* Rumson-Fair Haven's Clemmie Lilley is one of two Week 1 COROS Distance Athletes of the Week
Photo Credit: Mae Kellert/MileSplit
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It took championship efforts from the debut winners of the COROS Distance Athlete of the Week honor.
This begins a series where we recognize outstanding young distance athletes over the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
As MileSplit and COROS highlight athletes over the coming weeks, we're looking for athletic excellence across distances on the track and with a particular emphasis on career-best moments obtained through improvement.
Check in with this week's winners.
Ben Gabelman, Westerville North
Class of 2024
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Nine seconds.
In just over two months, that's the amount of (converted) time Ben Gabelman dropped from his opening-season effort in the mile to his state-winning 1,600m win last weekend at the OATCCC Division I Indoor State Championship.
Talk about improvement.
The Syracuse signee dropped a winning effort of 4:08.79 at states on Friday to secure his first Ohio state indoor title and was light year's ahead of where he was two years prior, when he ran 4:27.55 in his only race of the indoor season.
His performance was pretty much on pair with his outdoor best of 4:08.49 from 2023 and his runner-up finish of 4:09.07 from the Ohio Division I Outdoor Championships in June.
But as these things in distance running go, improvement comes once you back off and then re-ignite. Gabelman has now set himself up for a spectacular outdoor season.
| PLACE | VIDEO | ATHLETE | TEAM | MARK | WIND | HEAT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ben Gabelman | 12 | Wester. North | 4:08.79 | 2 | ||
| 2 |  Connor Long | 12 | Anthony Wayne | 4:09.28 | 2 | ||
| 3 |  Saketh Rudraraju | 12 | Olen. Orange | 4:12.09 | 2 | ||
| 4 |  Caden Ozbun | 12 | Dub. Coffman | 4:12.13 | 2 | ||
| 5 |  Connor Reed | 12 | Mass. Perry | 4:13.59 | 2 | ||
| 6 |  Charles Payne | 12 | Lakewood | 4:14.39 | 2 | ||
| 7 |  Ethan Cope | 12 | Tol. St. Francis | 4:17.60 | 2 | ||
| 8 |  Billy Dennison | 11 | Mentor | 4:17.62 | 2 |
Clemmie Lilley, Rumson-Fair Haven (NJ)
Class of 2025
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A win in the girls 800m at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions needed a special effort.
Rumson-Fair Haven's Clemmie Lilley gave just that.
The high school junior performed at her very best this past Sunday, turning on the burners with 200 meters to go as she secured a career best performance and U.S. No. 3 time of 2:08.30 to nab her first Meet of Champions win.
The New Jersey leader and Group 2 winner had previously run 2:09.36 on Feb. 24 to win the distance at the Ocean Breeze Invitational. She had started the season at 2:18 and year-over-year was five seconds better than her season-best in 2023 of 2:14.62.
| PLACE | VIDEO | ATHLETE | TEAM | MARK | WIND | HEAT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Clemmie Lilley | 11 | Rumson-Fair Haven HS | 2:08.30 | 2 | ||
| 2 |  Jimmiea King | 10 | Union Catholic Reg. HS | 2:11.08 | 2 | ||
| 3 |  Olivia Nickelsen | 12 | Toms River North HS | 2:11.13 | 2 | ||
| 4 |  Sofia Day | 11 | Mainland Regional HS | 2:12.05 | 2 | ||
| 5 | Izzy Rodriguez | 11 | Rumson-Fair Haven HS | 2:13.03 | 2 | ||
| 6 |  Angelina George | 11 | Manasquan HS | 2:13.20 | 2 | ||
| 7 |  Bridget Cannon | 9 | Ramapo HS | 2:15.56 | 1 | ||
| 8 |  Gwendolyn Neale | 10 | Verona HS | 2:15.61 | 1 |
Note:
This is the beginning of a series that will run every week on MileSplit. We will be naming our COROS Distance Athlete Of The Week each week as we finish out the indoor and season and move into outdoor.
Related Links:
The COROS Distance Athlete Of The Week