Emily Sloan took back her 300H record minutes after Anna Hall took it.
Not So Fast.
Emily Sloan was up in the 5A heats three or four minutes later...
Sloan, who had endured nearly three years of chasing the record got to break it the week before the state meet of her senior year, only to watch it fall to a friendly competitor. Still, it's a sweet story. But for the Rock Canyon senior in her final state competition, running a state record right before state then passing it along one week later was just not the story she wanted written.
So, she stormed out of the blocks and took quick, business-like strides - that said it all. Anyone watching had to know she was running to take her record back.
A slight stutter-step nearly threw her record-attempt off track, but she was able to power through the line and wait for those magic numerals to turn in her favor.
40.60.
That. Just. Happened.
Before the 2018 season, Carly Lester's record of 41.18 had stood for four years. To put this in perspective, Sloan and Hall were both middle schoolers and Pharrell's "Happy" was the No. 1 hit of the year.
But, when we dive in a little more, the gravity of what happened is revealed.
Two girls ran sub 41 seconds in the span of minutes of each other on the same day at the same venue. To fully understand how rare this is, let's take a look at the All-Time List for the event...
Over the past 20 years 15 girls have gone under 43 seconds, five have gone under 42 seconds, and just two under 41 seconds. Those two being Sloan and Hall, of course. The duo have nearly a half second ahead on Lester's record, and lightyears beyond everyone else on the list.
At the time of the race, Sloan was No. 2 nationally, and Hall was No. 3. Or let on other words: Colorado had two of the top-three 300 hurdlers in the country in 2018.