Shea smashes 1979 standard established by Gallagher, also breaks age 15 record held by Masciarelli, who wins national title in 2,000 steeplechase on same day; Erzen sets Iowa all-time 800 mark to win championship, with Fulkerson, Pedigo and Wiley all earning victories, as well as Real Training and Motor City

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Becky Holbrook

EUGENE, Ore. – There were unexpected, but inspiring records from Ellie Shea and Ainsley Erzen.

There were unparalleled standards of excellence achieved by Sydney Masciarelli and the girls from Niwot High in Colorado.

And there were reminders of just how tough Addy Wiley and Ariel Pedigo can be in challenging conditions and against elite competitors Saturday at The Outdoor Nationals, presented by Nike, at Hayward Field.

RESULTS | VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

Shea, a ninth-grader from Belmont High in Massachusetts, began the celebration of distance running by achieving the national freshman record and all-time age 15 mark in her first career 5,000-meter track race, clocking 16 minutes, 10.42 seconds.

Shea smashed the 1979 mark of 16:34.7 held by Kim Gallagher of Pennsylvania, in addition to eclipsing the 15-year-old standard of 16:16.20 achieved two years ago by Masciarelli in winning the 5,000 title in Greensboro, N.C.

Shea elevated to the No. 9 all-time prep competitor, with Caroline Wells of Winter Springs High setting the Florida state record by running 16:16.02 to ascend to No. 13 in history. Margot Appleton of Portsmouth Abbey High in Rhode Island clocked 16:21.83 to improve to the No. 21 all-time prep performer, as all three individuals competed less than 24 hours after racing the mile at the Brooks PR Invitational in Washington.

Erzen, a junior at Carlisle High, enjoyed a three-second improvement in the 800 to not only win the national title, but set the Iowa state record of 2:06.52 in the process, taking down the 2016 mark of 2:07.18 produced by Joy Ripslinger of Davenport Assumption.

Erzen had run 2:09.79 in May to capture the Iowa 3A state title and had enjoyed her longest sustained stretch of training during the year without track competition or soccer conflicts.

Although she didn’t race in the last section of the timed finals, Erzen posted a mark that Lauren Tolbert of Highland School of Technology in North Carolina was unable to catch in the next race. Tolbert clocked 2:08.30 to place second overall, as Erzen became the first Iowa female track athlete in any event to win a national title.

Only Kiana Phelps of Kingsley-Pierson had won a discus championship representing Iowa in 2016.

Masciarelli, a Marianapolis Prep of Connecticut graduate and North Carolina signee, became the first athlete in meet history to win national titles in the 2-mile, 5,000 and 2,000-meter steeplechase, adding the latter championship Saturday by clocking 6:36.24, giving her two of the top 12 performances in history.

Masciarelli thought her prep career was concluded once she achieved the national record 6:25.35 June 19 at the New York State Showcase, but the opportunity to race at Hayward Field before she entered college was too enticing to pass up.

It also allowed Masciarelli and Brooke Rauber, a recent graduate of Tully Senior in New York and a North Carolina State signee, to square one final time as prep athletes before becoming Atlantic Coast Conference rivals in college.

Rauber, also the 2019 runner-up in the 2,000 steeplechase, was competing in the event for the first time since the final in Greensboro and placed second in 6:43.83.

Real Training, featuring athletes from Niwot High, had already produced a memorable trifecta by becoming the first group of female competitors to win the 4x400, 4x800 and distance medley relays at the same national meet.

Lucca Fulkerson, a recent Niwot graduate and Princeton commit, only added to the legacy by winning the 2-mile championship in 10:19.95.

Mary Bonner Dalton, a ninth-grader at Myers Park High in North Carolina representing 704 Elite, placed second overall after winning the penultimate section in 10:34.60.

Dalton opened the meet Wednesday by winning the freshman mile in 4:55.18.

In addition to Fulkerson’s triumph, Real Training earned a victory in its rematch in the distance medley relay with Kinetic Track Club, featuring competitors from Saratoga Springs High in New York.

After the teams both broke the 2006 national record in the 4xmile relay Friday, Real Training came out on top in the DMR in 11:33.51, elevating to No. 11 all-time.

Madison Shults, Kimora Northrup, Taylor James and Mia Prok helped Real Training complete the relay triple crown, with Kinetic placing second in 11:42.02 and La Canada taking third in 11:48.01.

La Canada also placed fourth Friday in the 4x800 relay in 9:01.95 and again Saturday in the 1,600 sprint medley relay in 4:06.20, making the Spartans the only team to finish in the top five in all three relays.

Motor City Track Club, including athletes from Oak Park High in Michigan, won the 1,600 sprint medley in 3:57.43, giving coach Brandon Giles’ group the top three performances in state history. Motor City also won the 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay Friday as part of five victories by Michigan athletes.

Union Catholic of New Jersey placed second in 4:02.25.

Wiley, the national leader in the mile representing Huntington North High in Indiana, prevailed in warm conditions in the afternoon to close out the meet, holding off Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown School in Rhode Island by clocking 4:42.78.

Wiley had posted a 4:38.14 effort June 12 at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama, but relied on a more tactical approach Saturday to surge past Anastacia Gonzales of Boerne Champion High in Texas in the final 250 meters and never relinquish control.

Gorriaran, who had already run a sophomore national record 2:02.26 in the 800 at the U.S. Olympic Trials and clocked 54.10 in the 400 on Friday, produced a personal-best 4:43.74 to take second.

Mia Cochran of Moon Area High in Pennsylvania (4:45.07), Shults (4:46.26), Gonzales (4:46.37) and Riley Chamberlain of Del Oro High in California (4:47.13) completed the podium.

Ariel Pedigo of Parkview Baptist in Louisiana, who watched her brother Tzuriel Pedigo win an NCAA Division 1 javelin title June 10 for national champion LSU at Hayward Field, captured the heptathlon crown with 5,343 points.

Pedigo, an Oklahoma signee, was in third place following the opening day with 3,140 points, but the strength of her javelin performance and consistent marks in the long jump and 800 helped her take control and secure the title.

Bryanna Craig of Lubbock Coronado High in Texas was second with a personal-best 5,138 points and first-day leader Sophie Galloway of Marshall County in Kentucky took third with 5,111 points. Skyler Schuller, representing Coppell High in Texas and Prime Time Elite, placed fourth with 5,046 points after already finishing fifth in Thursday’s pole vault final.