Karrie Baloga Nets First 160 Speed Rating Of The Season
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The signs were beginning to show that Karrie Baloga was amid a potentially blockbuster year in September and just a few weeks into October.
The star pupil out of Cornwall High School had won the Ocean State Invitational's elite race by over a minute and became just the eighth girl all-time to go under 14 minutes at Van Cortlandt Park at the Manhattan Invitational.
On Saturday, she added another bullet point to her resume: Becoming the first girl to earn a 160 speed rating on the season.
Like those two other performances, Karrie Baloga blitzed the field at the Burnt Hills Invitational, clocking the three-mile distance in 16:26.30, which was a new course record.
But significantly more impressive was her separation from runner No. 2: A full two minutes and three seconds.
Baloga netted a rating of 161. The next closest runner was at 120.
Why that's impressive, though, is based on the numbers: The previous-best in speed ratings this season was 155, achieved by Abbey Nechanicky last weekend.
Furthermore, only two girls runners achieved marks of 160 in 2021, while only five did so in 2020 and seven in 2019. While national title contenders are typically scoring 165 or higher, Baloga looks to be, within reason, a contender in the wide-open 2022 season.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karrie Baloga | 12 | Cornwall | 16:26.30 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Mia Paolino | 11 | Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake | 18:29.80 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Scarlet Stimson | 12 | Essex High School | 18:33.90 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Sophia Semo | 10 | Cornwall | 18:39.90 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Kerry Murphy | 11 | Cornwall | 18:40.00 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Tamar Byl-brann | 12 | Amherst-Pelham Regional High School | 18:41.20 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Kiera MacIntosh | 8 | Scotia-Glenville | 19:06.70 | 6 | ||
| 8 | Rachel Miller | 10 | Mohonasen | 19:15.50 | 7 | ||
| 9 | Morgan Gagnon | 12 | Cornwall | 19:25.60 | 8 | ||
| 10 | Kristen Aguilera | 12 | West Babylon | 19:34.70 | 9 | ||
