Grant Discussing her win at Running Lane
Isis Symone Grant finally got her state record.
Technically she already had a state record. In February she flew up to Boston and ran a 2:07.34 in the 800m indoors. At the time, it was the fastest any girl had ever run for 800m, indoors or outdoors. But it's been a long season of coming oh so close to the official outdoor state record. This one finally got the job done.
The Sandy Creek Junior has been a middle distance star ever since she ran 2:18 in 6th grade. The 400/800 specialist also ran 58.63 for the 400 that year. But for a while she was stuck "only" running in the 2:15-2:25 range for most of the next four years. She was very successful of course as a high two teens 800 runner who also had mid 50's 400m speed. But it was at the Wingfoot Night of Champions in 2021 that she really exploded and took her running to the next level. She ran 2:10 that night, just barely missing the all time top ten list.
And everything since then has pointed to her eventually being the state record holder. She repeated her 2:10 performance in winning the USATF Junior Olympics last summer and then started off the indoor season strong with the 2:07 in Boston. But then she spent the entire high school outdoor season in the 2:11-2:15 range, likely frustrated to not get back under 2:10. She got back there finally with her performance at Running Lane where she won in 2:08, good enough for 4th all time in state history.
But she finally broke through again and got the record she has worked so hard for. She just placed 5th at the New Balance National Meet at Historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, running 2:07.29. She will finish up the summer track season, possibly lowering the state record further and return for one more year next year. It's going to be exciting to see what she can do. Congrats to you Grant!
