Never a dull moment on final day of NBNI

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

NEW YORK -- In three and a half wildly entertaining and dizzying hours on Sunday at The Armory, high school track and field revealed its essence.

The final day of the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships was a swirling stew of  magnificence, heartbreak and befuddlement. 

And perhaps nothing tied all of those elements together the way that the boys mile did. Grant Fisher, two-time Foot Locker champion and one of the all-time greats, paced himself to a four-minute mile effort. He was through 1,500 meters in 3:46.41 and winding up a huge kick when his foot clipped the rail and nearly sent him sprawling into the long jump pit on the infield. 

Stunned -- along with the crowd -- Fisher managed to stay on his feet. He found his way back to the track and reached the finish line in 4:03.54. 

His coach, Mike Scannell, wanted to know all along how much life would be left in Fisher's legs when he was on pace with a lap to go. Scannell and everyone else saw that Fisher had lots of speed left and was oh-so-close to a chance to surpass Alan Webb as the greatest high school miler in Armory history. 

This is high school track. It's a laboratory for young athletes in ascension. The dots don't always connect. It's not tidy. The desire for excellent performance is tethered to a learning curve. 

The quality of the racing Sunday was superb. Ryan Clark of Banneker GA edged out Noah Lyles of TC Williams VA 6.641 to 6.644 to win the 60-meter dash championship. Hours later, and with time to be fueled by that result, Lyles scorched track with a 20.83 200 meters that was the second-fastest indoor time in prep history. Clark was right with him in 20.85. 

Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic NJ need all of her national sophomore class record 8.17 to defeat Anna Cockrell of Providence Day NC (8.21) in the 60-meter hurdles.

Grant Holloway of Grassfield VA edged out national leader Chad Zallow of Kennedy OH in the boys 60 hurdles final, 7.585 to 7.589. Holloway and Zallow go into the record books as Nos. 2 and 3 all-time.

The boys 2-mile saw one of the greatest indoor distance races in prep history with three of the nation's finest runners fighting it out over the final laps. Levi Thomet and Andrew Hunter waged a furious sprint down the final backstretch to the corner for pole position over the final 100 meters, with Alex Ostberg trying to reel them both in just a step or two behind. All three were red-lined at the finish tape, with Hunter getting their first in 8:48.22. Thomet lost his balance and tumbled to the ground after crossing in 8:48.32. And Ostberg was third in 8:48.88.  They are Nos. 6, 7 and 8 all-time. 

One of the most anticipated races of the day was the boys 400 meters and it produced a finish that no one saw coming, least of all the young woman who was holding the finish tape and standing in the wrong place. 

Taylor McLaughlin overtook Rai Benjamin in the final 40 meters and then with no way to manuever out of the way, barrelled into the unfortunate holder of that tape. The collision was awful and caused a pile up that snared Benjamin, Izaiah Brown and Josephus Lyles. 

McLaughlin, timed in 46.50, was later disqualifed for cutting inside before reaching the cones at the end of the second turn. But his primary concern was that the person he ran over was OK. 

"She didn't move and you saw what happened, I ran right into her," McLaughlin said. "I'm fine. I was worried about her because I'm a big guy."

McLaughlin's younger sister didn't get to fully enjoy her day, either. Sydney McLaughlin got the victory she wanted in the hurdles, but aggravated a muscle injury in her upper leg and was unable to run with her Union Catholic teammates in the 4x400 relay. 

There were breathtaking performances. Asa Garcia somehow put everything together for a final triple jump of 43-2.25 -- almost a foot farther than she'd ever gone before. 

Ja'Mari Ward scored his second huge PR of the weekend in the boys triple jump, going 51-7.75 on top of Saturday's 25-7.25 in the long jump. But in both competitions, Ward left something big in an unmeasured foul. He was slightly over the board with his toe on a long jump that might have been close to 26 feet on Saturday. On Sunday, he fouled a jump that appeared to be close to 52 feet. 

Ryen Frazier, two days removed from spurring Anna Rohrer to a national record in the 5,000 meters, went to the well again on Sunday. She ran 10:02.86 for the 2-mile after galloping away from the field early in the race and pressing herself to try and get under 10 minutes. Then, later, she returned for the mile and fought for another victory. Signs of fatigue showed up late as Nevada Moreno surged ahead and beat Frazier 4:43.23 to 4:44.48. 

In addition to Sydney McLaughlin, three more sophomore girls gave notice that they are rising stars bursting with potential. Lauren Rain Williams from Oaks Christian in California closed her stagger in a hurry and flew to the win in the 200 meters in 23.46. 

Sammy Watson of Rush-Henrietta NY, part of a national record SMR on Saturday, used a late rush to win the 800 meters in 2:08.13. She beat Ersula Farrow of Oak Park MI by a quarter of a second. 

And Kamryn McIntosh of Suffern NY, part of a championship-winning DMR on Friday and a second-place finish in the SMR Saturday, won the 400 in 54.57. She edged Layla White NC by .03 seconds. 

The meet ended, as it should, with a pair of nation-leading marks in the 4x400 relay. Oak Park (aka Motor City TC) won the girls race in 3:42.72 with anchor Anna Jefferson splitting 54.30. 

Cheltenham PA, nosed out by Dunbar OH in a record-breaking SMR on Saturday, returned to claim the title it coveted most, running 3:17.38.