Kelati, North Rockland make history on Day 1

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

There were three championship finals on the first day at New Balance Nationals Indoor and two of them produced national high school records. 

For the sixth year in a row, the championship girls 5,000 meters produced a record-breaking performance. Weini Kelati, an Eritrean immigrant who has been in the U.S. for less than two years, continued her remarkable school year by running 16:08.83 to break Anna Rohrer's one-year old record. 

Kelati, who won Foot Locker in December despite having to push through painful tendinitis, ran without injury and without regard for measured pacing. She sped through 1,000 meters in 3:03 and 2,000 meters in 6:13. 

"That's Weini," Heritage VA coach Doug Gilbert said. "She only knows one way and that's to run hard."

Kelati is a junior academically but at 19 years old her high school eligibility will soon expire. 

The record became a target for Kelati as soon as she became aware of the race after taking some time off to let the tendinitis in her knee heal. 

Kelati was emboldened by the presence of familiar faces. The two-time Foot Locker finalist ran with Maryjeanne Gilbert, Stephanie Jenks, Hannah DeBalsi and Libby Davidson -- friends and competitors from her first national championship in San Diego. 

Jenks of Linn-Mar IA gamely sought to stick with Kelati as long as she could hold up to the blistering pace. Eventually she had to back off and she finished fifth. 

Gilbert, second at Foot Locker, was second again in 16:28.74, good for seventh all-time. 

The New Balance Nationals race is one of the only indoor 5,000 meter races available during the high school season and it has become a popular target for the top girls in the country. Recent Foot Locker champions Rohrer (2014) and Tessa Barrett (2013) also won it in record fashion. 

In the girls championship DMR, North Rockland NY ran agressively at the start and a little bit scared at the end to win the title and break Mountain View UT's 2004 record with 10:34.85. Junior Alex Harris ran a sensation opening leg of 3:28.51 to get North Rockland rolling and into the lead. Senior Camille Cameron split 57.61 for 400 meters and Sydney March split 2:15.29 for 800 meters. 

By the time eighth grade phenom Katelyn Tuohy got the stick she had a big lead and a mission to press for the win and possibly the record as well. 

Tuohy also knew that Lake Braddock's sensational miler, Kate Murphy, was lurking somewhere behind her and ran with the motivation of not getting caught from behind. 

Despite Murphy moving from seventh to second with a 4:43.95 anchor split, Tuohy had little to worry about. She had a half-lap advantage on Murphy. Tuohy kicked in to dip under 11:35 and split 4:53.44.

In the girls championship high jump, Canadian Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis won the title with 5-9.25. Lilly Lowe of Radcliff, Ky. was second after clearing the same height. Extra misses at earlier heights tipped the tiebreaker to Lefebvre-Oatis.