Claire Magee ran the 3rd-fastest 400 by a New Jersey freshman this year at the Olympic Conference Championships.
Magee won the 400 in 57.63 at Rancocas Valley in Mount Holly Tuesday, finishing just ahead of junior Guiliana Puglisi of Cherry Hill East, who also PR’d with her 58.35 for 2nd place.
Magee’s fastest previous 400 was a 58.53 at the Camden County Championships earlier this month at Haddon Township. She’s run four open 400s this spring and run sub-59 in each one.
Indoors, Magee ran 1:00.94 to place 5th in the freshman 400 at Virginia Beach Nationals in March.
The only faster freshmen in New Jersey this year are Pennsauken’s Sianni Wynn, who ran 56.69 at the BCSL Championships last weekend on her home track at Pennsauken, and Jael Gaines of the Lawrenceville School, who ran 57.51 at the Mercer County Championships at Robbinsville.
Magee is the 1st Paul VI girl to win the 400 at the Olympic Conference Championships and the first freshman to win it since Brittany Whitehead of Cherry Hill West in 2005 with a time of 56.2.
Overall, Magee is now tied for 6th-fastest 400 runner in South Jersey this year and 5th-fastest in Parochial A.
Her 57.63 is 3rd-fastest in Paul VI history. