Girls Dash for Doobie Highlights:
Based on the numbers I posted on the previous slide, I have no problem whatsoever calling this the best girls race in Dash for Doobie history. This field had individual stars, as was clear from the beginning as Pinecrest's Carmen Alder pushed the pace, with Katie Pou, Jenna Hutchins, and Natalie Tyner right on her back and the trio of Hayley Whoolery, Maggie McCormick, and Katherine Priu fronting the chase pack. Alder tried to break away in the second 800 but Hutchins wouldn't allow it, and by mid race those two had opened a gap with Tyner moving into third and the chasers in danger of getting left behind. In the endgame, two separate two-girl battles developed: Hutchins stalked Alder, while Priu rallied hard on the final lap to race Tyner for third. Hutchins timed her move perfectly, pulling the trigger on the final straight to pull away for the 10:26.87 win, the #3 time in meet history, with Alder right behind at 10:29.18 (#4). Priu's furious kick got her third place in 10:34.40 (#6 all-time), just edging Tyner's 10:34.96 (#7).
For perspective, only 5 girls had broken 10:40 in the meet's previous 10 iterations, and then 4 achieved that goal Saturday night! Alder and Hutchins join Nevada Mareno and Ryen Frazier as the only sub-10:30 performances in meet history. Last spring, NO North Carolina girl broke 10:30 in the 3200 or two mile, and only Alder ran under 10:50. Hutchins' and Alder's times would both have made the top 50 in the national rankings from the end of the 2018 track season.
A third battle emerged behind the front four, with Hayley Whoolery and Maggie McCormick pushing each other all the way to the line in 10:47 (both cracking the top 15 in meet history in the process). Jonna Strange rounded out the sub-11 contingent, sneaking in a new PR of 10:59.
There were several noteworthy performances from previous heats, too. Angie Allen won section 6 and placed 11th overall in 11:11.12, helping to pull several other runners from that section into the top 20 for the meet. Sarah Mitchell turned heads with an outstanding run from way back in section 4, as the Grace Christian (Raleigh) freshman clocked 11:24.19 to break into the top 25 overall.