The Scoop: Kelsey Chmiel Is In Prime Form Right Now


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The Return Of The Chmiel 

Don't look now, but Kelsey Chmiel is in grand form already. 

The Saratoga Springs (NY) High School senior opened her 2018 season with a career best 5K time of 16:46.00 at the Great Meadow Invitational on Saturday, traveling all the way to Virginia to open up. Her squad, ranked No. 19 on the preseason MileSplit50 national rankings, won the meet with 42 points. 

No big deal, but that effort marked a 50-second improvement from Chmiel's best on The Plains' course two years ago, and it also set the stage for her earliest return to cross since that same time frame in 2016. 

The win was also 90 seconds faster than the second-place performer. 

A year ago, Chmiel didn't begin her season in earnest until September, opening at the Ocean State XC Invitational to a solid mark of 17:35.00. 

But remember, this is the same New Yorker who was second at NXN and first at the Great Edinburgh XCountry Challenge in January. 

Chmiel likely won't race a lot in 2018, but when she does, it's probably going to look a lot like this result.


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