Editor's Note: You'll want to skip to the 34-minute marker of the video above.
"Julia Rudolph does not play well with others..."
The announcer at the 2022 edition of the Great Southwest Classic may have been a bit off in terms of Rudolph's friendliness, though one thing was for sure in the first heat of the 800 - the Niwot sophomore did not want to run with anyone.
Rudolph set a hot early pace within the opening strides, and she did not look back. She opened with a 68-second quarter and had nearly three-seconds on the field.
Despite the third-200 being the most difficult, Rudolph did something of a rarity in the 800 - she nearly ran an even race.
Rudolph ran the second lap of the 800 as a mere victory lap, closing just under 70-seconds for a 2:18.36.
The time won the heat by four-seconds, and would stand strong against the Elite heat run later in the day - she would be sixth-fastest in the event.
Add that it was a personal best for Rudolph - that definitely had to make the seven-hour drive to Albuquerque all the more worth it!
