New Balance Nationals Day 3 CRACK RECAP!

New Balance Nationals Indoor 2016
Johanna Gretschel


The Take

Grant Holloway and Noah Lyles created their own club today.  Holloway broke national records in the 55 and 60 meter hurdles, and Lyles broke the national record in the 200--making them the only two boys to currently hold sophomore, junior, and senior class national records in their respective events. They both go to high school in Virginia, and they'll be University of Florida teammates next year. 

Holloway opened the doors to the club. With a full pentathlon on his legs from yesterday, Holloway still smashed the national record in the 60 hurdles in 7.53 seconds. (Holloway's class record sweep comes in the 55H, where he was timed at 7.00 today.) The old national record was Donovan Robertson's 7.57 from 2012.

His future Gator teammate Lyles was a little less tired coming into the 200 final--he had run on the #2 all-time 4x200 two hours earlier--and he broke the national record by more.  Lyles covered one lap of the Armory track in 20.63, breaking Xavier Carter's twelve year-old national standard by 0.06 seconds. 


The ten minutes from 1:40 to 1:50 this afternoon were among the most electric in high school track history. Eight minutes before Holloway broke the boys 60 hurdles national record, Tonea Marshall lowered her own girls standard. Marshall--a senior from Texas--came into the meet with just one win in four 60H finals this indoor season.  But she had an absolutely inspired weekend in New York. She went 8.16 in the prelims yesterday--then #2 all-time--and broke the national record in 8.08 seconds in the semifinals this morning. She cleaved another six-hundredths of a second from her own national standard in the final, blazing down the track in 8.02 seconds. That time would've been second at this weekend's NCAA championships.

Ten years and one day ago at this meet, Francena McCorory became the only high school girl to break 52 seconds in the 400.  Today, Sydney McLaughlin of New Jersey became the first junior to break 52, winning a thrilling and unusual 400 final in 51.84 seconds--0.09 seconds under McCorory's old record. Split data from the 400 is unavailable, but anecdotally it seemed clear that McLaughlin went out significantly slower in the final--passing through 200 meters in over 24 seconds--than she did in the prelims. Her strategy paid off with an explosive last 100 meters and a national record.

About an hour later, McLaughlin brought the crowd to their feet for perhaps the loudest moment of the day. Oak Park (Mich.) took the baton on the anchor leg of the girls 4x400 with a one second lead on the field (per FAT splits), and the stage was set for a wild finish. Hometown favorite Paul Robeson's Amanda Crawford chased Oak Park anchor Anna Jefferson, and it looked like Crawford was walking her down for the win.  But Jefferson fought Crawford off--and then got picked off by McLaughlin in the last five meters.  As late as 50 meters to go, McLaughlin was three or so meters behind the leaders. The official splits have anchors McLaughlin at 51.6, Crawford 52.7, and Jefferson 53.6. All three teams ran 3:40 and change, with McLaughlin's Union Catholic's squad running 3:40.28 for a new meet record. Union Catholic, Oak Park, and Paul Robeson are now #2, 3, and 4 on the all-time list.

Katie Rainsberger didn't break a national record, but she did run a mile faster than any high schooler ever not named Mary Cain or Alexa Efraimson. Her winning time of 4:36.61 broke Efraimson's meet record and dipped under Lynn Jennings' senior class record that was set in 1978--seven years before Katie's mother Lisa won the Boston Marathon.


National High School Records

National Class Records

  • Thelma Davies, Girard College High School, Pa., National Freshman Class Record, 60m, 7.37
  • Lauren Rain Williams, Oaks Christian High School, Calif., National Junior Class Record, 200m, 23.23
  • Katie Rainsberger, Air Academy, Colo., National Senior Class Record, Mile, 4:36.61

