PHILADELPHIA— Breaking national and state records has become part of Union Catholic’s DNA.
Union Catholic will officially hold two U.S. relay records in high school track and field after Sunday. The quartet of sophomore Sophia Thompson, senior Taylor Aska, sophomore Kayla Devine, and sophomore Paige Sheppard posted a winning time of 11:12.20 in the distance medley relay championship at New Balance Nationals.
Union Catholic’s 11:12.20 destroys multiple records, but more importantly is five seconds faster than the previous national record set by Cuthbertson (North Carolina), who ran 11:17.50 at the 2024 New Balance National Indoor Championships in Boston. It also resets their own state record, and demolishes meet record of 11:20.44.
Union Catholic also holds the 4x800 national record, which they set at New Balance Nationals in 2024 (8:34.20).
For Thompson, Aska, Devine and Sheppard, pulling off these achievements on the sport’s biggest stages never loses its thrill.
“The records are something that we’re all super proud of,” Sheppard said. “But the best part is that we are doing this as a team. It’s our final opportunity to race with Taylor before she leaves (for Duke), and I’m just super happy that we were all able to give her something special to end her high school career on. That was super great.”
“These girls are so gifted and talented,” Aska said. “So just being able to be on such a strong, young team is an accomplishment to be proud about on its own. ”I can’t wait be watching next year and see them break even more records."
Thompson put the relay on meet record pace almost instantly, posting a sizzling 3:25.76 on her first leg. It gave Union Catholic a comfortable four-second cushion ahead of the rest of the field -- the next fastest 1200 leg was 3:29.85.
“This is my third or fourth time running the 1200, and the other times I’ve done well, but I knew today I could (attack) the race the way I wanted to,” Thompson said. “3:25 has really been my goal. I just went out there and I was just thinking about the team, thinking about that record. In that last 300 meters, I just told myself that I need to close this out and get it to Taylor as fast as I can.”
Aska further expanded the lead with a 53.69 in the 400, which is only roughly a tenth of a second away from her PR (53.56). It was a perfect conclusion to a outstanding career for the Duke commit.
Devine continued Union Catholic’s record pace with a 2:16.79 in the 800.
“I was planning to go a little faster, to be honest,” Devine said. “I just focused on the moment. And honestly, I was only worried about putting a good effort in and doing my best for this team.
“I’ve saw them break the 4x800 national record last year, which was really exciting,” Devine added. “It’s super special to now be a part of this. Just surreal.”
Sheppard, who reset U15 world & U.S. sophomore records in the one mile championship on Saturday, put together another breathtaking performance. Despite not running on fresh legs, Sheppard burned a 4:35.97 anchor leg in the 1600 to secure the win for Union Catholic.
None of these runners competed on fresh legs on Sunday. Aska ran the 400 on Saturday afternoon, while Thompson, Devine also competed in the mile alongside Sheppard later that night.
“My legs are definitely tired,” Sheppard said. But everybody’s tired. I just have to go out there and execute because that’s what everybody else is doing. Just run my best out there and just give it all that I’ve got. I can find that extra gear if I need to."
“I’m super proud of these girls,” Union Catholic head coach Mike McCabe said. ‘We don’t always get opportunities to put these relays together, because a lot of these girls are so good that they need to (run) their individual events. So when we take those shots at Penn Relays, Arcadia Invitational or nationals, we gotta really take advantage of them. They all ran great today."
Nobody came close to running with Union Catholic. Legacy (N.Y.) finished in second in 11:33.10. The second-best N.J. team was West Windsor-Plainsboro North, who finished ninth with a time of 11:55.49.
Corey Annan can be reached at cannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him or send him a message on Twitter/X @coreyannan360.
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