Barrett adds a national record 5K to Foot Locker title from fall

 

 

They never knew what hit them.

Pennsylvania’s Tessa Barrett led every step of the way in dominating the girls’ 5,000-meter run, claiming an indoor national title and an all-time record Friday at The Armory.

“I was hoping it would be a possibility,” Barrett said of her national record time of 16 minutes, 11.85 seconds. “I knew there were some great competitors going in.”

The talented field had no time to settle in as the Waverly, PA, resident never trailed, breaking from the outside alley and heading toward the rail.

With Iowa’s Stephanie Jenks in her shadow, Barrett covered the opening 400 in 73.6 seconds. She toured the next 10 laps in 38.8 or faster, hitting the opening 800 in 2:30.3 and the first 1,600 in 5:03.1 as the lead duo opened about a 14-second gap on the rest of the field.

“I started to feel it in those middle laps, and I knew I would after going out in 5:03,” said Barrett, who will run for Penn State in 2015. “I knew I would be feeling that. I didn’t want to get too nervous about it, stay relaxed, whatever time you get is the time you get.

“The last two laps were definitely hard. I was running on heart. My legs were pretty tired.”

Before the halfway point, Barrett started to lap the field and then opened a slight margin over Jenks. Several more 39-second laps put Barrett ahead of Jenks by about 15 meters, and the race for the record had the crowd’s attention.

Last year’s Friday night final produced the old national record, with Wesley Frazier of North Carolina running 16:18.01. The new queen of the indoor 5K said the experience of placing fourth a year ago helped her tackle this year’s 25-lapper.

“I tried not to count laps, tried not to look at the lap counter because it’s kind of discouraging if you look up and you still see 12 (laps) to go,” Barrett said. “I tried to stay focused, stay on my pace and keep running consistent.”

The reigning Foot Locker champion, Barrett said the fast opening metric mile wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

“I was hoping to go out in 5:10, then negative split,” said Barrett, who also set a 3K state record en route to the win with a hand-timed 9:35.4. “Every race I seem to go out fast. It’s something I have to work on. It happens (in) cross country (and) track. I can negative split.”

With Barrett’s record-breaking performance, the national 5K record has fallen in four consecutive NBINs at The Armory. As a result of the onslaught, the record is now almost 32 seconds faster than it was in the winter of 2011.

Giving chase to Barrett paid big dividends for Jenks. One of the nation’s best young triathletes, Jenks finished second in a national sophomore class record. Her US#2 time of 16:37.50 was easily better than Frazier’s 16:50.55 at NBIN in 2011.

“I went out hoping that I could stay with (Barrett) as long as I could,” Jenks said. “If I push her, she pushes me and we’ll both run faster times. I accomplished my mission because after I crossed, she came over to me and said ‘Thank you so much.’ I said thank you, too.

“I was going for the sophomore record, and I got it. This is why I love coming to these races. I come to these races to get pushed and get faster times.”

Connecticut’s Claire Howlett finished third after taking the lead in the chase pack after about 1,300 meters.

“It was rough,” said Howlett, whose third-place time of 16:58.35 is US#4. “I didn’t expect to lead, and I’m not the best at leading but I just tried to keep calm and composed.

“I knew they had gotten pretty far away so I wasn’t trying to catch them. I was just trying to keep my splits steady at that point.”

The next two spots went to North Carolinians Mary Grace Doggett and Ryen Frazier. Doggett is US#6 after a 17:01.75 in fourth, while Frazier is US#7 after a fifth-place clocking of 17:02.17.

The final medalist also walked away with a national freshman record. Jessica Lawson of Corning, NY, is US#8 after her 17:08.45 broke the class standard by almost seven seconds.

 

Championship Girls 5000m (View Official Results)