National Champions

  • Girls 4x200m Relay: Nansemond River High School/War T.C., Va., 1:37.43 (Brandeé Johnson, Morgan Towe, Kori Carter, Syaira Richardson)
  • Boys 4x200m Relay: T.C. Williams High School, Va., 1:26.21 (Tre'kel Locket, Noah Lyles, Kai Cole, Josephus Lyles)
  • Girls 2 Mile Run: Weini Kelati, Heritage High School, Va., 10:02.71
  • Boys 2 Mile Run: Garek Bielaczyc, East High School, Utah, 8:57.03
  • Girls 60m Hurdles: Tonea Marshall, Arlington Seguin High School, Texas, 8.02
  • Boys 60m Hurdles: Grant Holloway, Grassfield High School, Va., 7.53
  • Girls 60m Dash: Zaria Francis, Rio Mesa High School, Calif., 7.30
  • Boys 60m Dash: Josephus Lyles, T.C. Williams High School, Va., 6.65
  • Girls 400m: Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic High School, N.J., 51.84
  • Boys 400m: Keshun Reed, Arlington Martin, Texas, 47.01
  • Girls One Mile: Katie Rainsberger, Air Academy, Co., 4:36.61
  • Boys One Mile: Reed Brown, Southlake Carroll, Texas, 4:09.95
  • Girls 800m: Sammy Watson, Rush-Henrietta High School, N.Y., 2:05.11
  • Boys 800m: Michael Slagowski, Rocky Mountain High School, Id., 1:50.29
  • Girls 200m: Lauren Rain Williams, Oaks Christian High School, Calif., 23.23
  • Boys 200m: Noah Lyles, T.C. Williams High School, Va., 20.63
  • Girls 4x400m: Union Catholic High School, N.J., 3:40.28
  • Boys 4x400m: Huntington High School, N.Y., 3:16.09
  • Girls Weight Throw: Kamryn Brinson, Marist, Ga., 62-8.5
  • Boys Triple Jump: Noah Igbinoghene, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Ala., 49-7 
  • Boys Weight Throw: Robert Colantonio, Barrington High School, R.I., 81-5.75
  • Girls Triple Jump: Chinne Okoronkwo, Mountlake Terrace High School, Wash., 42-11.75
  • Girls Pole Vault: Carson Dingler, First Presbyterian Day School, Ga., 13-4.5

Race of the Day: Girls 400m/4x400m Relay

A groin injury forced defending 60-meter hurdle champion Sydney McLaughlin to focus on the flat 400m this season, but the transition has been serendipitous. 

Before Championship Sunday at New Balance Nationals, only one girl in history had ever broken 52 seconds over 400 meters: Olympian Francena McCorory of Va., who also holds the NCAA and American indoor records in the event.

McLaughlin, a junior at Union Catholic High School in N.J., has always run well over the quarter-mile; she ran 52.59 as a sophomore. Once the decision to focus on the event this indoor season was finalized, she said her coaches talked about the prospect of taking down McCorory's 51.93 standard. She didn't think it seemed possible until she ran a PR of 52.77 in the prelims.



"The prelims, I was supposed to just run for time, a 53 just to qualify, and I ended up going a PR of 52.77," she said. "That kind of concerned me, but I knew if I just got my ice bath then... I would be fine."

Fine, she was, as the World Youth Champion for 400-meter hurdles executed the finest prep indoor 400-meter race in history in the finals with a time of 51.84.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," she said.

"I kind of just cruised the first 200 and really focused on the back and my form and my form got better and I think without that I wouldn't have run the time I did."

Hardly an hour later, McLaughlin returned to the track to run anchor on the Union Catholic 4x400-meter relay.

Teammates Tia Livingston (56.4), Amari Onque-Shabazz (54.79) and Cassandra Lamadieu (57.43) ran their best splits of the season to pass the baton to McLaughlin in fourth. Ahead, Amanda Crawford pulled even with Motor City T.C./Oak Park High School's leader Anna Jefferson to wage a photo-finish battle to the line but McLaughlin split another stunning sub-52 to steal the title as all three teams ran 3:40.

Jefferson would split 53.6 for runner-up Motor City in a final time of 3:40.69, Crawford clocked 52.76 for third-place Robeson in 3:40.95 and McLaughlin's FAT-official 51.647 carried Union Catholic to a new Meet Record of 3:40.28. Those times rank No. 2, 3 and 4 on the U.S. All-Time list.

They Said It



"Grab the rail and kick like hell!"
-- Two Mile Champion Garek Bielaczyc's race-day mantra

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