Conway, Starliper Punch Millrose Tickets

Photos by Steven Pisano

A pair of Pennsylvania runners earned spots in the Millrose Game High School Mile on Wednesday evening with strong performances at the Millrose Games Trials.

At the Armory, Liam Conway of Owen J. Roberts came from behind to win the boys' race, while Marlee Starliper of Northern took second in the girls' race. Both performances qualified the athletes for February's Millrose Games back at the Armory.

Conway used a vicious kick over the closing meters to run down leader Mason Gatewood of New York. The senior crossed in 4:15.33, which puts him at PA#2 and US#3 (Bishop Shanahan's Josh Hoey sits at US#1). Conway ran his final lap in 28.4 seconds to go from fourth to first for the victory.

The win automatically qualified Conway for Millrose. It also tops Conway's previous indoor mile PR, which stood at 4:15.65 from his second place finish at states last winter. West Chester Henderson's Spencer Smucker placed 13th overall in a time of 4:24.19, a PA#5.

Check out the splits below:

Starliper was matched up with North Rockland's Katelyn Tuohy, the runaway Nike Cross Nationals champion from this past fall, who nearly broke the high school 3K record on Saturday. Tuohy broke away from the field early and never looked back, clocking a time of 4:43.62, a US#1 by over 11 seconds.

But Starliper ran very well, finishing in 4:49.18, a PR and US#2 (behind just Tuohy). Starliper's previous indoor mile PR was 4:56.67, while her outdoor 1,600 meter best was 4:49.68. The sophomore Starliper ran even splits on Wednesday night with each 200 meter lap in the 35-36 second range.

Starliper will return to the Armory on February 3 for the Millrose Games. Check out her splits below:

Ariana Gardizy of North Penn dominated the first heat of the girls' mile on Wednesday night. The senior went 5:02.76 to improve upon her own PA#3 time in the event.

In the boys' 4x800 meter relay, Pennsbury became the second Pennsylvania squad under eight minutes in the event so far this season. The team of Aidan Sauer, Jed Scratchard, Thomas Mink, and Javier Linares ran 7:57.41 for third place and a spot in the Millrose Games in February.

Sauer split 1:56.52, Scratchard 1:57.08, Mink 2:05.64, and Linares 1:56.18. That time is a new PA#2 and US#4.