Top Moments of the Meet (2) - Hannah Freeman Bides Her Time, then Scatters Competition to the Wind
Hannah Freeman makes a quick visual check on the leaders just before entering turn five.
It was not a good race to be an early leader.
Off the gun of the girls 800, MaLeigha Menegatti moved smartly to the lead and dared the field to challenge her. Menegatti spends a lot of time in the spring as a 300 hurdler, so her move to the front brought with it some credibility--it's generally not a great idea to let a good 300 hurdler get away from you.
But, by the time the first of three laps was complete, Jordan McCurdy had taken on the challenge and had moved up alongside Menegatti's shoulder. Perhaps emboldened by a PR mile time in Texas last weekend, McCurdy took over the lead on the second lap and threatened to make a rout of it.
All this time, however, Hannah Freeman had been stalking. The cadence of Freeman's long, flowing stride never faltered, and by the time the race was early into lap three, Freeman was moving by the race's early leaders with ease. By the finish straight, Freeman boasted a prohibitive lead that was growing with every stride.
Her 2:19.26 ended up winning by just over four seconds.
Behind Freeman, McCurdy's bid was running on fumes. First Menegatti moved by again, followed by Marlena Preigh. Menegatti had not quite enough left in the tank, though, and could not hold off Preigh for second.