Six HSR's...and that's not all!

Some on Twitter are calling it the "greatest HS meet ever".
True?
Well, if measured by number of Indoor HSR's broken, I'd say YES!
If measured by number of Meet Records smashed, I'd say a definitive YES!
If compared to how many records were erased in the NCAA, the USATF, or the WIC this year?
I'd say ABSOLUTELY YES!!

There was so MUCH record activity at The Armory during NBIN weekend that it's going to take FOREVER to record it all.

So let's get started, shall we?!

HSR's were broken in the Women's SP, PV, 60H, and 5000.
Men broke HSR's in the 4 X 1Mile Relay and PV.

NBIN (and/or its other-named precursors) Meet Records were broken in the Women's 1500 and 1 Mile, TJ and 60, as well as in the 4 other events listed above.
Men broke Meet Records in the DMR and the 4X200 Relay, in addition to the 2 mentioned above.
So a total of TWELVE Meet Records were broken this year!
(And I'm not counting all the Frosh Class, Junior HS, and Emerging Elite MR's broken also!)

That "mystery" SP'er, Raven Saunders, isn't a mystery anymore!
After over 2 months of seeming hibernation, she returned to competition in a HUGE way, smashing the venerable Michelle Carter's HSR to smithereens, adding an amazing 22 inches to Carter's 2003 mark with her unbelievable 56-7.50 toss!
Not sure if there's a better mark out there somewhere (from Europe in the 80's, maybe??), but right now, Saunders mark is the best I know of for a 17 year old!
(I don't know her birthdate, so if I find out she was 18 today, I'll amend my record book!)
It was, of course, a new Meet Record, and the 12th Grade record.

Ashlie Blake got a big PR too, an excellent 53-10.25, yet finished almost 3 feet behind Saunders in 2nd.
But it makes her 5th A-T HS!

Stamatia Scarvelis finished 3rd, but didn't PR.
However, Lena Giger did, and her 50-0 makes her 20th A-T HS.

Both HSR's in the PV went down this weekend.

Devin King soared 17-10.25, while Desiree Freier sailed over 14-2.75.
King's mark gave him the Meet Record (Natch!) and the Senior Class record.
Freier's mark matches King's, in that she also got the Meet and 12th Grade records.

Following Freier with marks of 13-4.50 were Kelly Long and Olivia Gruver.
They're both in 14th A-T HS, and both are tied with 3 others, including each of them!

BTW, Freier's record has to be rated a bit better than King's, in that it equals the OUTdoor HSR of Morgann LeLeux, while King's falls a few inches short of matching Shawn Barber's OUTdoor HSR.

The 5000's had an interesting reversal of sorts.
Before the meet, I would've given more than even odds that the girls side had more depth than the boys, in addition to having more candidates to get their respective Indoor HSR's.
Well, the 2 races proved me wrong, though not entirely!

Tessa Barrett broke Wesley Frazier's 2013 mark by 6.16.
Her 16:11.85 is the new HSR, as well as a MR and Grade 12 record.
She moved up from 6th on the A-T HS list to 1st.

Stephanie Jenks followed well back in 16:37.50.
Her mark is the new 10th Grade record (breaking Frazier's 16:50.55 from 2011), and places her 6th A-T HS.
Claire Howlett ended 3rd in 16:58.35, and is now 22nd A-T HS.

And Jessica Lawson's 17:08.45 garnered the Frosh Class mark from Samantha Nadel.
A little caveat:
She DID break the NINTH GRADE mark of Nadel's, true, but Brianna Jackucewitz ran a startling 16:43.02 in 2004 as a SEVENTH grader!!
That was then the fastest 5000 indoors by ANY High Schooler, 9th through 12th grades, and was considered the "HSR".
Now it's merely appended to the 9th grade record with an asterisk!

The Boy's winner, Conner Mantz, didn't break the HSR, or the MR, but his 14:24.33 gave him 5th A-T HS.
Depth was prevalent, however, as the next 7 finishers all make my DDD list!!

Aaron Templeton's 14:37.84 is now 10th A-T HS.
Zachary Williams time of 14:48.01 rates him 14th A-T HS.
Elijah Armstrong PR'ed about 6 seconds from his 2013 winning time, his 14:48.72 ranking him 15th A-T HS.
Ryan Forsyth's 14:48.75 rates him 16th A-T HS.
Colin Martin ran 14:49.32 for 17th A-T HS.
Patrick Tucker's 14:51.33 rates him 21st A-T HS.
Finally (!!), Stephen Garrett ran 14:53.38 for 24th A-T HS!!

She did it!!!
Dior Hall, after 3 years of being THIS close, finally broke Jackie Coward's venerable HSR of 8.16, running an excellent 8.11.
It also gives her the Meet and 12th Grade records, obviously.
I have to say, this record made ME the happiest of all of them.
This was her LAST chance to get it, and she NAILED it in a huge runaway victory!!

Quenee' Dale sprinted 8.35, yet finished 0.24 behind Hall.
Her 8.35 gives her 14th A-T HS, but tied with 3 others.
Alexis Duncan's 8.37 rates her 20th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

Three MR's in the Relays went down this weekend.
Biggest and best was the HSR of Brothers TC of NJ in the 4 X 1 Mile event.
They smashed the old mark of 17:20, which was also the MR, with their 17:07.17.
Two other teams also broke the HSR!

MR's went down also in the Boys DMR, Cardinal O'Hara TC running 10:00.75, while Union Catholic from NJ cracked the 4X200 for boys with their 1:27.04.

The Two Mile races produced a total of 7 new placings on my DDD lists.

