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For the sixth year in a row, a girl broke the 5000m national record at New Balance Nationals Indoor. Weini Kelati became the first high school girl to break 16:10 indoors--and only the seventh indoor or out--running 16:08.33 for the national title and record. Kelati goes to Heritage High School in Virginia.
Kelati pushed the pace extremely aggressively, passing through 1K in 3:03 (15:15 pace) and 3K in 9:27 (15:45 pace). She slowed to the point where she needed a 40 second final lap to break the old 16:10 record; with the crowd getting earsplittingly-loud, she hammered home in 38.
After the race, she reflected on her huge improvements in the last twelve months., saying that "Last year, I was definitely, definitely tired. In this race, I felt really bad. I gave up hope as I was running; I was like, 'what is happening to me?' And this year, I tried to do it in my cross country season and was really proud of my season."
But even after breaking a national record, Kelati is looking to the future, saying "I'm gonna run under 16. That's my dream. Because I have seen Genzebe Dibaba all the time on the TV, I'm gonna try my best to be [like] her."
Kelati was trailed early by Stephanie Jenks, who was within two meters as late as a thousand meters into the race. Jenks was eventually caught by runner-up Maryjeanne Gilbert (who was also second to Kelati at Foot Locker) of Illinois, third-placer Shona McCulloch of Canada, and fourth-placer Hannah Debalsi of Connecticut. Unofficially, Gilbert and Debalsi ran 16:32, which would put them eighth and ninth on the all time list. Gilbert's future Notre Dame teammate Anna Rohrer was the previous national record holder.
