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6. A National-Championship Caliber 800m Race
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While we never got to witness the 2020 national high school championship at the 800 meter distance, this race may have been the next closest thing.
Stevens Point (WI) sophomore Roisin Willis and Moses Brown School (RI) freshman Sophia Gorriaran both featured in the 800m at the Boston University Last Chance Invitational on February 28.
And neither gave an inch against collegiate athletes. In two different ways.
While Willis jockeyed for position and ran at the front for much of the 4-lap race, Gorriaran was stretching out toward the back and holding on -- or more aptly, waiting.
Willis at one point lost the lead on the third lap, but fought hard to regain that position by the final straightaway to win in a US No. 4 all-time best of 2:03.05.
Gorriaran, meanwhile, was nearly dead last for the entire occasion, up until the final 100 meters, where the young athlete sprinted to the finish line in fifth in a time of 2:03.98, which was a new freshman class national record -- a mark she took over from none other that Willis in 2019.