2023 Moments Of The Year
To finish off 2023, we're going to count down the MileSplit TN Top 10 Moments of the Year. "Moments" will be a loose term this year as some will be collective performances from the entirety of a season or the entirety of a career. Nevertheless, you'll see thoughout that 2023 was filled with incredible drama, can't miss races, and record breaking performances. Check Back in between now and January for everything that made last year unforgetttable. Enjoy.
Triple Threat
Prior to 2021, there were three open event Regular Season State Records that were older than forty years: 400m (1979), 800m (1978), and the 1600m (1977). After the 2023 outdoor track season, Claire Stegall owns two of them.
As a freshman, Stegall ran the 800m just once at the Willco Championships and her 2:13 would remain the TN #1 through the end of the season. Her focus that season would be the 1600m and 3200m which she would win state titles in in May. This spring, the 800m was hardly her focus again but in one of her two attempts at the event, she ran under Tania Wells record time of 2:09.44. At the Willco Championships on April 11th, Stegall and the defending 800m champion Gabrielle Boulay would push each other to personal bests with Stegall finishing in 2:09.11.
At that same meet, Stegall would also run faster than the 1600m record (which she already has a claim to from Music City the year before) with a 4:42.52 but she wasn't done yet for that distance. In the race above, she would solidify her name next to the All-Time and State Meet Records with her 4:41.40. She would then go on to finish 3rd at New Balance Nationals running a 4:38.21(c).
With her 10:21 from her freshman season denoted as the 3200m State Record as well, she has her name next to every distance event and she still has two seasons to go. I suspect we'll be seeing her name in this countdown again next season.
