Outdoor T&F Preview: Girls’ Middle & Long Distance Events
800m
There’s a chance one of our state’s oldest records could be broken this season. In 1979, Cambridge Rindge & Latin alum Darlene Beckford set the current mark of 2:04.54 at the AAU Senior National Championships in Walnut, Calif. We think that 44-year-old record is within the reach of Newton South’s Amelia Everett, our state top middle-distance specialist the last two years. The Stanford-bound senior had to deal with some health issues this past winter that derailed part of her season. Nevertheless, she still managed to earn All American honors for the second time in the 800m by placing third at the New Balance Nationals with an indoor best of 2:08.18. Everett, who captured the 1,000m at the Meet of Champions, matched her placement from the Nike Outdoor Nationals where she clocked her all-time best of 2:06.19. Everett is already ahead of the pace she was last year when she took the bronze out in Oregon, leading us to believe a sub 2:05 and MA record could happen this spring. The state has several other quality runners in the two-lapper, including Brookline’s Camille Jordan. The Warrior senior has a best of 2:11.65 from last year’s New Balance Nationals. Jordan competed, and won, the mile at the MOC in March and could possibly focus on that event at the championship meet. In the 800m, she proved she’s capable of breaking 2:10 in the right kind of conditions. We’re also looking for runners like Holliston’s Carmen Luisi (2:15.98 best) and Wachusett’s Ashlynn Witt (2:16.58) to challenge for those top positions.
Mile
Everett and Jordan leads a talented group of athletes in this event. Jordan is coming off an indoor season where she claimed her first individual title at the MOC where she won the mile with a PR of 4:57.34. The University of Pennsylvania commit has the speed and endurance to improve on that time this outdoor season, especially after her successful indoor campaign, one that also included PRs in the 600m (1:36.38) and the 1K (2:53.26). Everett won last year’s crown with a PR of 4:49.31. She has done 4:26.32 for 1,500m, which converts to about a 4:47.63 for the full mile. Brookline’s Jordan Liss-Riordan enjoyed a strong indoor season in 2023, highlighted by a runner-up finish to her teammate in the mile at the MOC. We expect she’ll be in that five-minute range, possibly faster this spring. There’s also Peabody’s Sarah DiVasta (5:03.93), Oliver Ames’ Katie Sobieraj (5:04.51), Newton North’s Ciara Evans (5:05.54), and Wellesley’s Charlotte Tuxbury (5:08.29), out 3-4-5-6 finishers at MOC that could be fighting for those podium spots again in early June. Indoor two-mile champion Ava Criniti of Lexington and Holliston’s Carmen Luisi are other runners to keep an eye on. Criniti ran a best of 5:01.33 this past winter. Luisi has a PR of 5:05.90 from last year’s MOC.
Two Mile
At the MOC two months ago, Criniti and Billerica’ s Anna McElhinney produced one of the most exciting races of the day with the Lexington senior edging her rival by just one thousandths of a second with a triumphant 10:51.22 We expect both runners to be at it again during the outdoor season. Andover’s Molly Kiley, who was third in the race, should also be a factor. She was the only other runner under 11 minutes with her best of 10:55. You can’t count out Division 1 cross-country champion Aoife Shovin of Cambridge Rindge & Latin. She was fourth at the MOC and ran her best of 11:00.60 to place third at the Coaches Invitational in late January.
