PHILADELPHIA – Paige Sheppard’s sensational sophomore season took a new turn Saturday night at Franklin Field.

 

Two weeks after running a sophomore class record in the 800 meters at the Brooks PR Invitational, the Union Catholic NJ star broke another sophomore class record in the girls mile at New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

 

In doing so, Sheppard pulled off the upset of the meet, too, beating two-time defending champion and meet record holder Sadie Engelhardt in a new meet record time of 4 minutes, 33.67 seconds, moving her to seventh on the all-time high school list.

 

“This one was kind of a little bit more gutsy; just kind of go for it,” Sheppard said. “I knew I had it, I just had to be right there.”

 

Sheppard was right there alongside Engelhardt to the very end, closing her last lap in 63.04 seconds to earn a 10-second lifetime best effort.

 

Engelhardt, the second-fastest miler in prep history, cross the tape in 4:34.46 for second.

 

“I’m happy for Paige,” Engelhardt said. “Just to win it as a sophomore is great.”

 

The previous meet record of 4:37.04 held by Engelhardt appeared to be alive for another year based on the early tactics from the field. The first half went through 2:20.89, led by Abigail Hennessy (Westford Academy MA).

 

Engelhardt took her first lead on the penultimate lap, holding the advantage at the bell. Sheppard, after fallin as far back as sixth place, responded quickly.

 

“Whenever (Sadie) was gonna go, I had to make my move and be confident in that,” Sheppard said.

 

Sadie held the advantage another 200 meters until Sheppard moved to her outside shoulder, applying more pressure before heading into the homestretch.

 

When they both made the turn for home, Engelhardt began losing momentum while Sheppard was gaining it as the crowd rose to its feet and roared when the Union Catholic sophomore crossed the line in first.

 

Hennessy, who was also in the mix with Sheppard and Engelhardt to the very end, finished third in a personal best 4:34.69, moving her to ninth on the all-time high school list.

 

Claire Stegall (Nolensville CA) also ran below Engelhart’s meet record in 4:36.89 to finish fourth. Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery CA), Friday night’s two-mile winner, finished fifth in 4:39.24.

 

Natalie Dumas (Eastern Regional NJ) drew attention for a second consecutive day in the girls 400 final, winning her second of three potential individual titles this week.

 

The junior added another meet record to her already impressive first two days, running 51.14 for the eighth-fastest time in high school history. She won the 400 hurdles Friday in another meet record 55.99 seconds.

 

“It was amazing; I didn’t expect to run that time,” Dumas said. “I think I can run a 50 if I can train my legs harder for that.”

 

Dumas matched up with Sydney Sutton (Bullis MD) for the second day in a row after an epic 400 hurdles race, where Sutton finished second to Dumas in 56.04.

 

In addition, Elise Cooper (McDonogh MD) was entered in Saturday’s 400, too.

 

Cooper got out strong the first 200 meters, building up an early lead before both Dumas and Sutton made up the stagger with under 150 meters to go. Going into the home stretch, the three girls were side-by-side.

 

Dumas found a bit of extra energy with less than 10 meters to go, needing to dive across the line to outlast both Sutton and Cooper for the win.

 

“This was perfection with the 400,” Dumas said. “I’ve never ran so well.”

 

Sutton, who dove at the finish line in the 400 hurdles, ran a personal best 51.23 to claim second. Cooper broke 52 seconds for the first time, running 51.95 for third.

 

Saturday’s track finals also included the girls steeplechase and race walk.

 

Lillie Bogdan (Frontier Central NY) added another steeplechase title to her busy week, running 6:32.78 two days after winning the Nike Outdoor Nationals title in 6:29.81.

 

Maya Piesik from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, won the girls race walk in 7:16.63.

 

Field action continued with a number of events, including three meet records.

 

Washington Husky commit Veronica Vacca (Mt. Saint Joseph Academy PA) concluded her prep career with a meet record clearance of 13 feet, 9.25 inches in the girls pole vault. Vacca won her fourth New Balance Nationals title and her first outdoors.

 

Egypt Bolan (Lindenwold NJ) jumped a clean sheet through her first six heights in the girls high jump, leading her to clearing a meet record 5-10.75 on her second attempt at that height.

 

Mia Hoskins (Coventry RI) and Amelia Bawcombe (Alexandra City VA) exchanged leads in the final round of the girls hammer final, delivering one of the most exciting endings of any competition this weekend.

 

Hoskins entered round six as the leader, throwing 186-8 in round one. Bawcombe, who threw 182-4 in round two, threw 187-5 on her final toss to take the lead. Hoskins’ took back the lead on her last throw, going a distance of 188-8 to claim the national title. Hoskins’ and Bawcombe’s top-two throws surpassed the previous meet record of 182-1 from last year’s competition.

 

Camaria Corder (Mt. Juliet TN) jumped a wind-aided 42-5.25 to beat Destini Smith (Souderton Area PA) by less than two inches in the girls triple jump. Smith won the USATF U20 triple jump title in Eugene on Thursday.

 

 

Quincy Wilson’s legacy at New Balance Nationals grew a bit more with another memorable 400 race.

 

The Bullis junior ran away from another strong field, clocking 45.37 to claim his third consecutive outdoor title. It’s also the sixth 400 title he’s won between both New Balance Nationals indoor and outdoor championships over the past three years.

 

Jayden Deleon, second to Wilson, ran a personal best 46.33. Cameron Homer (Bullis), last year’s freshman 400 winner, finished third in 46.35.

 

Andrew Salvodon (Bayside VA), national record holder in the indoor 500, finished fourth in 46.47.

 

Carter Smith (Mifflin County PA) held off Canadians Robin Lefebvre and Brody Clark in the boys mile in a personal best 4:01.20, delivering Pennsylvania its third mile title in the last four New Balance Nationals Outdoor meets. Drew Griffith won last year’s race in a meet record 3:59.00 and Gary Martin won the 2022 race in 4:02.34.

 

Lefebvre of Montreal, the New Balance Nationals Indoor mile champion, ran 4:02.07 for second.

 

Soheib Dissa (Newtown CT) redeemed a second-place finish from last year’s 2,000-meter steeplechase final, running 5:43.98 to come away with the win.

 

Ian Britt of Maine Race Walkers added an outdoor race walk title to his indoor title in March, breaking the meet record by over nine seconds in 6:46.15.

 

Garrett Guinther broke the only field event meet record on the boys side, clearing 17-4.50 to win the pole vault competition.

 

Owen Spira of Ocean State Hammerheads RI surpassed 230 feet two times during the boys hammer competition, including his winning throw of 231-11. Charles Sullivan (Somers NY) was second with a throw of 229-5; Marshall Potter (Simsbury CT) was third with a throw of 227-9.

 

Aidan Bryant (Midlakes NY) won the boys triple jump with a mark of 51-2.25.