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Grace O'Shea wasn't going to be satisfied with just winning her first outdoor Meet of Champions title. She wanted much more than that.
The senior at Ramapo was determined to do something memorable, something that no one would ever forget.
O''Shea did just that with one of the greatest performances in meet and state history in the girls 100-meter hurdles at Saturday's Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington High School. And the Penn-bound O'Shea didn't wait until the finals to do it.
In the trials of the girls HH, O'Shea got the crowd buzzing when she made a huge statement by blasting a a Bergen County record 13.55, No. 5 in state history, and No. 11 in the nation this season.
O'Shea came back to win one of the fastest finals in state history in 13.58. O'Shea had to run fast to win because Claudine Smith of Atlantic City was second in 13.67, tied for No. 7 in state history.
Smith had a great meet. She also won the triple jump with a 42-0, No. 3 in meet history.
The UPenn-bound O'Shea won the indoor 55m HH title at the Meet of Champions as a junior in 2018 and was third in the 100m hurdles at the M of C last year. This past winter, O'Shea failed to advance to the Meet of Champions in the hurdles after stumbling at the Group 3 meet. Smith went on to win the indoor M of C 55 hurdle title.
"Last year at this meet I was frustrated,'' said O'Shea. "I felt I could so much better. "And this year I came back much stronger, faster and more motivated than ever.''
After O'Shea won the state Group 3 HH race last week in 13.82, her PR at the time, she said she was going to run 13.5 this week and win.
"I came into this with a super strong mentality,'' said O'Shea, who will be competing in the 100m hurdles at the New Balance Nationals this week at the University of North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. "I wrote down my goal of running 13.5 and had that mindset all week, and I came here and did exactly what I said I was going to do.''
NJ ALL-TIME TOP 10 GIRLS 100-METER HURDLE LIST
13.10-Dawn Bowles, Neptune, 1988
13.34-Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic, 2014
13.38-Charmaine Walker, Plainfield, 1997
13.50-Porscha Dobson, Kent Place, 2003
13.55-Grace O'Shea, Ramapo, 2019
13.67-Patrycja Dziekonska, West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2014
13.67-Claudine Smith, Atlantic City, 2019
13.69-Nia Ali, Pleasantville, 2006
13.71-Lanyka Brown, Metuchen, 1996
13.72-Nichole Hill, Oakcrest, 1997