Individuals
Fast History of Fast
During the four decades since the second coming of the Manhattan College Invitational, the meet has steadily grown to almost stupendous proportions. A hugely popular meet back in the 1920s (but without girls), the current version of the meet kicked off in 1973 and by the end of the decade, the girls had started to become a force on the heels of the exploits of runners like Stony Brook's Laura Whitney. The meet has steadily added races and become one of the top three invitationals in the country. One of the 40 scheduled races gets the gun every 5 to 12 minutes to keep the hordes of runners flowing through to the screaming masses perched on the Cemetery Hill overlook or forming a deafening gauntlet at the finish. The transformation has been especially huge for the girls, whose long-time featured Eastern States race has exploded from a high-status 10 team race just 8 years ago to a showdown of national powers with 25 teams slated to toe the mark nowadays.
The modern era kicked off in 2004 when the perennial girls national superpower Saratoga Springs won the Eastern States for the next to last time and the Blue Streaks' Nicole Blood broke the 14:00 minute barrier. The course has had many different variations over the last decade, so citing a record time is problematic, but in 2007 Carly Seymour of Central Cambria ran a 13:55 to set the lowest official time. Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall was a two-time winner of the ES, and in 2010 she ran a 13:58 and matched Blood's TR of 159 for the top rated score there. In 2011, Jillian Fanning of Fayetteville-Manlius took 1st and led her team to its 5th straight Eastern States title. The streak was broken in 2012 when Tatnall's Reagan Anderson captured the win and led her team to an upset of FM. Mary Cain of Bronxville posted the top time at the 2012 Manhattan in the A race when she ran a 14:03.In 2013 it was Unionville that bested Fayetteville-Manlius, and Kennedy Weisner of Elk County Catholic had the fastest time in Eastern States and Manhattan with a 14:09. Last year Fayetteville-Manlius returned to the top position, and Heritage's Weini Kelati was the top runner.
The Eastern States is rightly considered to have the kiss of gold for those with national championship aspirations.The team that has won the ES has gone on to take the national crown at NXN in 7 of the last 11 years, plus two other times that the runner-up has claimed the national title. Likewise, the individual winners have done well in the nationals, and Cornwall's Aisling Cuffe ran to the Footlocker title after winning the ES in 2010, and Warwick Valley's Aislinn Ryan won the FLN in 2004 and followed it with an ES victory in a downpour in 2005.
Preview of Eastern States Teams
This year's Eastern States will be very very fast. When you have seven runners at the top of the field with speed ratings higher than 140, you are going to see the cinders burning up. The reigning national champ Fayetteville-Manlius is again the big favorite to win their second straight Eastern States championship, but there are a half dozen teams shooting to pull off a Midlothian '06 or Tatnall '12 style upset in the race. The FM Hornets have a speed rating above 130 with a top three that includes Kaitlyn Neal, Samantha Levy, and Palmer Madsen plus four other runners who can easily move into that top trio.
Behind the Hornets though is a La Salle school that was 2nd last year and has a strong enough top trio in Eliza Rego, Karina Tavares, and Grace Connolly to pull off an upset if the back hills roll their way. Pennsbury comes in as the 2nd rated squad by speed ratings, and the Falcons have the experience behind top duo Olivia Sargent and Hannah Molloy to pull off a win if the supporting group has a big day. Virginia's Patriot team is a little bit of a mystery as they seem to have avoided any race you can get standard speed ratings from, but Rachel McArthur will be at the front of the race and her Pioneers squad should be among the top 5 teams. A trio of NY teams that will also be in the running for a title include a North Rockland squad led by national steeplechase champ Alex Harris and precocious 8th grader Katelyn Touhy, a Corning team led by US #16 runner Jessica Lawson, and a Syosset team led by sophomore Reilly Siebert.
The battle among the top runners should be one of the best ever at Manhattan. Among the elite group is US # 11 Rachel McArthur, US #16 Jessica Lawson, and US #21 Kaitlyn Neal. 34 runners have speed ratings over the 120 mark, and 7 are over the super-fast 140 mark. What more can you say other than that the cinders and wood chips will be shooting away at a rate that is dangerous to any spectators who are standing in their path.
Some Seriously Speedy Girls
| Name | Team | Speed Rating (TR) |
| Rachel McArthur | Patriot | 151 |
| Jessica Lawson | Corning | 150 |
| Sage Hurta | Hamilton | 145 |
| Kaitlyn Neal | Fayetteville-Manlius | 144 |
| Briana Gess | Haddonfield | 141 |
| Maria Coffin | Annapolis | 141 |
| Reilly Siebert | Syosset | 140 |
| Olivia Sargent | Pennsbury | 137 |
| Alex Harris | North Rockland | 136 |
| Katelyn Tuohy | North Rockland | 136 |
| Margie Cullen | Needham | 134 |
| Samantha Levy | Fayetteville-Manlius | 133 |
| Palmer Madsen | Fayetteville-Manlius | 132 |
| Eliza Rego | La Salle | 132 |
| Hannah Molloy | Pennsbury | 130 |
| Claire Walters | Fayetteville-Manlius | 128 |
| Jenna Farrell | Fayetteville-Manlius | 127 |
| Abby Gugel | Jordan-Elbridge | 126 |
| Angela Saidman | Immacuate | 126 |
| Rebecca Walters | Fayetteville-Manlius | 126 |
| Karina Tavares | La Salle | 124 |
| Marianne Abdaleh | Vincentian | 124 |
| Jenna Gasperini | Immaculate | 123 |
| Sarah Armstrong | Needham | 123 |
| Alexandra DeCicco | Sachem East | 123 |
| Sophie Ryan | Fayetteville-Manlius | 122 |
| Grace Connolly | La Salle | 122 |
| Sophia Gorman | Champlain Valley | 122 |
| Caroline Timm | Our Lady of Lourdes | 122 |
| Abby Wied | Scranton | 121 |
| Sydney Rice | Notre Dame | 120 |
| Leya Salis | Bedford | 120 |