Michaela Rose is arguably one of the nation's top returning middle distance runners having run 2:50 for 1000 meters, 2:04 for 800 meters, 1:30 for 600 meters, 1:12 for 500 meters, and 54 seconds for 400 meters. The LSU commit was willing to get out of her comfort zone and test her range this weekend as she worked on her speed racing an unseeded heat of the 200-meter dash on Friday and in a very intriguing race test her stamina racing in the seeded heat of the girls' mile on Saturday. Likely the double will be pay dividends later this season when she focuses on her primary events.
It also almost paid off in a big victory in a field against established longer distance runners. Rose took charge from the gun and ran well ahead of the field throughout including hitting the half-mile mark in 2:29 and on pace for a possible sub 5 effort.
It was not until the final lap when the top two finishers from Friday's two-mile in Ava Gordon of Loudoun Valley and Kayla Werner of Pacers were able to chase her down in the final 100 meters with Gordon taking the victory in 5:03.62, while the two-mile winner Werner eeked past Rose in final steps for second place at 5:04.79. Gordon, last year's Virginia Class 4 state 1600 meter champion with a 4:57 best, closed fast with a 35 second last lap.
Rose finished third in a new personal best mile time of 5:05. She had run 5:04 last indoor season in her lone 1600 meter race. Looking forward to seeing her run in future races at this new facility right in her backyard at distances ranking her among the nation's fastest ranging from 400 to 1000 meters.