Up in NYC this past weekend quite a few current and former VA stars took to the Armory track for the Millrose Games. This included four high schoolers from VA who competed in the 1K and Mile races.
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In the Girls' Mile it was a powerful trio of Virginians in the featured race of the meet. Headlining this group was Rachel McArthur (Patriot) who finally has got her stride back after a long bout with injuries last year. She was joined by fellow NOVA athletes Heather Holt and Olivia Beckner.
The race started great for Team VA with McArthur right at the front and both Holt & Beckner close behind. All three girls were in great position and McArthur was in serious contention and with her kick likely was the favorite with just a few laps to go. Unfortunately with just a fraction left in the race, Rachel hit the track and dropped from contention. She and a couple other girls were caught up in this fall.
Beckner and Holt both capitalized big time on this misstep and moved up. Beckner, a name you should start learning right now, had the biggest break through performance with her second place finish in 4:51.27. That time converts to the 13th fastest ever 1600m run by a VA girl.
Heather was close behind in 4th with a 4:53 performance. McArthur got back up to still run a 5:03.5 for 9th.
Former T.C. Williams' athlete and now adidas athlete, Noah Lyles dashed his was to a 6.63 in 60 which was a pr and good enough for third place in the professional race.
Drew Hunter finished 7th in Millrose Mile (professional) with a pr of 3:56.80 performance. This was one of his first big races of his adidas professional career. He beat out quite a few other talented VA athletes in current and former UVA athletes Robby Andrews (3:57) and Henry Wynne (4:11).
In the professional 1000, Stanford commit and Chantilly senior Brandon McGorty finally faced a field up to his talent level for the 1K distance. He finished in a solid 7th place with an all-time personal best of 2:24.13. That time is one of the fastest prep times ever and improved his own VA #2 performance behind Alan Webb's 2:23.68 state record.