Palin Finishes Sixth at New England Championships!

In the final tune-up to the New Balance Indoor National Championships, senior Julia Palin raced in her final meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Competing in her newly minted "marquee" event this year, she ran in the second seeded section of the 1,000 meter run.

Entered with the fifth fastest seed, the race went out to an uneasy start, as an impeding start from eventual winner Emily Phillippides of Greenwich, CT cut off Palin causing her to hit the track within the first 20 meters. Fortunately, a restart brought the race back and allowed her to regain her composure (full race video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qvca4L24EM).

Back on track, Palin came through the 400m mark towards the back of the pack. After all the jitters started to wear off of her competitors, she began to weave in and out of the group to move up towards the front runners. Passing through 600 meters in the low 1:40s, Palin continued to make moves on fading runners, avoiding traffic and placing herself in position to kick for the finish. In fact, as all other runners faded, she maintained a consistent 34 second clip following the first lap.

Palin strides for the finish and All-New England Honors

She crossed the line finishing in 6th place in the third heat, and fastest, heat. Although she maintained pace throughout the last 800 meters, her consistency led her to break her school record, stopping the clock at 2:56.95. To put that into perspective, her time would have qualified her for the collegiate NEICAAA (or New Englands) indoor meet held at RLC the night of the TVL Championships.

Palin receiving her medal for All-New England Honors in the 1,000m run

UP NEXT: The Lancers close out their season over the March 9-11 weekend as both Palin (Friday, 6:55 pm - Emerging Elite 800 meter) and freshman Isabella Pietrasiewicz (Sunday, 9:00 am - Freshman Mile) compete at the New Balance Indoor National Championships at The Armory in New York City!