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Irene Riggs Finds Way to Another Big Win in Nike Indoor Nationals Mile

Published by
DyeStat.com   Mar 13th 2023, 4:25pm
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West Virginia Standout Pushes Hard Enough To Take Sting Out Of Sophia Gorriaran's Kick At The Armory; Hoover AL Girls Win Three Sprint Relays

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

John Nepolitan photos

NEW YORK -- Irene Riggs carefully chose her spot to enter a busy weekend of high school indoor track and field. One spot, one race. 

The Nike Cross Nationals winner and member of the bronze-medal winning U.S. U20 national cross country team picked the The Armory and the mile, an event she hasn't raced since 2022, and won. 

"I was worried that the race was going to be painful, but actually it was so fun," Riggs said after running 4:38.23 for the fastest time in the country this year. 

The race delivered one of the biggest highlights of the weekend for Nike Indoor Nationals as the NSAF-organized meet moved back into The Armory for the first time since 2019. 

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWSBIG BOARD (Winners List)

Riggs was joined by fellow U.S. cross country teammates Karrie Baloga of Cornwall Central NY and Zariel Macchia of William Floyd NY.

Wayzata MN's Abbey Nechanicky, Park Tudor's Sophia Kennedy and Saturday's 800-meter champion Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown RI gave the race even more contenders.

Gorriaran ran a US#1 time of 4:37.54 last December and was seeking a difficult weekend double. And everybody knew she could not be outkicked. 

Riggs and Baloga, the Champs Sports Cross Country champion, ran up front and Gorriaran tailed them, waiting to make her move. 

Riggs strung together laps of 35 seconds and then closed faster than anyone, in 31.90. 

"My coach told me to take it out pretty hard and through the 800 I felt pretty relaxed," Riggs said. "In the back half I had to start picking it up because if I let it come down to a kick, I'm not going to win."

Baloga remained connected the longest and closed in 33.4 to finish in 4:39.96. 

In the boys mile that started slow, Knox Young from Greenville SC closed in 59.5 over his final 400 meters to win in 4:11.49. Will Heslam from Roosevelt OR moved from 12th to second in the final two laps and took second in 4:13.19. 

There was a West Coast flavor to the sprints, where Mia Brahe-Pedersen, a junior from the Inner Circle Track Club (Lake Oswego High) won the 60 dash and led her best friend and club teammate, Sophia Beckmon, to a 1-2 finish in the 200. 

Brahe-Pedersen ran 7.37 to win the 60 meters and then came back to defend her Nike Indoor Nationals 200 title in 23.35. Beckmon, from Oregon City OR, ran to her outside in lane 6 and finished in 23.77. 

Rodrick Pleasant from Southern California Elite (Serra CA) won the boys 200 meters in 21.41 seconds. 

Another double winner was Skylynn Townsend from North Texas Jackrabbits, who won the triple jump on Saturday with a US#1 mark of 43-6.50 and came back Sunday to win the long jump with 20-1.50. 

It was also a huge weekend for the girls from Hoover TC from Alabama. The girls from Hoover High, one of the country's premier track and field programs, won three relay events. 

Hoover won the Sprint Medley Relay in 4:06.08, the 4x200 in 1:40.81 and the 4x400 to close out the meet on Sunday in 3:50.67. Taylor Canada and Gabrielle Washington were part of all three winning relays.

"I knew we were going to come and dominate," said Hoover club coach Que Chapman, whose daughter Jebreiya was on the SMR and 4x200 teams. 'We came for business. They have some amazing coaches, the girls have great attitudes and they all came together."

Hoover has won nine of the past 10 Alabama Class 7A outdoor track titles and the Bucs appear to be loaded entering the spring season. 

Akala Garrett was also a double winner. The double gold medalist at the 2022 World U20 Championships (400 hurdles and 4x400 relay) won the two components of her main event. Garrett won the 400 on Saturday in 54.02 seconds and then won the 60-meter hurdles on Sunday in a US#1 time of 8.25 seconds. 

The REAL Training Club, representing Niwot High in Colorado, won a pair of girls distance relay events. Anna Prok, Olivia Allessandrini, Addy Ritzenhein and Mia Prok combined for a time of 9:00.25 in the 4x800 relay. 

Two nights earlier, a lineup of Madison Shults, Julia Rudolph, Allessandrini and Anna Prok won the distance medley relay in 11:41.46.

Juriad Hughes Jr from Coon Rapids MN jumped a US#3 24-11 to win the long jump. One of the pre-meet favorites, Nebraskan Jaylen Lloyd, who won the Nike Outdoor meet last June, suffered an injury leading up to the meet and was unable to compete. 

In one of the closest races of the weekend, Storm TC of Lancaster OH edged out Flyers TC of Chaminade NY by .001 seconds in the 4x800 relay. Both teams were credited with 7:48.84. 



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