Northern Burlington’s Liliah Gordon remained unbeaten this year at 3,200 meters with a PR win at the state Group 3 meet Saturday at the Bubble.
Gordon ran 11:06.89, three seconds below her winning time at sectionals a week earlier on the same track.
She fell about half a second off the school record of 11:06.43 set 27 years ago by Colleen Sunderland, who actually ran 11:10.32 for two miles at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. That converts to 10:06.43 for 3,200 meters.
This is the second straight year NBC has had a state champion. Lindsey Michie won the pole vault last year at 11-6. Michie and Gordon are the only Northern Burlington girls to win indoor state titles.
The last Northern girl to win a state title on the track indoors or out was Sunderland, who won the state Group 3 3,200 outdoors in 1995 in 10:58.23.
Gordon finished three meters ahead of Toms River South senior Taylor Guthrie, second in 11:07.40. Mainland’s Sofia Day was 3rdin 11:11, a five-second PR of her own.
Gordon is the No. 9 seed for the Meet of Champions 3,200, although at least a couple of the girls seeded faster than her will likely run the 1,600.
The 11:06.89 is fastest by a South Jersey freshman since Kingsway’s Chelsea Ley ran 11:00.79 at 2007 Group 3 states.
She moved up to No. 6 in Burlington County indoor history, and her time is 5th-fastest among U.S. freshmen, according to MileSplit’s national database.
10:31.06 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
10:46.63 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:55.58 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
11:00.7y … Deanna Germano (Shawnee), 1986
11:06.32y … Colleen Sunderland (Northern Burlington), 1995
11:06.89 … Lialah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2022
11:08.85 … Nina Bendixen, [Shawnee], 2015
11:09.91 … Liliah Gordon [Northrn Burlington], 2022
11:10.88 … Caitlin Orr (Lenape), 2009
11:12.32 … Mara Schiffhauer [Seneca], 2014
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 