Fearless Girl more than just a symbol in girls track

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

At the end of a week when the Fearless Girl statue became an overnight tourist attraction down by Wall Street, fearless girls were striking their own blows in Upper Manhattan at The Armory. 

For three days, girls from the historic class of 2017 made their marks on the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships. 

Even in this day and age, when the gender gap is as close to shut as it ever has been, it's important to realize that up until about 40 years ago, a national championship high school track meet where the girls upstaged the boys was not possible. 

And within the graduating class of 2017, which will go down as the greatest in the history of high school girls track and field, fearless is a good word to sum up the group. 

Sydney McLaughlin could have demured and waited her turn in 2016, realizing that her age would be an obstacle at the Olympic Games. But she went for it anyway. 

Candace Hill, who no longer gets to be part of these New Balance National events because she earns a paycheck from ASICS, took a brave leap into the unknown when she signed a pro deal after her sophomore year. 

Samantha Watson, who said she is compelled to try and become the greatest high school mid-distance runner of all-time, could have played it safe at New  Balance Nationals. She has destroyed national records in the 600, 800 and 1,000 meters this winter. 

She decided to run the mile, at the top end of her comfort zone, with a slightly bigger chance of losing. She won anyway. 

Tara Davis ambitiously went to Albuquerque, N.M. for the USATF Indoor Championships and didn't perform well in the 60 hurdles or the long jump. A week later in New York, she stuck to her guns, and redeemed herself with national titles in both events. 

Brie Oakley took on the daunting task of coming to New York City to extend the improbable six-year streak of broken national records in the girls 5,000 meters. Anything less than a record now seems like a letdown. Oakley put it on herself to go out there, run on feel, keep pushing, and smashed the record. Two days later, she ran with the same go-for-broke pace and broke the meet record in the 2-mile.

Alyssa Wilson, who broke the national high school record in the shot put by 10 inches, didn't have her best stuff over the weekend but won anyway, by almost three feet. 

The list goes on, with girls becoming heroes in a sport where your achievement is driven by will. 

Lynna Irby. Chanel Brissett. Jayla Kirkland. Lauren Harris. Jill Shippee. 

All of them, and many more, fearless. 

The weeklong permit granted to the Fearless Girl statue has been extended to a month. There is a growing movement in the city to make the statue permanent. 

The fearless girls of high school track and field aren't going anywhere, either. 

"They are beasts. That's all I have to say," Davis said of her classmates. "They're going to be the best athletes, to, walk."

Lisa Morgan, who coached a group of them as sophomores in the summer of 2015 at the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia, called the the class "amazing."

"Look out USA Track and Field for years to come," she said. "Twenty-twenty and 2024 is going to be amazing."

They are shattering records, taking names, defying convention and exploring their limits. 

And it didn't take an artist to conjure them up. The Fearless Girls are out there, in every state, heading into the 2017 outdoor track and field season ready to take on any challenge.