She was the youngest in the field by nearly two years.
But, as usual, it didn’t matter for Ellie Shea. The 17-year-old junior from Belmont and Emerging Elite still secured a spot high on the podium.
San Jose, Costa Rica was the destination for Shea’s latest conquest. Competing in the 1,500-meter run at the NACAC U23 Championships on Sunday, she finished a superlative second overall with a near PR of 4 minutes, 14.90 seconds for a 1-2 sweep by Team USA. Addison Wiley, a 19-year-old University of Colorado sophomore, won the race in 4:05.84.
Shea’s effort was her second major international competition. On Feb. 18, she was tenth overall at the World Athletics U20 Women’s Cross-Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
“I had a great experience coming to Costa Rica and running for Team USA, representing my country for the first time on the track,” said Shea, who has a PR of 4:14.24 for the 1,500m from the Adrian Martinez Classic on June 10. “Racing World Cross in Bathurst was super fun and I wanted to make the NACAC team. I just missed a PR, but my focus was getting on the podium and gaining more championship experience. I’m now focused on my prep for Pan Am U20 in Puerto Rico in two weeks.”
