Girls 3200m, Saturday 10:40pm CT
Meet record: 9:55.92
Will It Be Broken? Not likely.
Fiona O'Keeffe (Davis, CA) is the top returner from the 2014 Arcadia Invitational 3,200m, where she ran 10:14.60 for fifth place.
Fiona O'Keeffe out of Davis, California is the fastest returner (5th) from 2014, now that Efraimson is out of the picture and Alaska's Allie Ostrander opted to race in her home state this weekend. Her personal-best marks of 10:14.60 (set at Arcadia 2014) for 3200m and 16:40.00 for 5000m (cross country) make her seem like the most dangerous in the field. But this junior won't have an easy ride.
Danielle Jones from Desert Vista HS in Arizona is making the trek to Arcadia to lower her personal best of 10:34.16. Having only raced the mile or 800 at past Arcadia Invites, Jones' PB would have placed her 19th last year. With the kind of season Jones is having, that will not be the case. She ran 2:09.94 and 4:46.17 for a full mile already this outdoor season, so Arcadia will be her first 3200 race of the year. O'Keeffe has two 3200's to her name in 2015, with 10:44.41 being her best mark. However, we must throw all previous best marks out the window prior to Arcadia, because O'Keeffe's best time before her 10:14 was a 10:40. If anyone can challenge O'Keeffe, though, it will be the lady who took her down at NXN, none other than Dani Jones.
Prediction: Jones over O'Keeffe, 10:09.1 - 10:11.6
Article by Meg Bellino for FloTrack