McPHERSON, Kan.—
Alli Cash (SM West) set a new all-time Kansas best for the girls’ 1500 meters eight days earlier than was originally thought.It took us about a week to track down the official results, but when we did, we were able to officially confirm that Alli had actually set the Kansas all-time 1500 meters best eight days earlier than originally published.
Upon our request, thanks to some track and field acquaintances in NYC along with that of a couple of other fellow national prep statisticians, the meet officials for the adidas Diamond Grand Prix meet, which was held June 9 in New York City, went back to the official timing company for the meet OMEGA to get the official FAT times at the 1500-meter mark for all competitors in both the girls and boys Dream Miles.
The just released official FAT 1500-meter times showed Cash officially setting the Kansas girls’ all-time best for the 1500 meters with a time of 4:21.72, 0.23-second faster than the 4:21.95 she ran while finishing finished fourth in the June 17 finals of the 2012 USA National Junior Championships in Bloomington, Indiana, the time for which she had been credited as the all-time Kansas best.
Alli’s 4:21.72 bettered Amy Mortimer’s previous all-time Kansas 1500-meter best of 4:26.5 set by Mortimer (Riley County) in 1999.
The following weekend, Alli then ran what are now officially the #2 and #3 all-time Kansas girl’s best times for the 1500 meters with her times in the finals and preliminary of 4:21.95 and 4:25.07, respectively, at the USATF National Junior Championships held on the campus of the University of Indiana in Bloomington, Indiana.
As I noted in my earlier blog about the Dream Mile race, I had attempted to hand-time the video of the Dream Mile race, approximately the 1500-meter finish by the position of the FAT camera noted on the inside the track and came out with a hand-time of 4:22.2. Personally, that made getting the official times even more exciting!
Congratulations to Alli, now officially the girls’ all-time Kansas 1500-meter record holder with a time of 4:21.72.
Based on her performance at the National Junior Championships, Alli has been named an alternate for the USA National Junior team which will compete in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain, this summer. The top two finishers at the National meet will be the USA’s representatives in Spain unless something unforeseen (i.e., injury or illness) happens.
Alli will now turn her attention to preparing for her upcoming senior cross country and track seasons.
Again, congratulations! We’re looking forward to an exciting senior season.
