Anna Hall claimed the national championship in the high jump on the first day of the New Balance National Indoor championships.
Anna Hall: National Champion.
That has a ring to it.
Valor Christian's Anna Hall went to New York in search of gold - and she did just that. Hall faced stiff competition, but went 5-08.75 in the high jump for a three-way tie with Kenya Livingston and Nyagoa Bayak for the national title. Hall came into the meet with a clean sheet of victories against high school competition this indoor season, and she made sure that her clean sheet extended to the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships.
Additional Colorado entrants in the event were Riley Masten, who finished 15th with a jump of 5-05, and Raina Branch who was the third Coloradan in the event, finishing 23rd at 5-03.
Meanwhile, Telluride's Soleil Gaylord showed that she will be a major threat in the distance events this outdoor season. Gaylord went east to New York City, rather than race outdoors in Colorado this weekend, to compete at the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships, which started today.
Coming into the weekend her personal best for the 3,200 was 11:01 from last year's outdoor season. She went 11:10 at the Great Southwest Classic last month, but that was only a prelude of what to was to come.
Gaylord had never broken the 11 minute barrier, but that changed today when she ran 10:46 to finish fourth in the Emerging Elite section of the 3,200 at NBNI.
Anyone who has run 16 laps on a banked 200 meter track will tell you - racing the distance outdoors is much more appealing. Gaylord appears to be upping the ante - in March - for who will dominate the distance events this outdoor season.
More Colorado athletes will take their time to shine tomorrow for the second day of the meet. Kicking off the day at 7 a.m. (MTN Time) will be Zion Gordon and Sydnee Larkin in the preliminary heats of the 60. The girls go first, followed by the boys. 55 minutes later (7:55 a.m.) will be Gordon again and Cameron Harris in the 60 hurdle prelim heats. We'll get our first glimpse of Emily Sloan in her quest for a national title and a national record here, and she'll be joined by Kylie Davis. Max Manson and Justin Sandberg will have their turn at 10 a.m. in the pole vault, with the seeded section competing 1 p.m. Sprint sensation Arria Minor will hit the track at 1:35 for the 400 prelims. Kyairra Reigh will run the freshmen division of the 400 at 2:10, while Larkin with turn to the long jump finals at 2:30. Jequan Hogan will take his crack in the high jump at 3 p.m. to cap off Colorado's day on the track.