At the biggest track meet of the indoor season – the New Balance Indoor Nationals, run by the NSAF (National Scholastic Athletic Foundation) – Shea Weilbaker ’19, of Saratoga Springs, turned in his fastest mile to date, a blistering 4:38. Shea was one of 31 freshman milers from across the country that ran the sub 4:40 mile required to qualify for the Indoor Nationals, held at the Armory in New York City on March 13.
At the Indoor Nationals, Shea encountered the best runners he had ever competed against. The stellar level of competition helped push Shea to his personal best of 4:38, which was good enough for 18th place for all freshmen throughout the country. His time also was fast enough to earn him second place for New York State. His time marks an incredible improvement since late December: he ran his indoor mile then in 4:46, which was good enough for second place in a freshman and sophomore race. To cut almost 10 seconds off of his indoor mile time in just under three months is remarkable. Even more impressive, though, is that Shea is still relatively new to running. He has only seriously trained for about four months!
Shea had this to say about competing at Nationals: “I had never been in a race that size. I am pretty sure I was the only one there who just started running. It was a totally new feeling having such a high level of competition. I knew I was going against a lot of the best runners in the country and it would be a good opportunity to lower my time.”
How does he plan to follow up his incredibly successful indoor season? Shea has his sights set on qualifying for nationals once again, though this time in the 2 mile.
Congratulations to you for your running prowess and good luck in the upcoming outdoor season!
For full list of results: http://www.nationalscholastic.org/files/results/2016_NBNI_results_corrected.htm
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