Leah Starkey, in her first race in more than nearly seven weeks, made a triumphant return when she blew up the track by dropping a U.S. No. 8 all-time 9:48.02 to win the girls 2-mile at the Nike Indoor National Championships on Friday afternoon at the Armory in New York.
The sophomore at Ocean Township in New Jersey, racing for the first time since Jan. 24 due to a slight gluteus medius injury, won a great duel with Averi Lowen of Bowdon (GA), who was second in 9:52.57, No. 13 in U.S. high school indoor history.
The 9:48.02 by Starkey not only moved her all the way up to No. 8 in U.S. high school indoor history, but her time is also the second fastest ever by a sophomore in U.S. high school indoor history and is the second fastest time in the nation this season.
The only sophomore that has ever run faster than Starkey is Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion in Texas, who clocked a 9:44.16 to finish first at the 2024 Nike Indoor Nationals at the Armory.
New Jersey runners now hold the top two spots on the U.S. list this season in the 2-mile!!!
NJ's Blair Bartlett of Lawrenceville is the U.S leader with the U.S No. 3 all-time 9:44.34 she ran on Feb. 14 at The CIRCUIT NYC at the Armory. Bartlett, a junior, ran a U.S. No. 3 all-time and National Junior Class Record 15:28.07 on Thursday night to win the Nike National 5,000-meter title.
The runner-up finish by Lowen completed an amazing two-day distance double for the junior from Georgia. She also finished second to Bartlett less than 24 hours earlier in the 5K with a time of 15:32.94, No. 5 all-time!!!
Starkey, a two-time NJ Meet of Champions winner and XC All-American at Brooks this past fall, was in third-place at the mile (4:55.91), but she moved to the front and led Lowen by a stride with a quarter mile to go before pulling away with a 69.8 point final 2 laps, which included a 34.2 last 200, to secure the 4+ second victory.
Leah Starkey, in her first race in more than nearly seven weeks, made a triumphant return when she blew up the track by dropping a U.S. No. 8 all-time 9:48.02 to win the girls 2-mile at the Nike Indoor National Championships on Friday afternoon at the Armory in New York.
The sophomore at Ocean Township in New Jersey, racing for the first time since Jan. 24 due to a slight gluteus medius injury, won a great duel with Averi Lowen of Bowdon (GA), who was second in 9:52.57, No. 13 in U.S. high school indoor history.
