Section 3 Kicks Off Indoor With Pair Of US All-Time Marks

Dec 09, 2018

It didn't take long for a New Yorker to put a big mark on the board. Six days after placing 5th at Nike Cross Nationals, and 4th place with her team, Claire Walters of Fayetteville-Manlius dropped a big performance on the track. Running at the Mohawk Valley Relays, the Junior put fourth a personal best of 4:34.91 in the 1500m. The mark constituted a nearly 7-second personal best, her previous PR coming from Spring 2018, where she ran 4:41.76 at Sectionals. In the race, Manlius saw four of their Top 7 from XC break 5mins, with teammate Phoebe White in second at 4:43.72.

The mark stands as the 6th best 1500m ever run in the month of December, and the 5th best by a New Yorker. It is also the earliest of any of the marks within the Top 10. Back in 2016, Jessica Lawson set the Nation's best mark for this designation the same as Walters, where she was coming off an 8th place finish at NXN. Walters' mark falls just outside the Top 25 All-Time for the event Indoors, at NY #28 All-Time.

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Walters wasn't the only NXN-Alum, & Section 3 competitor, putting up a strong mark. Sophomore Brooke Rauber (Tully) went US #1 in the 3000m with a win at 9:54.02. That mark stands at US #3 All-Time for the month of December. The move is less unusual for Rauber, who opened her season similarly last year, with a 9:57.60. Rauber finished 6th place at NXN for the second year in a row, and is the competition's fourth best returner next year.

Rauber's personal best comes from Indoor last year, where she ran 9:44.71 to finish second at the State Meet. It constituted a 13-second drop from her debut race, to the culmination of her season, which included a trip to the Millrose Mile, and a 7th Place finish in the New Balance Indoor Nationals 5k in between.