* Tayvon Kitchen was 4th in the 5000m at the U20 USATF Championships
Photo Credit: Ben Lonergan/ USA Today Network
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During national championship weekend, Crater (OR) junior Tayvon Kitchen and Pacers Homeschool's (VA) Allie Zealand each snagged a national record before heading into the offseason.
In a few short months, Kitchen will be back to start his senior year at Crater, while Zealand makes the move to Liberty University where she'll start her collegiate career.
Tayvon Kitchen, Crater (OR)
Class of 2025
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Have yourself a weekend, Tayvon.
The junior took on the challenge of running two 5,000 meter races on the same day, the first one just before 10 a.m. and the second later that night around 6:30 p.m.
Kitchen clocked 14:24.05 to finish fourth at the USATF U20 Championships, before finishing runner-up at Nike Outdoor Nationals in 14:31.47.
That's not all, though, because Kitchen also took his talents to New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia last weekend, leading the Crater boys to a distance medley relay high school record.
Kitchen split 3:00.03 for his opening 1,200m leg, as Crater shattered the previous record of 9:49.78 that had stood for over 20 years after South Lakes did so in 2001.
Kitchen and the Crater contingent ran 9:44.03.
Allie Zealand, Pacers Homeschool (VA)
Class of 2024
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The month of June has been really good to the Liberty University-bound senior, as Zealand a broke national record at the HOKA Festival of Miles (4:30.38) -- which was then later broken -- and then followed with an outdoor national record in the 2-mile at Brooks PR in Washington.
For the second time this month, Zealand lowered a national record, this time in the two mile with a time of 9:41.76.
According to the MileSplit database, she's the first high school girl under 9:50 for the distance outdoors, though she's No. 2 all-time across seasons, only trailing Mary Cain's 9:38.68.
Zealand also came through 3,200m in 9:38.41, which would have made her the first-ever high school girl to run under 9:40. Zealand's record-breaking senior year saw her finish runner-up at Foot Locker Nationals in December and end her high school career as No. 2 and No. 1 on the all-time mile and two mile lists.
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