High Voltage Girls 800 Meters Redraws National Rankings With Eight Of Top Nine This Season 

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan PHOTOS

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

NEW YORK — Emmry Ross demolished her own US#1 in the indoor 800 meters with a time of 2:03.95 at the CIRCUIT New York City, placing her eighth on the all-time high school indoor list.

Ross, a senior from Onsted MI, beat a stacked field that included Stanford commits Olivia Cieslak (Haverford Township PA) and Clemmie Lilley (Rumson-Fair Haven NJ). She said she didn’t know she was going to be in the race until about five days ago.

“We basically figured out we were going Monday evening of this week,” Ross said. “It was really crazy. We got on a plane yesterday and flew out. I didn’t really process it until this morning.”

Ross said she wanted to race against “the best right now in the nation,” and the race lived up to that expectation. Her old US#1 was 2:06.62, and the top three went under that mark on the track at The Armory. Cieslak took second in 2:04.58, a new Pennsylvania indoor high school record, surpassing Chanelle Price's 2007 time.

Cieslak said she loved the environment of the meet.

“I feel like we can just come here and run free,” Cieslak said. “Especially, like, running with all of our best friends on the track, it’s so great. Coming in with that mindset really helps, and that’s probably why we ran so fast today.”

Lilley wasn’t far behind, running 2:06.17, a new personal best. She said the race was a de facto season opener, and she was excited by the result.

“I’ve only had meets where I’ve been jogging with my teammates just to get points for the team,” Lilley said, “so I’m really happy with that as a start. I ended off the outdoor season at 2:05-high, so I’m pretty much in the same range, so I’m just excited for March and how much we can improve by then.”

Paige Sheppard (Union Catholic NJ) took fourth, followed by Tosin Awoleye (South Cobb GA) in fifth. The entire field went under 2:10.

Caleb Winders (Bloomington North IN) won the boys High Voltage 800 in 1:49.90, a new US#2. He let Cole Boone (Pulaski County VA) lead the majority of the race, and then he made a move with about 100 meters to go.

“I tried to stay smooth, which is pretty hard to do in the 800,” Winders said. “But I just tried to hold on, and then the last lap on the back stretch is when I usually go.”

Boone, who is currently US#1 in the 1000 meters, ended up finishing third behind Tsedeke Jakovics (Old Mill MD), who ran 1:50.67 and also outkicked Boone in the final lap. He set a personal best by two seconds, but he said he thinks he could have gotten more from his performance.

“I think the beginning of my race was a little rough,” Jakovics said. “I fought a little too hard in the first two laps. I think I came through in 55, so a little bit too slow.”

Boone finished in 1:51.11, followed by Andrew Thornton-Sherman (St. Johnsbury VT) and Ben Marks (Queen Anne’s County MD). 

Alex Fisher, a junior from Loomis Chaffee CT, won the High Voltage boys 2 mile, in 8:58.23, a new personal best. His previous PB was 9:00.33, and he said his primary goal for the meet was to break the 9:00 barrier.

Fisher beat a handful of Christian Brothers Academy NJ athletes, including Ryan Schmitt in second and Luke Hnatt in fourth. Jay Adimala (Colts Neck NJ) took third in 9:06.41.

Adimala said he didn’t realize how good of a position he was in until late in the race, and he surprised himself with his performance.

“When I saw there was only a couple guys ahead of me, I was like, ‘Holy crap,’” Adimala said. “I was expecting to be in like 10th place or something. To get there was insane. It gave me a lot more motivation, and I was like, ‘I just gotta finish it out.’”

Behind Adimala and Hnatt, Grady Jenkins (Midlothian Heritage TX) finished fifth in 9:08.15, followed closely by Adimala’s teammate, Hunter Celkupa, in 9:08.29.

Rounding out the meet, Elise Cooper (McDonogh School MD) won the girls 60 meters and 200 meters. While she didn’t earn a giant “High Voltage” medal for either, she did pick up a US#5 in the 200 with a time of 23.60.