Already There
Four girls return having already eclipsed this barrier last season.
Runner | 2021 Best |
| 4:53.43 | |
| 4:55.63 | |
| 4:56.93 | |
| 4:57.30 (c) |
(c) - denotes conversion from full mile.
Bella Guillamondegui returns as the top returner in the distance setting her PR at her home track at Great Eight in 2021. Jaynie Halterman's best was also set at this meet.
It's hard believe that less than a year ago Abby Faith got 6th in a race that featured only runners from Middle Tennessee but as this article's purpose is supposed to illustrate, our state has that many quality runners in it. Bella returns as the state's best and after an impressive 10:11 3000m at Samford last weekend, there's no reason to believe she won't be able to break this barrier again. The question is will she be able to maintain the top spot in the event with Cheeseman's growth into her freshman year. Jaynie Halterman ended the season with a Silver Division win at RunningLane after missing the early part of cross county due to injury. After that performance, she seems ready to make a run at defending her title in the event this May. The person she beat is the real question mark and not at all a guarantee to break 5:00 this spring. Zoe Arrington battled injury and illness this fall and her seventh place finish in Class AA/A was a far cry from being the favorite coming in. As she begins to work her way back into form, she'll be one to keep an eye on. While she won't be in the same division this season, she'll still have runners to push her in her division as you'll see on the next page of runners. Between the four it's safe to safe say we have three on our way to 10.