Ellie Shea, Connor Burns Run All-Time Top 10 Performances In 2-Mile Victories

By David Woods for DyeStat

Keenan Gray photos

BOSTON – Timbuk 3’s climb up the music charts in the 1980s and ‘90s came years before Ellie Shea was born. But if she needs a theme song, the rock group has one for her: “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.”

Blue sunglasses might not be customary inside an arena, but don’t throw shade on Ellie Shea. She attacked Mary Cain’s 10-year-old high school record and came away with a runaway victory in the 2-mile Friday at the New Balance Nationals Indoor.

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Here is the thing about record assaults. Even if they come up short, they are riveting theater and historic achievements.

Shea and Connor Burns gave chase, reaffirming they are two of track and field’s rising runners.

Burns, of Southern Boone MO, defeated a deep field to win the two-mile in 8:43.24, worth No. 7 on the all-time boys list. Pacing lights were set at Edward Cheserek’s record of 8:39.15, but Burns was too far behind at the mile (4:23.22) to have a realistic shot.

Burns ran a 4:20.02 second mile in a race in which six boys were under 8:52. Including another section, eight were sub-8:52.

Shea, of Emerging Elite TC and nearby Belmont MA, took the girls race in 9:49.82. That’s US#2 and No. 5 on the all-time prep list (combining 3,200m and two miles).

Of the sunglasses, Shea said:

“I don’t always wear them. But sometimes when the light is really bright, it helps me focus.”

Shea led by more than five seconds after a 2:23.54 half-mile. After a 4:51.79 mile, she was 12-plus seconds ahead. She briefly was ahead of the pacing lights for Cain’s 9:38.68.

Just following the plan, she said.

“And when no one went with me, I just went for it,” Shea said.

She has gone back and forth from indoor track to cross country, back to indoor. She was 10th in last month’s under-20 World Cross Country Championships at Bathurst, Australia, leading Team USA to a third-place finish and its first medal in event history.

That was halfway around the world. This was a home meet, run less than four miles from her school.

“I know my training is going to set me up for whatever race I decide to do, whether it be on the track or the cross country course, and however long it may be,” she said.

Hanne Thomsen, a sophomore from Montgomery CA, was second in 10:07.06. She outleaned Karrie Baloga of Cornwall NY, 10:07.10.

 Baloga was a Shea teammate in Australia, finishing 13th.

“Making history was awesome,” said Baloga, the Champs Sports national champ in cross country.

Tatum David of Olney IL fell on the sixth lap and did not finish. David was second in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix mile in 4:40.86, beating Shea’s 4:42.08.

The 2-mile might be a portent of things to come for Burns. He said he wants to test himself at longer distances, even up to 5,000 meters.

Burns ran into the spotlight by running a sub-4-minute mile as a junior and then last month becoming the fifth high schooler to run sub-4 indoors. He clocked a 3:59.11 mile Feb. 26 at Boston University, and he will return to race the mile here Sunday.

Finishing 32nd in December's Nike Cross Nationals at Portland, Ore., “was hard,” Burns conceded. He got a measure of redemption, beating Jackson Heidesch of Dowling Catholic IA and Kole Mathison of Carmel IN, who were fifth and fourth in Portland, respectively.

Heidesch finished second in the 2-mile in 8:44.45 and Mathison third in 8:47.11. (Heidesch ran a US#1 of 8:42.60 -- and No. 4 all-time -- at Chicago on Jan. 21.)

Mathison also ran at Australia, finishing 25th to help the men to team bronze. He was the Champs Sports Cross Country national champion in San Diego.

He fell back to fourth late in the 2-mile but had the fastest closing quarter-mile (61.87) to reclaim third. Drew Griffith, a junior from Butler PA, was fourth in 8:48.01.

Mathison said he has been treating a hip injury but “felt great” in this race.

“I kind of pushed myself to surge a little bit. That’s kind of what I do in races,” he said. “If somebody comes up on me, I press and try to throw in a surge. If they come up on me again, throw in another surge, hoping they break at some point.

“I think I did a great job of pushing myself when my head was telling me, ‘Stop, stop, stop.’ It’s a mental game sometimes.”

Mathison’s time made Indiana history. He broke the state indoor record of 8:55.7 set by Rudy Chapa of Hammond IN in 1974 (as a sophomore) and was faster than the outdoor record set by Futsum Zienasellassie of North Central IN at Arcadia, Calif., in 2012.

In relays, all four winners were US#1:

>> Crater OR won the boys distance medley relay in 10:00.20, barely missing out as eighth to run sub-10:00 indoors. Tyrone Gorze ran the 1,600 in 4:07.28. Delbarton NJ was second in 10:02.81, riding a 4:03.80 anchor by Collin Boler.

>> Cuthbertson NC won the girls DMR in 11:35.51, anchored by Charlotte Bell’s 4:52.11. That ranks No. 6 all-time.

>> Seton Hall NJ and Bullis MD won the boys and girls sprint medleys in 3:27.42 and 3:59.96, respectively.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

All-time indoor two-mile top 10

ot – oversized track. C—converted time.

Boys

8:39.15 Edward Cheserek, St. Benedicts NJ 2013

8:40.0 Gerry Lindgren, Rogers WA 1964

8:40.70 Lukas Verzbikas, Sandburg IL 2011

8:42.60 Jackson Heidesch, Dowling Catholic IA 2023

8:42.7 Jeff Nelson, Burbank CA 1979

8:43.2ot Dave Merrick, Lincoln-Way IL 1971

8:43.24 Connor Burns, Southern Boone MO 2023

8:45.16 Brodey Hasty, Brentwood TN 2017

8:45.19 Alan Webb, South Lakes VA 2001

8:45.6ot Craig Virgin, Lebanon IL 1973

Girls

9:38.68 Mary Cain, Bronxville NY 2013

9:44.44 Natalie Cook, Flower Mound TX 2022

9:47.95 Sydney Thorvaldson, Rawlins WY 2021

9:49.37c Irene Riggs, Morgantown WV 2023

9:49.82 Ellie Shea, Belmont MA 2023

9:51.00 Brynn Brown, Guyer TX 2021

9:51.04 Katelyn Tuoky, North Rockland NY 2019

9:54.7c Audrey DaDamio, Seaholm MI 2021

9:55.92 Melody Fairchild, Boulder CO 1991

9:56.06 Brie Oakley, Grandview CO 2017