PHOTOS BY PHOTORUN.NET
North Shore junior Brianna Nerud broke the New York State record while finishing seventh in the 2,000 steeplechase Saturday at the World Youth Championships in Lille, France.
Nerud, clocked 6:29.56 while her U.S. teammate Madeline Myers, also a junior, broke her own national record in 6:29.20 to place sixth. Myers and Nerud are the only two American high school girls in history to break 6:30. Kenya’s Norah Jeruto Tanui won the world title in 6:16.41, a world youth leader.
Nerud made a hard charge over the last two laps, to finish behind Meyers for the second-fastest U.S. performance all-time.
It was the third time this season that the national high school record was set. First Mary Kate Anselimi of Ward Melville, who will compete at Stanford in the fall, set the national mark at 6:33.01, breaking the previous record of 6:33.7 set by former Suffern star Shelby Greany. Myers took over the record at the World Youth Trials, posting 6:32.02.
“I think Brianna’s been overshadowed sometimes by either her teammates or by the team’s success overall,” North Shore coach Neal Levy said. “I hope this opens some people’s eyes to the fact that she’s arrived and she’s really a tremendous athlete.”
Rudy Winkler of Averill Park, a sophomore, placed ninth on Friday in the hammer throw with a toss of 68.14 meters (223 feet, 6 inches).
- Christopher Hunt
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