Matsatsa And Everett Earn Close 800m Wins At Track Night NYC


* Tinoda Matsatsa (left) and Amelia Everett won the boys and girls 800m presented by MileSplit at the Track Night NYC meet.

Photo Credit: Derrick Dingle/MileSplit New York

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Under the lights at Icahn Stadium, Tinoda Matsatsa and Amelia Everett put on a show.

The high school boys and girls 800m presented by MileSplit at Trials of Miles' Track Night NYC saw two of the nation's most consistent mid-distance racers grab wins in the premiere track event featuring both high school and professional competition.

Both races certainly lived up to the hype in different forms and fashions.

The showdowns began in the 800m as Matsatsa took a commanding lead right from the gun in the boys race, following pacer Derek Gross closely through the first lap in 53 seconds. The senior from St. Andrew's Episcopal (MD) never looked back as he pressed on in the final 200m and held off a charging Aaron Sahlman for the win in 1:49.48.

Sahlman would take the narrow runner-up finish in 1:49.72 and join Matsatsa as the only two racers in the field to dip under 1:50.


Matsatsa, the New Balance Nationals Indoor champion and one of the top indoor 800m performers of all time, clocked the second sub-1:50 effort of the spring season and has remained undefeated at the distance since the indoor national championships.

While the boys race saw one of the favorites set the pace from start to finish, it came down to the final 100 meters to determine a winner in the girls 800m.

A pack of about five girls held strong through until the final homestretch, and that's when Everett made her move to the outside and surged from third to first just meters before the line, taking the win in 2:07.94.

Track Night NYC served as Everett's season opener at the distance and her first 800m race since March when she registered a 2:08.50 performance at New Balance Nationals Indoor.

The Newton South (MA) senior sat comfortably in the middle of the pack through the first lap but moved up five places over the final 400 meters to take the win at the line.

But holding strong throughout the race and running at the front of the pack for most of the race was 8th-grader Paige Sheppard out of Hillsborough (NJ). Sheppard, a multi-time AAU Junior Olympic champion, moved up to compete against the high schoolers for one of the first times in her career, and she more than held her own as she took second place in 2:08.11.

Overall, five girls dipped under the 2:10 barrier to make for quite the competitive showing.

Outside of the high school 800m races presented by MileSplit, other high schoolers had impressive races in NYC. Highlights include Harvard signee Sophia Gorriaran, who raced with the pros in the women's 800m and took eighth in 2:04.09, and Avery Lewis, the Pennsylvania star junior who won the high school girls 200m in 23.57 (+2.9). New Balance Nationals Indoor 5,000m champion Ellie Shea also toed the line with professionals as she took a top-10 finish in the women's 1,500m in 4:17.41. 

The remaining high school championship fields -- the boys and girls mile races -- saw Collin Boler of Debarlton (NJ) win the boys field in 4:06.71 and Lily Guinn from Maury (VA) earn the girls title in a best of 4:46.17.

Related Links:

Track Night NYC coverage