Some would call this the year of the girls distance runners. Already this season, two girls have broken into the all time top 10 list in the 3200 and a freshman out of Dekalb County has posted a 5:01 1600m time. It takes a sub 11:13 to make it into the top 5 on the girls 3200 list and a sub 5:13 to make it into the top 5 in the 1600 rankings. Two freshman have already run 5:01.88 and 5:10.11 in the 1600m, a sophomore sits atop the leader board in the 800m with a 2:12.59 and two girls have broken 11:00 in the 3200. It appears that the future of girls distance running is very bright indeed!
Emily Reese, a freshman from Chamblee, served notice in cross country season that she was a force to be reckoned with. With Ena Leufroy of Marist and Emily Borsare of McIntosh along with Shelley Taylor of Northwest Whitfield all in the same 1600 field at state, the mind reels with the possibilities! In AAAAA, the top time has been posted by freshman Leila Norman out of Walton High School. At the Mobile Challenge of Champions, the two freshman from Georgia went 1-2. Emily has also posted an 11:07 in the 3200 to go with her blazing 1600m time. But that is only good enough to get her in the top 3!
Last cross country season had to be a frustrating one for Shelley Taylor, who finished 22nd at the state championships after her amazing first two seasons. One would have thought that the daunting task of matching up with the likes of Emily Borsare, out of McIntosh, and the young phenom Reese had taken it\'s toll on her. The answer served in Mobile was a resounding no! After Emily Borsare\'s blistering 10:53.6 3200m time at the Coaches Invitational, the question was how do you top that? Easy, you just go out to Mobile and run a 10:51.95 equivalent 3200m, an amazing performance by a young lady that\'s still just a junior. The girls 3200 in AAAA should be an amazing race at state.
In the 800m, Brittany Hall, a sophomore at Meadowcreek High School, holds the top spot with a 2:12.59 run at the Mobile Meet of Champions as a follow up to her meet winning 2:14 run at the Gwinnett County Championships. She is one of 5 sub 2:20 girls in the 800m including Diamond Marks 2:14.99, also from the Mobile Meet of Champions. Erin Guglielmo joined the sub 2:20 crowd with her blistering 2:17.7 anchor leg in the 4x800 relay that earned Collins Hill top honors, giving the Eagles two girls that have broken 2:20 in their career and both of them only sophomores! Taylor Adams. a junior out of Sprayberry, is another member of the sub 2:20 group with her 2:16.30 800m mark to accompany her 5:12.84 1600m mark.
All this begs the question, what can these girls do to top this? The state meet should provide quite a showcase for these amazing young ladies and the track will be sizzling down at Albany as these girls look poised to provide some fireworks. Will this be the year that Georgia sees another sub 5 1600m or maybe two or three? It seems entirely possible based on the early season perfromances. These young ladies have definitely proven that the state of distance running is in good shape and should be for years to come.