Angelina Perez of Lakeland turned in another historic performance at Friday's New Balance National Championships on at the Armory in New York.
In one of the fastest high school two-mile races in U.S. indoor history, the University of Florida-bound Perez finished third in 9:56.96 to smash her own New Jersey record and move into No. 10 on the all-time U.S. indoor list for two miles.
Perez, who through the mile in 4:57.96 broke the NJ indoor record of 10:00.90 that she ran last Saturday to win the 3,200m at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, and her 9:56.96 is also faster than the NJ outdoor two-mile record of 9:59.34 run by Charlotte Bednar of Lawrenceville last May.
Oklahoma State-bound Natalie Cook of Flower Mound in Texas won the race in 9:44.44, No. 2 on the all-time high school list, and sophomore Ellie Shea of Waltham, Massachusetts, placed second in 9:52.35, No. 6 in US history. Only Mary Cain of Bronxville, N.Y., who ran the national record of 9:38.68 at the New Balance Grand Prix meet in 2014, has gone faster indoors than Cook.
Perez, who finished second to Cook at the Eastbay National XC Championships in December, once again solidified her place as an all-time great in NJ history!!!