Sammy Watson Breaks 600m National High School Record
Full results and coverage from Section 5/6 Invitational
Two-time world 800m champion Sammy Watson broke her first national record this weekend, but not in her signature event! She clocked a stunning 1:28.67 in the 600m at Section 5 vs. Section 6 Invite in upstate New York to lower the all-time best mark from 1:28.78.
Her splits for each 200m were as follows, according to MileSplit NY: 28.473 (28.473), 57.807 (29.335), 1:28.664 (30.857).
Watson owns a stake in the Sprint Medley Relay national records for both indoor (3:52.68) and outdoor (3:47.65) with Rush Henrietta High, and she ranks No. 6 all-time in the indoor 800m (2:05.11), No. 2 all-time in the 1K (2:45.32) and No. 8 all-time in the outdoor 800m (2:02.91).
The former national record holder for 600m is actually still in high school. Kamryn McIntosh, a Clemson signee, will race Watson at the Armory Track Invitational the first weekend of February.
Before that, though, Watson has a big-time 800m race on her plate vs. 2015 IAAF senior level world champion Marina Arzamasova of Belarus at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix this weekend in Boston. Arzamasova has run 1:57.54. The indoor national high school record for 800m is 2:01.8, set by Mary Decker in 1974.