Shea sweeps 1,500 and 3,000 titles less than an hour apart; Jackson runs 22.48 in 200, Mallard triumphs in 50.74 in 400 and Gero-Holt prevails in high jump for second championship

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

EUGENE, Ore. – Anyone who is familiar with the competitive spirit of Ellie Shea knows she’s willing to take a risk when the stakes are on the line.

The high school junior from Belmont, Mass., representing Emerging Elites, toed the line Thursday with the senior-level athletes in the opening round of the women’s 1,500 meters at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, only to take the lead in her heat from the get-go without any fear.

Unfortunately, Shea’s price was paid in the end, having finished 11th in the race and 29th overall out of 36 competitors in the 1,500 field. 

Nonetheless, lessons were learned, and Sunday, Shea found herself on the starting line again – this time to compete against many of her peers with a trip to Puerto Rico for the Pan American U20 Championships up for grabs.

The outcome was different, or rather multiple results in this case.

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Within a span of an hour, Shea collected wins in both the 1,500 and 3,000, completing one of the toughest doubles in such a short span not just for a prep competitor, but for any distance runner, in general.

“I wanted to make the team in two events to have options,” Shea said. “I knew I would be able to handle it as long as I was smart in both races and didn’t go too crazy.”

In the 1,500, Shea led wire-to-wire to collect her first win in 4 minutes, 19.58 seconds, outkicking another pair of prep stars in Sophia Gorriaran (4:21.10, 2nd) and Angelina Napoleon (4:22.62, 3rd) – both who won a national title earlier in the meet in the 800 and 3,000 steeplechase, respectively.

“I had a little bit of a bad start off the line but then I recovered quickly,” Shea said. “I just wanted to get right into the lead and set the tone for the race. When no one went with me, I kind of kept cranking out the laps to try and secure that win the best I could.”

Minutes after completing the 1,500, Shea quickly hydrated and ate some food before doing strides to prepare for the 3,000 in the next half hour.

Back on the track, fatigue began to kick in for Shea at the start of the 3,000, so she stuck behind her World U20 cross country teammate, Zariel Macchia, for the first couple of laps. 

Midway through the race, Macchia and Shea began trading laps with the remainder of the field beginning trickle away from them. As Shea moved ahead with under 600 to go so did Macchia as well as Michigan’s Rylee Tolson, right on the tail of Shea heading into the final bell lap.

The pace ramped up under 200 meters to go as Shea closed the final stretch in 33.32 seconds to finish the race in 9:46.56, holding off Macchia, who made a late charge to run 9:47.68 for second. Formula Track Club’s Sadie Adams took third in 9:50.43.

“The 3K was a fun experience,” Shea said. “I ran it a little bit more tactically, which I think was really good practice for me since I don’t run a lot of races like that.”

While Shea excelled on the distance side, a pair of sprinters – USC’s Christine Mallard and Arkansas-bound Shawnti Jackson – created breakthrough performances for themselves.

Mallard, an NCAA All-American for the Trojans’ 4x400 relay in June, dipped underneath the 51-second barrier for the first time in her career, running 50.74 to win her first U20 national title.

“I didn’t expect 50.7 coming off my second 400 since early May,” Mallard said. “I’m just very happy with myself; it’s just great.”

Jackson, the national high school record holder in the 100, ran a meet-record 22.48, well below her personal best, to win the women’s 200. Jackson equaled the No. 4 all-time outdoor prep competitor.

Oregon freshman Rheinhardt Harrison completed a busy week of racing in both meets with a win in the U20 men’s 1,500 final in a time of 3:48.30. Future Duck teammate Tayson Echohawk finished second to Harrison in 3:50.28.

Virginia Tech’s Judson Lincoln IV prevailed in the men’s 400 over Ready Set Go Sprinters Jake Andrews from Bellingham, Wash., by a margin of 45.47 to 45.91. Bullis School of Maryland freshman Quincy Wilson, who ran 45.87 in prelims, finished fourth in 46.12.

Miami (Florida) freshman Sanaa Hebron closed hard over the final 100 meters to take the win in the women’s 400 hurdles, running 56.22, with the Vanderbilt duo of Allyria McBride and Mya Georgiadis finishing second and third, respectively, in 56.40 and 57.74.

Gage Gose of Landey Valley in Wyoming ran 51.67 to win the men’s 400 hurdles, beating out Boston College’s Damon Frabotta in 51.89.

Missouri’s Andrew Rogers ran 60.60 seconds on his final 400 to run 14:57.55 in the men’s 5,000 for the title, outleaning Rutgers Liam Tilton (14:57.86, second) and Iowa’s William Ryan (14;57.87, third).

St. John Striders’ Christian Miller completed the men’s 100/200 sweep, winning the 200 in 20.51 past Nebraska’s Garrett Kaalund in 20.65. 

Evelyn Bliss from Union High in Pennsylvania threw 169-11 (51.79m) on her first throw to capture the women’s javelin title, with Princeton’s Shea Greene finishing second with a throw of 167-11 (51.18m).

JaiCieonna Gero-Holt won her second national title of the weekend, capturing the women’s high jump championship with a clearance of 5-10.75 (1.80m). Cincinnati’s Lauren Ann Barnes and Soca Speed Track Club’s Kya Crooke from Indiana went head-to-head in a jumpoff after each athlete cleared 5-9.75 (1.77m), with Crooke prevailing in the sudden-death tiebreaker.

Aiden Carter of Brentwood High in Tennessee scored 6,915 points to complete the men’s decathlon, securing the national title behind his efforts. Koby Kessler from IMG Academy in Florida took second with 6,872 points.