Illinois state record holder and Texas A&M signee elevates to No. 5 all-time prep athlete with 3,844 points in Virginia Beach, highlighted by personal-best 5-8.75 (1.75m) high jump effort

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Rylee Lydon produced the best debut in an indoor pentathlon in U.S. prep history by accumulating 3,844 points to capture the championship at the adidas Track Nationals.

And like most elite multi-event athletes, the senior at Prairie Ridge High in Illinois concluded the competition March 17 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center knowing she had barely scratched the surface of her potential in the one-day, five-event showcase.

Lydon, a Texas A&M signee, also achieved the Illinois state record and elevated to the No. 5 all-time high school competitor, adding the pentathlon title to her heptathlon crown representing TNT Track and Field Academy in the 17-18 division at the USATF Junior Olympics in July in Sacramento.

“After competing in the heptathlon last year, I was curious about trying out the pentathlon this year because I wanted to see how I would do,” said Lydon, who amassed 4,784 points in her heptathlon debut in July at the USATF Region 7 meet at Wabash College in Indiana.

“It was exciting to finally have the opportunity to try it out at Virginia Beach because my high school meets don’t offer that event. I honestly wasn’t too focused on a specific point total, I more so just wanted to see what score I could come out with since it was my first time doing that event.”

Lydon surpassed the best pentathlon debut score by a prep athlete of 3,827 points established in 2005 by California state record holder and former Long Beach Poly High standout Shana Woods at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at The Armory in New York.

Lydon also eclipsed the 2009 Illinois state record of 3,627 points produced by Keia Pinnick of Waubonsie Valley High at the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Reggie Lewis Center in Massachusetts.

Throughout the winter season, Lydon competed in four events in one day on multiple occasions in preparation for the challenge of completing five events in six hours at adidas Track Nationals.

Although she achieved a personal-best 5-8.75 (1.75m) on her first opportunity in the high jump, after surviving a third-attempt clearance at 5-6.50 (1.69m), Lydon shared following the meet that her performances in the 60-meter hurdles, shot put, long jump and 800 meters could have all been stronger.

Lydon ran 9.47 in the 60 hurdles, achieved a mark of 34-7 (10.54m) in the shot put, had a leap of 18-3.25 (5.57m) and capped her schedule by clocking 2:19.58 in the 800.

“It was a long day and I was thrilled to earn an indoor national title, but I knew that in four out of five of the events, everything except high jump, I could have done a lot better in, so it felt bittersweet at first in terms of my performance,” Lydon said. “It wasn’t until a couple hours after that I found out my score was the fifth-highest pentathlon score in U.S. high school history. That was really an eye opener for me and helped bring back that sense of accomplishment and excitement about what I did.”

Anna Hall produced the national high school pentathlon record of 4,302 points at the 2019 USATF Indoor Championships in New York.

In addition to Hall, only former Georgia prep standouts Kendell Williams of Kell High (4,068) and Sterling Lester of Marietta High (3,976), along with Woods’ 2006 performance of 3,924 points rank ahead of Lydon, who became the first high school girls competitor to surpass the 3,800-point barrier since Hall four years ago.

“I tend to be hard on myself when it comes to such things, but I’ve now had the time to reflect on it and realize that it was only my first time competing in the pentathlon and I’m not going to have my best one right off the bat,” Lydon said. “I’m happy with 3,844 points being my starting point and am really proud of how it went and appreciative of the work that led up to it.

“It also helped put things into perspective and made me both motivated and excited for what I can do in the future when all five of those events finally do come together once I have more experience in the multi-events.”

Lydon enters the outdoor season as the No. 5 returning heptathlon competitor in the country, looking to pursue the 2016 state record of 4,975 points established by Alton High graduate and Texas A&M standout LaJarvia Brown, as well as potentially challenging the 5,000-point barrier.