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Eighth grader Sophia Rodriguez continues to make noise as the next up-and-coming distance runner in the country.
The middle schooler out of Dallastown (PA) traveled to Ohio for the YSU HS Meet #3 and took out a high school mile field in 4:56.94, good for the first sub-five-minute mile of her young career.
According to our database, it's the fastest time clocked by an eighth grader in Pennsylvania history. It also ranks Rodriguez as the third-fastest miler in the state this indoor season, a list which includes high school athletes.
The race also comes just weeks after Rodriguez returned to the cross country course for the USATF U20 Cross Country Championships in Virginia, placing 17th with a 21:42 6k performance against some of the country's best prep distance athletes.
But Rodriguez wasn't the only member of her family to put down an impressive mile in the race at YSU. Her sister, Dallastown sophomore Victoria Rodriguez, clocked 5:09.32 to finish second behind her sister on Saturday.