High School Digest — More Record Action

Angelina Napoleon, also a gifted 800 runner, twice lowered the 2K steeple mark in May and June. (JOHN NEPOLITAN)

JUNE’S TYPICAL CRUSH saw plenty of action at the “shoe company nationals” as our stories on the Brooks, New Balance and Nike meets reveal. (There was also an adidas meet, but it had very few national-class marks.) There was also record action elsewhere.


Shawnti Jackson 10.89 HSR

She tore up the record book with 4 HSRs during the indoor campaign, but Shawnti Jackson (South Granville, Creedmoor, North Carolina) sat out the outdoor season until late May with an injury.

At the Music City Track Carnival (Nashville, June 03), the speedy senior proved that she is more than healthy again, destroying the national record with a blazing 10.89 for the win against a field of pros.

The time bettered the old best of 10.94 set by Brianna Williams (Northeast, Oakland Park, Florida) at the Jamaican Championships in ’19. It also marked a massive improvement from Jackson’s previous best of 11.15 and moved her to =No. 4 among World Juniors all-time, and No. 3 among Americans.

“Just to be running against people who I look up to inspired me more,” the Arkansas recruit said. “I didn’t know I ran that fast, I was just happy to win a pro race at 18.”


Lex Young 13:34.96 HSR

When Connor Burns claimed the 5000 record he probably didn’t imagine his tenure at the top would be so short-lived. Just 20 days later, Lex Young (Newbury Park, California) got a spot on the line at the USATF LA Grand Prix (Westwood, May 26). In a loaded pro field (winning time 13:05.17 by Abdihamid Nur), Young cruised to an 18th-place finishing, slicing 2.34 off Burns’s mark. That made him the No. 9 Junior in U.S. history.

Earlier this season, the Stanford signee had run 13:44.83; as a junior he had run 13:43.95. “During the race I tried to relax, I tried to find my rhythm and I felt fairly confident and fairly comfortable,” he said. “The conditions were almost perfect.”


2 Steeple Records For Angelina Napoleon

Speed and strength: Angelina Napoleon (Allegany-Limestone, Allegany, New York) has a diverse skill set, as one of the nation’s leading prep 800 runners broke the national 2000 steeple record twice in 3 weeks.

First came a 6:19.75 in at a sectional qualifier (Jamestown, May 27). That reclaimed the mark from the 6:22.85 that fellow New Yorker Karrie Baloga had set earlier in the month. Baloga had broken Napoleon’s 6:24.32 from last year.

Two weeks later at State (Middletown, June 10) Napoleon knocked that down to 6:18.41, in a race where Baloga improved to 6:21.31 for No. 2 all-time and Sheridan Wheeler (Saratoga Springs) moved to No. 3 at 6:22.13. The record came the day after Napoleon won the 800 in a PR 2:03.97.

“I was stoked to do that,” said the NC State recruit. “I had my splits I was going for, I was going for under that record, so to break it is really cool.”


Fast 200s At The New York GP

Notable half-lap races were the order of the day on Randalls Island (June 24). On the boys’ side Issam Asinga (Academy, Montverde, Florida) beat every pro except world champion Noah Lyles, running 20.25.

The girls had a HS race of their own, with Shawnti Jackson moving to No. 8 on the all-time list as her 22.70 turned back the 22.85 of indoor record claimant Adaejah Hodge.

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