Above: Gwen Hamilton (Left) and Olivia Cieslak (right) battle in the 800m. Photo by Ryan Comstock.
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Full Results
An astonishing 12 PA No. 1 marks were set at the Kristian Marche Memorial Invitational on Sunday. Among them, was a PA State Record set by Jordan Sowell. That is detailed in the linked story, but we're going to take a second to highlight a few of the other phenomenal marks.
Why not?
Two of Pennsylvania's premier mid-distance runners jumped on the track together for a showdown on the banks of the Armory.
The two went out aggressive on Sunday, splitting 62 seconds and change through the opening 400m. Together, they continued to dance around the track and the lead was never more than a few tenths.
In the end, Cieslak held off Hamilton down the final stretch, winning with a 2:09.24. Hamilton posted a 2:09.66. Those times currently stand as the US No. 1 and US No. 2
Photo by Ryan Comstock | MileSplit
Mims-Horton kept rolling on Sunday with a US No. 2 400m time of 47.60. Not to be outdone, he ran the fastest time by a Pennsylvania junior all-time.
He opened with a 22.73 opening 200m, which would rank him 16th in the state this year (if he wasn't already first), before closing in a 24.86.
With the run, Mims-Horton moved up the PA No. 3 All-Time.
Photo by Ryan Comstock | MileSplit
To keep the chains moving, McCoullum and Ward covered 200m in US Top 15 times.
The two battled to the line, and McCoullum narrowly edged out Julian Ward (Roman Catholic), winning 21.56 to 21.62. Those times currently stand as PA No. 2 and No. 3 marks respectively, with Jayden Mims-Horton holding the top rank.
There are now currently three Pennsylvanias inside the US Top 15.