Marissa Sheva (Pennridge, PA) nabbed the country's first invite to the 2015 Millrose Games High School Mile with her 4:50.73 win at the Bishop Loughlin Games on Saturday, December 20.
For Marissa Sheva, qualifying for the Millrose Games High School Mile is nothing new. But it's sort of like the holidays - no matter how many years you celebrate, the excitement never goes away.
The Pennridge (PA) senior nabbed the first auto qualifier for the Millrose Games' High School Mile with her 4:50 win at the Bishop Loughlin Games last weekend, clinching her third straight invitation to the prestigious event. The time was also a meet record, smashing Sabrina Southerland's previous standard of 4:56.
"I had no idea that Sabrina Southerland's record was 4:56," Sheva said. "My coach told me I'd be able to run fast because of cross country strength. With 75 meters to go, I heard the announcer say, 'Sabrina's record is gonna go down...'
"I knew my legs felt good. This girl went out really hard and Catherine [Pagano] and I stopped back a little bit. I knew I wanted to go out in a surge at 900; we went through [the half] around 2:26 and I put my surge in about 100 meters later. I was starting to catch her and catch her and with 450 to go, I felt really good and decided to take the lead."
Sheva negative-split the race, closing in 2:24 on the backend. Pagano finished runner-up in 4:53.29.
"It's probably one of my favorite races throughout the year, definitely my favorite indoor race," Sheva said. "It's really exciting to be able to step on the track and know you're racing right behind and after the best pro athletes in the world. Anyone can qualify or get into a big race at nationals, but... I know how hard it is to qualify for this race. The atmosphere is way more competitive."
Only 12 entrants will stand at the starting line of the New York Armory's historic banked track on February 14 for the Girls and Boys High School Mile races. There are four more auto qualifier races wherein the winner earns an automatic invitation. The rest of the field is selected at the discretion of the Millrose Race Selection Advisory Committee. Sheva has never qualified for the meet in December, instead relying on qualifying races in January.
"My first two years that I ran in it, I qualified through Millrose Trials," she said. "It's really nerve-wracking to be there on a Wednesday with five other girls who could make it."
In her past two showings at Millrose, Sheva finished eighth (4:58.69) and sixth (4:56.26).
Marissa Sheva (green and black) runs stride-for-stride with Sabrina Southerland (blue and white) at the 2013 Millrose Games Mile. Southerland would win in 4:51.91, while Sheva would finish sixth in 4:56.26.
"I haven't been really satisfied with either of my races at Millrose to date," she said. "I'd like to win this year. I think that running 4:50 so early shows what I'm capable of.
"Those races usually go out really fast. The girls who are in it never want to make it a kicker's race; you need to position yourself so you're with the leaders, but you never have to lead the race. With these kinds of races, it's rare to see someone lead wire-to-wire. Usually, my goal is to be in position and be ready to go with a quarter to go."
Winning usually takes around a 4:50 effort. Last year's winner, Caroline Alcorta (West Springfield, VA) set a meet record of 4:46.06. Southerland, currently competing at Georgetown University, won in 2013 with 4:51.91. Sheva's win marked a personal record for the full mile indoors. Her best mark including outdoors is a 4:25.22 1,500 meters from the spring, which converts to 4:44.71 (1,600) and 4:46.36 (Mile).
Breaking Southerland's record has Sheva feeling confident. But she's already reached new heights in her senior season, qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals for the first time and finishing 25th overall in 18:31. She was aiming for an elusive All-American spot, but the extra distance training has already paid dividends on the track.
Marissa Sheva (17) finished 25th overall in her first appearance at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego's Balboa Park.
"I would usually be on break right now and probably wouldn't be racing a mile in December," she said. "I would probably be racing a 1,000 or something like that. I've never run this fast this early in these season, that was weird running that [4:50] off cross country strength.
She recalls mile repeats as crucial to her success. During one session in particular, Sheva ran cut-downs at 5:25, 5:16 and 5:10 with full quarter-mile recovery. She claims the longer repetitions gave her more confidence during races -- and may have even edged out quarter-mile repeats as her favorite track workout.
"I did one quarter workout between Nationals and Bishop Loughlin Games," she said. "I'm excited to see what adding speed workouts will do."
Besides contending for the win, Sheva has one more goal for the Valentine's Day race -- catching the eye of Brooks star Nick Symmonds, a five-time U.S. national champion for 800 meters.
"During my warmup my first year, I was so starstruck," she said, "I saw Nick Symmonds and I was so upset [because] I had put my phone down and started to warmup so didn't get a picture with him. I'm always excited to talk to Nick Symmonds. He's my favorite pro. He's so down to earth."
