (58.040) 6:48.330 (2:15.804)
11:34.857 (4:46.528)
2 Kinetic RC 11:50.39V
1) Bush, Emily 9 2) DeMeo, Christina 12
3) Hart, Mackenzie 11 4) Kurto, Ella 11
3:34.199 (3:34.199) 4:35.000 (1:00.802) 6:49.740 (2:14.740)
11:50.382 (5:00.643)
3 New England Elite Track Club 12:41.92
1) Costantino, Alexandria 12 2) Brent, Alexandra 11
3) Budzinski, Anya 7 4) Collins, Caroline 9
3:45.455 (3:45.455) 4:47.481 (1:02.027) 12:41.914 (7:54.433)Related Links: