Girls Distance
800 meters
The girl's 800 meters was as field full of talent and fast seed times. A large pack came through 400 meters together, meaning it was still anyone's race. With 300 meters to go, Kentucky's Emma Kuntz exploded to the front of the field, seemingly putting the race away on demand. Her 2:13.77 final time is good for the U.S. #15 mark this year. She was followed by Lauren Jackson of Georgia, running 2:15.88 for the U.S. #27 time this year. Sydney Benson of Michigan and Hailey Hendry of Tennessee followed with their U.S. #39 and U.S. #41 performances.
1 mile
The girl's mile was out hot as Julia James out of Tennessee brought the field through the 400 in an ambitious 70 seconds. From there the pace slowed and a lead pack consisting of Hailey Hendry (TN), Rebecca Story (TN), and Riley Burr (GA) hit the 800 in 2:28-2:29. By 1200 the lead pack had whittled to just Hendry and Burr, making for an exciting last 400 meters. Very closely contested down the back stretch of the last lap, Hendry proved to have a little more than Burr over the last 200 meters and took home the win in 4:57.9 to Burr's 4:58.11. With their impressive sub-5 performances, the two ended up running the U.S. #32 and U.S. #34 times this year.
2 mile
The girl's 2 mile saw an impressive 8 athletes enter into the U.S. top 50 ranks. A large pack of about 6 girls came through the mile in an honest 5:24 with Caitlin Shepard of Illinois leading the way. Niamh Schumacher of Indiana was lurking in the back of the lead pack at the mile, biding her time and waiting to move. The lead pack thinned to 4 girls as they hit the bell with Claire Cheeseman of Tennessee at the front. Cheeseman tried to pull away from the field over the last 200, but early lurker Schumacher would not let her go. Coming around the last turn, Schumacher pulled even with Cheeseman and then kicked home for the win down the last straighaway. The close race saw the U.S. #15, #16, #17, #18, #20, #26, #30, and #47 times in the country this year.