Tessa Barrett came back from her 5000 HSR with another great effort.
She won the 2 Mile with her 10:08.05, which places her 5th A-T HS.
Audrey Belf followed in 10:10.90, ranking her 11th A-T HS.
Annie Heffernan was next in 10:12.02, moving her to 12th A-T HS.
Makena Morley also gets on the list, her 10:21.85 ranking her 24th A-T HS.

So what happened to favored Hannah Debalsi?
She fell with less than 400 to go, yet got up and finished in a very good 10:17.
She led much of the way, and probably would've challenged Barrett for the win, had she not fallen.
Glad she got up and finished, in an excellent time, considering!!

The boys race was won by a Canadian.
Canadians can run at NBIN, but they can't set records, as this is considered a USA High School Championship meet.
In 2nd, the first American was Paul Hogan, whose 8:59.82 ranks him 20th A-T HS Indoors.
Then came Aaron Templeton's 8:59.95, placing him 21st A-T HS.
Next was Tim McGowan's 9:00.20, which makes him 23rd A-T HS.
Charles Cooper was the victorious Canadian, running 8:59.61.

The Pentathlons produced 5 new list placings, but no records.
Shaina Burns winning Women's mark of 3706 makes her 8th A-T HS.
The Boys winner, Gabriel Moore, scored 4054 points, making him 5th A-T HS.

Three other boys also made the Top 24, with Jack Lint's 3946 making him 11th A-T HS, Steele Wasik's 3882 making him 17th A-T HS, and Nick Fofana's 3838 giving him 19th place A-T HS.

The Men's 200 final was a blazer!
Trentavis Friday sprinted the 2nd fastest Indoor 200 ever, his 20.97 also the new MR.
Next was Darryl Haraway's 21.15 (after a heat-leader of 21.36!), which ranks him 9th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
Haraway's earlier 21.36 had ranked him 21st, so he improved 12 places with his final!

Not to be overlooked was the 21.50 of Noah Lyles.
That mark broke the Soph Class record!!

Gabriele Figueroa's winning mark wasn't a PR, but two others made advancements.
Nyla Woods 60-0.50 WT is now 11th A-T HS.
Mohogony Baker's 59-9.50 is 12th A-T HS.

America's powerhouse TJ'er of the Future, Keturah Orji, won with her 44-2 Meet Record, and keeps her in 2nd A-T HS, where she'd been with an earlier 44-0.
She also won the LJ, but no PR, and no records.

BTW, she's tweeted that she'll be rooming with new NCAA Heptathlon Champion, Kendell Williams, at the University of Georgia next fall!!
That will be one BEAST of a dorm room!!

Nate Moore won the LJ with his 25-9.75 mark.
It ranks him 14th A-T HS.
He also doubled, his TJ mark of 50-8.75 making him 19th A-T HS.

Makiah Briscoe won the 60, her 7.26 garnering the Meet Record, as well as 6th A-T HS, tied with 4 others.
Hannah Cunliffe improved to 7.30 in 2nd, making her 14th A-T HS, tied with 3 others.

Trentavis Friday won the Men's 60 in 6.64, for 7th A-T HS, tied with 5 others.

Richard Rose's 400 of 47.34 is 16th A-T HS.
Olivia Baker's 53.49 is 10th A-T HS.
(She also anchored the 4X400 Relay in a reported 52.9!)

Derek Holdsworth ran 1:51.72 in the 800 for 18th A-T HS.

The other 800, the Women's, was taken by last year's Mile winner, superstar Elise Cranny.
She ran splits of 61 and 65 for a time of 2:06.47, and 9th A-T HS.

This was a much-ballyhooed appearance in an odd-for-her distance, as she's best known for her 4:15.07 1500 in 2013 against Collegians, and her 2nd to Alexa Efraimson in the Nike XC Summit last fall, with Sarah Baxter added to the mix!
Word was that she would go head-to-head with Efraimson in the Mile, but then she announced she was running the 800 instead.
Still, a decent effort for one who trains (and races) mostly at altitude!

Efraimson, meanwhile, did win the mile, but after her spectacular 9:00.16 3000 on Seattle's OT, and her mid-pack finish in the Millrose Elite Mile in 4:32.15 (a few seconds behind....Mary Cain!!), a race between her and Cranny got fans salivating at what COULD be!!

Alas, she soloed to an easy 4:38.46 Meet Record, getting the 1500 MR enroute with her 4:21.18.

It wasn't a race, but 2nd was Millie Paladino in 4:43.84, making her 11th A-T HS.
Her 1500 was 4:26.20, making her 12th A-T HS (tied with 1 other) on that list.

Third was Kennedy Weisner in 4:45.20, making her 17th A-T HS.
However, she was ahead of Paladino at 1500, so her 4:25.65 there makes her 10th A-T HS on that list.

Zola Golden sprinted her 400 prelim in 54.12, making her 21st A-T HS.

Remember 8th Grader Gabrielle Wilkinson?
Well, she doubled in the JHS 800 and the Emerging Elite Mile.
Her times were good, 2:12.86 (for a heat winner, but 4th place overall) and 5:00.85, a race she won.
The latter was a MR.
(She passed 1500 in a reported 4:43.04, which makes her final 109 meters a quite good 17.81.)
The 800 also broke the MR for that class, but 3 others got there first!
Not bad, eh?

Once again, I have a couple of Road Racing marks to relate.

In the NYC Half-Marathon today, two "half" rookies, Sally Kipyego and Molly Huddle, scored big.
Kipyego won the race with her debut 1:08.30.
Huddle was with her much of the way, but faded a bit, ending in the 4th fastest-ever US 13.1 Mile time of 1:09:04!!

So, WAS the NBIN of 2014 the best HS meet EVER??
After reading the above, YOU decide!!!