Ellie Shea has one more race on her slate this summer before taking a short break from what proved to be a long track season.
She certainly deserves it.
The senior from Belmont and Emerging Elite continued an amazing season of racing this past weekend by earning gold medals in the 3,000 – and 1,500-meter runs at the Pan Am U20 Championships in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico.
Shea didn’t just win her two races, she once again made a statement and broke a few records along the way.
Under very hot and humid conditions inside the Jose Figueroa Freire Stadium, Shea took home her first international title in the 1,500m on Friday with a time of 4:16.61, just a half second short of the meet record and the second fastest ever at the Pan Am U20s. She beat Anita Poma Mendoza of Peru, who was timed in 4:18.28. Mendoza was the South American U20 800m and 1,500m titlist.
Shea’s most impressive performance came on Saturday where she established a new state and New England record in the 3K of 9:05.78 in a solo effort. The soon-to-be senior, who won by 45 seconds, passed through her opening 1K in 2:59 and was 4:49 at the 1,600m. She ran her final 1K in 3:00 to break a Pan Am U20 record that has stood for 34 years. She is one of only females to complete the distance double at the meet. She ran the second fastest 3K outdoor ever by a high-schooler, and the second fastest U18 performance in the world this year. Her 3K time also set the junior class record by nearly five seconds!
Shea’s recent performances follows an impressive stretch this summer where she won the two mile at the Brooks PR Invitational in June and was a silver-medalist at the NACAC U23 Championships last month.
Shea will conclude her summer of racing on Aug. 18. She’s scheduled to compete in the Falmouth Elite Mile, one of the featured events leading up to the Falmouth Road Race.
