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Roe, Halladay Run Nation's Fastest Girls Miles at 2017 Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays

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DyeStat.com   Apr 30th 2017, 6:59am
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Roe, Halladay run fastest miles of the season at Jesuit

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

PORTLAND -- A year after Michael Slagowski helped boost the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays into the national headlines with his sub-four mile, it was the girls' turn Friday to shine in the spotlight.  

RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS by Kim Spir

Washington's standout sophomore Taylor Roe of Lake Stevens was able to out-sprint Lexy Halladay, the talented freshman from Mountain View ID, as they went 1-2 and to the top of the national leaderboard. Roe ran 4:45.97 and Halladay 4:46.35.

Those two had not raced one another since they were NXN Northwest teammates in December. Adding in Olivia Brooks, the senior from Summit OR and Colorado commit, only served to make the race more interesting.

Halladay entered the race with the best time in a related distance. She ran 4:26.59 to win the 1,500 meters at the Oregon Relays. Finishing second in that race was Brooks, in a personal-best 4:28.82. Roe entered the race with a 4:50.18 mile best from the Brooks PR Invitational in June.

As soon as the gun went off, it did not take long for the three runners to break away from the field behind the early pace maker. 

“I think we were more just focused on each other,” Roe said afterward about not following the pace maker.

Halladay continued to push the pace, both with the pace maker several meters ahead and after the pacer dropped out. After an opening quarter in 1:11, the trio came through the half-mile in 2:24.

It was Halladay at the front, followed closely by Roe and then Brooks until the final 200 meters. The pace quickened as Halladay and Roe began their kicks in earnest. Brooks, still moving fast, began to fall behind.

Coming off the final turn, Roe found another gear. She sprinted by Halladay, beating her to the line. They bested Ella Donaghu's meet record (4:54.60). Brooks also went under the old record with 4:51.16.

Afterward, both Roe and Halladay were all smiles. They both chose to race at the Twilight Relays to compete against girls from outside their respective states. They got the experiences they wanted, along with personal bests and nation-leading times.

The boys elite mile also featured a major move over the final 100 meters. After the pace maker dropped out, Andy Monroe, a junior from Crater OR, found himself in the lead. It was not the position he had expected, but he made the most of it, leading the field until the backstretch of the final lap.

Then it was Caleb Seely, a Wilson OR senior, who moved to the lead. Monroe slotted himself into second before unleashing a ferocious kick coming off the turn. Monroe won in 4:09.45.

Daniel Maton of Camas WA finished second (4:10.64), Joshua Schumacher of Jesuit was third (4:11.36) and Seely was fourth (4:12.03).

The Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays featured several other strong performances. Aliya Wilson, a Tahoma WA sophomore, won the girls elite 100-meter dash in 11.73, a personal best by 0.13 seconds. Braden Lenzy of Tigard OR beat rival Anthony Albright of Beaverton OR, both in identical times of 10.69.

The girls of Tahoma had a string of wins, powered by the Wilson sisters. Aliya won the featured 100. Alisha, also a sophomore, won the long jump with a leap of 18-9.50, breaking the meet record. Older sister Tierra contributed to Tahoma wins in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. The latter was in a new meet record of 1:41.27.

The other record-breaking relay of the night came in the girls 4x400 relay. Union WA, powered by the Maryland-bound Merriweather twins, Dai’lyn and Jai’lyn, broke their own meet record with a time of 3:51.02.

In the boys pole vault, South Eugene OR sophomore Simon Park shattered the meet record by over a foot with a clearance of 15-9. He took attempts at a new personal best 16-2, but was unable to clear it.

“I took a lot of jumps today,” Park said. “I felt like if I had made some of the heights on first attempts, I could have had more energy to make 16-2.”

Park spent the previous two years living in Korea and training under a Korean Olympic pole vaulter. He went from a personal best of 9-0 to 15-9 in about a year. His personal best, set earlier this season, is 16-0.75.

Curtis Stradley of Battle Ground WA, who entered the weekend as the U.S. leader in the javelin, won with a throw of 201-4. It was 10 feet short of his personal best, but it was enough to win the competition over Jean Rwandika of Aloha OR, who threw 199-9.



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