Nation-Leading Marks for Arria Minor and Sydnee Larkin, a Narrow Miss for Emily Sloan
Well, so much for Colorado being the murky backwaters of high school indoor track and field. If they don't see it tonight, the whole nation gets to wake up to new nation-leading marks in the 60 (7.30), the 200 (23.45), and the triple jump (41-10), all from Colorado.
You probably didn't need the program to tell you that Arria Minor posted the 60 and 200 marks, nor to tell you that Sydnee Larkin posted the triple jump mark.
To be fair, the air is a little thinner at the Cadet Field House and some altitude adjustment is probably in order, but these are throw-you-in-a-headlock-and-spin-you-to-floor kind of marks just the same.
Here at MileSplit, we're beginning to run out of superlatives to describe these performances.
Poor Emily Sloan. She missed the lead-the-nation party by posting only 8.38 in the 60 meter hurdles. That time was all of .01 off the nation's best mark this season for that event. I suppose it gives Sloan something to show up and race for next week.
That's a lot of headlines for a small, club-based indoor meet on the first Sunday afternoon in January. You'll probably want to stick around for the rest of the season to see what it holds.
But, the girls were far from done with those marks.
Anna Hall's high jump wasn't quite yet to mid season form, but it was still good enough for 5-8.
Jaiden Paris did her best to keep up with Sloan in the 60 hurdles, posting an 8.65 for her efforts. That has Paris at #4 nationally for the time being.
It gets a bit tedious listing all the sub-8 girls for the 60 meter dash these days, but the body count today came to 10 today. And, we'll give Sydnee Larkin a nod here for checking in at #4 nationally with a 7.49. How does this keep happening?
Among those 10 sub-8s, of course, was Maya Evans. Evans will remain better known--though perhaps a bit unfairly so--for her 19-5 long jump. Where does that put her in the national rankings? Oh, about third.
Taking home the consolation prize for the best distance mark of the day in an inhospitable environment was Carley Bennett, who ran 5:03.18 for 1500 meters. Taking second in 5:18.94 was a middle schooler--Cadence Lapp. I've heard it rumored Lapp is pointed to run laps at Loveland High School next year. If so, they may need to acquire a faster clock.
All in all, a pretty grand day for indoor track and field here in Colorado.