National Titles On The Line: PA Girls' New Balance Nationals Indoor Preview


NBNI - Girls' Distance Preview

800 Meters (Finals - Sun. 3/11, 10:10am)

Esther Seeland of State College Area is fresh off a dramatic win at the indoor state meet and the senior will look to ride that momentum into nationals. Seeland dropped a US#2 of 2:08.71 with a great kick to take the win. She'll look to make a splash at the Armory this weekend.

Gabrielle Wilkinson of Friends' Central was second to Seeland at states, but will look for a big day at The Armory. Her time of 2:09.02 from states sits at US#4. You may recall that she ran 2:06.87 as a sophomore to take third at NBNI two years ago. West Allegheny's Maddie Salek was third at indoor states after setting an aggressive pace early on. She's at US#10 entering the weekend and will be one to watch for.

The top seed will be Athing Mu of New Jersey, who enters at US#1 with a season best of 2:06.88.

1 Mile Run (Finals - Sun. 3/11, 11:50am)

Northern's Marlee Starliper will return to the track this weekend. The mile state champion and US#2 will go for more history on Sunday. Starliper, who was third at Millrose, ran 4:43.49 to win the mile at the indoor state meet. She'll have her sights set on the sophomore class record, which Nevada Mareno set in 2015 at 4:43.23.

Starliper's best competition for the win will come from Victoria Starcher of West Virginia (US#6 4:47.90) and Lily Flynn of New York (US#7 4:50.38), among a host of others.

Also in the field from PA are Taryn Parks of Greencastle-Antrim and Savannah Shaw of Upper Saint Clair. Parks went 4:53 to take third at indoor states. Shaw, meanwhile, went 4:58 for fourth at indoor states. Wilkinson, who is US#1 in the mile from her Millrose Games victory, is not entered, instead opting for the 800 and DMR double.


2 Mile Run (Finals - Sun. 3/11, 9:40am)

There are no PA entries in this field, but look for Katelyn Tuohy for New York. The sophomore broke the 5K national record earlier this season. She'll shoot for a quick 2 mile time on Sunday. The meet record is 9:56.06, while the national record is 9:38.68.

5,000 Meters (Final - Friday, 3/9, 3:05pm)

Pennsylvania will have five entries in the 5K.

Eastern York's Maddie McLain is the only one who contested the event so far this season. The senior ran a US#4 time of 18:01 in the same race that aw Tuohy set the national record. Dominique Shultz is the lone PA returner from last year's NBNI 5K. She placed tenth in 17:42 last year.

North Penn has a pair of entries in the field, as Ariana Gardizy and Olivia Dyer will hunt for high finishes. Chambersburg's Abby Yourkavitch is also in the field. Let's see how many can dip under 18 minutes this season.