Watch Paige Sheppard set the 1600m state record at 4:44.77.
Paige Sheppard wasted no time rewriting the record book, the sophomore star at Union Catholic opened her indoor season by smashing the state record in the girls' 1600-meter run at Saturday's Poreda Invitational in Lawrenceville.
Sheppard burned a 4:44.77 to take down the state record of 4:48.13 that she ran to win the NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions last March.
She won the NJSIAA XC Meet of Champions title last month and concluded her cross-country season with 30th place at the Nike National Championships just last week.
The splits for Sheppard were 68, 72 (2:20), 73 (3:33) and 71 (4:44.77).
Sheppard had Lawrenceville School's sophomore star Blair Bartlett following a step or two back through the mid-way point of the race before Sheppard pulled away. Bartlett's time was impressive as well clocking a 4:51.81 for second.
Sheppard and Bartlett are U.S. No. 1 and No. 2, while including converted mile times. Union Catholic teammates Cayleigh Kaiser and Kayla Devine ran 5:01.49 and 5:01.77 respectively and the top five finishers were all sophomores.
This took place on the resurfaced track of the Tsai Field House at the Lawrenceville School, previously known as the Lavino Field House before major renovations took place.
While this was a 1600m state record, when you look over New Jersey's converted mile to 1600m list, Sheppard is No. 4 all-time behind Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck (4:45.39 mile in 2022-converted to 4:43.74), Camryn Wennersten of the Garden State Club (4:45.62 in 2022-converted to 4:43.96), and Emma Zawatski of Freehold Township (4:45.96 mile in 2024-converted to 4:44.30).
For those wondering, the mile is 9.34 meters longer than the 1600 meters. It seems like it's just a matter of time before Sheppard adds the state record for the mile as well.
Girls 1600m Top Six Finishers
| 1 |  Paige Sheppard | 10 | Union Catholic | 4:44.77 | |
| 2 |  Blair Bartlett | 10 | Lawrenceville School | 4:51.81 | |
| 3 | Cayleigh Kaiser | 10 | Union Catholic | 5:01.49 | |
| 4 | Kayla Devine | 10 | Union Catholic | 5:01.77 | |
| 5 |  Sydney Young | 10 | Hopewell Valley | 5:16.13 | |
| 6 | Claire Dumont | 12 | Hopewell Valley | 5:24.33 |
More Highlights
Sofia Swindell of Lawrenceville School, who set the 200m indoor state record last winter at New Balance Nationals Indoor running 23.97, won the 55m dash and 55m hurdles on Saturday at Poreda as well. Swindell clocked an 8.33 in the hurdles and 7.24 in the dash.
Swindell already ranks U.S. No. 6 in the 55m hurdles this season thanks to her season-opening time of 8.22 on December 7th.
Kayla Kerr of Pingry School ran an 11:01.09 to win the 3200m mostly solo after leaving the field.
Natalia Thompson of Union Catholic soared 18-7.5 for U.S. No. 6 to win the long jump.
In the boys' 55m dash, Daniel Tobia of Hillsborough clocked a 6.47 for the win and now ranks U.S. No. 14 and N.J. No. 2.
This article was written in conjunction with Robert Kellert.