Rauber and Masciarelli excel on the track at Night of the 5K; Brown, Flynn, Hutchins and Thorvaldson achieve more historic consistency to join first sub-17 cross country efforts this year by David, Hansen, Ping, VanderKooi and Weaver

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Sydney Thorvaldson ran the fastest 5-kilometer time achieved on Wyoming soil by clocking 16 minutes, 49 seconds Friday at the Bulldog Invitational at Lewis Park in Wheatland, and the performance of the Rawlins High senior wasn’t even among the five fastest national prep girls cross country efforts during the past week.

Brynn Brown clocked 16:19.81 as part of the North Texas Circuit Series on Saturday at Evans Middle School in McKinney, and it wasn’t even the fastest career 5-kilometer race for the Denton Guyer High senior.

Even during a season that has managed to move forward despite the Coronavirus pandemic, in a year that won’t feature Nike or Foot Locker national championship meets, and following the graduation of three-time NXN champion and prep 5-kilometer cross country all-time performer Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland High in New York, the bar is being set higher each week by some of the country’s elite female competitors.

And the exceptional marks weren’t just limited to cross country courses, as seniors Brooke Rauber and Sydney Masciarelli impressed in a 5,000-meter track race Friday in Jersey City, N.J., taking part in the Night of the 5K Presented by Bakline x Trials of Miles.

Rauber, a standout at Tully High in New York, ran 16:28.34 and Marianapolis Prep of Connecticut multi-sport talent Masciarelli clocked 16:30.06.

Add in state 5-kilometer cross country records for Tatum David of Florida’s IMG Academy and Analee Weaver of Stillwater Area High in Minnesota, a career-best performance for Abby VanderKooi of Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and a third consecutive sub-17 effort for Jenna Hutchins of Science Hill High in Tennessee, and it amounted to one of the most impressive weeks ever for prep female distance runners.

Brown, a North Carolina commit, joined Tuohy with her third career sub-16:30 performance.

Brown had run 16:25.26 on Sept. 19 at South Lakes Park during the second week of the North Texas Circuit Series. She also clocked 16:12 on the same 5-kilometer layout at Guyer’s home meet last season.

Brown and Tuohy, a freshman at North Carolina State, have now accounted for six of the 10 fastest 5-kilometer cross country performances in history, with Thorvaldson (16:19) and Hutchins (16:25.08) also part of that list based on marks achieved earlier this year.

That means eight of the top 10 all-time 5-kilometer cross country marks have been achieved in the past three years. And even without Foot Locker and NXN on the postseason calendar, this season still has plenty of potential for more meaningful performances.

Hutchins, a two-time Foot Locker All-American, recorded the fastest 5-kilometer time by a prep female athlete on Georgia soil at the Alexander/ASICS Invitational at the Chattahoochee Hills Eventing course, clocking 16:40.79.

She joins Thorvaldson as the only girls competitors this season with three sub-17 performances in 5-kilometer races. Thorvaldson had achieved the first sub-17 effort ever in Wyoming by running 16:57.9 on Sept. 5 at the Douglas River Run, followed by a Colorado soil record of 16:19 on Sept. 12 at the Heritage Classic.

David ran 16:41.41 on Friday at the Desert Twilight Festival in San Tan Valley, Ariz., eclipsing the all-time Florida 5-kilometer cross country mark of 16:46.66 achieved in 2008 by Wellington High graduate and 2007 Foot Locker national champion Ashley Brasovan.

David, a Foot Locker and NXN All-American, led a trio of sub-17 performances at The Links at Queen Creek, with Lauren Ping of Desert Vista High in Arizona clocking 16:57.2 and Carlee Hansen of Woods Cross High in Utah, a North Carolina commit, running 16:57.7.

Weaver, a BYU commit, produced a 16:42.6 effort Thursday at a Forest Lake SEC Tri-meet at Forest Lake Middle School, not only running the fastest prep girls 5-kilometer performance on state soil, but also the all-time mark by a Minnesota high school athlete.

Tierney Wolfgram, a former standout at Math and Science Academy, had run the fastest time by a Minnesota prep competitor by clocking 16:48.67 to win the 2017 Nike Heartland Regional in Yankton, S.D.

Emily Covert of Minneapolis Washburn held the state soil record, clocking 16:56.4 at the 2018 Section 6AA Championships at Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista.

VanderKooi ran the fastest 5-kilometer time of her career with a 16:48.71 effort Saturday at the Allendale Falcon Invitational at Allendale High. It marked the fifth career sub-17 performance for VanderKooi, a two-time Foot Locker All-American.

Junior Julia Flynn of Traverse City Central produced her second sub-17 effort of the season Saturday in Michigan, clocking 16:55.8 to win her section at the Shepherd Blue Jay Invitational. Flynn also ran 16:51.3 on Aug. 29 at the Benzie Central Pete Moss Invitational.

Sophie Atkinson, a senior at Katy Cinco Ranch High in Texas, just missed eclipsing the 17-minute mark in a 5-kilometer race for the second time this season after running 17:00.4 at the Nike South Invitational at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands.

Atkinson, a Virginia commit, clocked 16:59 in a 5-kilometer race Sept. 12 at the Brenham Hillacious Invitational. She has also produced a 3-mile effort of 16:19 on Sept. 19 at the Klein ISD Invitational.

Despite the near miss by Atkinson in her sub-17 pursuit, there were still 11 total by prep female athletes in 5-kilometer competitions during a three-day span on the track or cross country course.

With David, Hansen, Ping, VanderKooi and Weaver producing their first sub-17 cross country efforts of the season to join Atkinson, Brown, Flynn, Hutchins and Thorvaldson, the list has now increased to 11 girls competitors nationally, along with a previous performance from Carmen Alder of Pinecrest High in North Carolina.

Even without a traditional postseason schedule, the performances achieved by several high school female distance runners have already made this a historic cross country season.