A runner’s mile time is his or her trophy time. Not necessarily because it is a runner’s favorite or even best event, but because a mile time is something non-runners understand. If you’re a female runner telling a peer that you just ran a 17:50 5000-meter race, they say “great job,” not really knowing if that’s good or bad (it’s good). If a female runner tells a peer that she just ran under five minutes for the one-mile event, a jaw will drop.
Julia Heymach has a pretty nice trophy—a 4:51.47 personal best in the 1,600-meter run. Heymach is a sophomore at Houston Lamar High School in Texas. She recently broke her 2014 track season best time by five seconds at the Will Taylor Relays. Not bad considering the season is very young.
Heymach is competing in her very first season at Lamar High School, and clearly the move didn’t affect her speed or endurance. Currently, Heymach has the top 1600-meter time in the nation; however, she still hasn’t gained a state title. Her best showing at a state meet yet, is her third place finish at the UIL Sate Cross Country Championship last season. However, we are pretty confident here at In the Game that Heymach will be one to watch, and she probably has a few championships in her future.
To shine a little perspective on this 16-year-old, we can compare and contrast a few miles times:
1600-meter female world record: 4:12.56 – Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) in 1996
1600-meter female USA record: 4:16.71 Mary-Decker-Slaney in 1985
1600-meter high school record: 4:34.24 – Polly Plumer (California) in 1982
Current fastest female 1600-meter time in Georgia: 5:25.13 Elizabeth Graves (Riverwood International Charter 2/21/2015
Written by: Sarah Turner
Photograph Courtesy of: Runner Space
Date: February 26, 2015
In the Game Web Exclusive
Texan Sophomore Sets Early PR of 4:51 at the Dawn of Track Season
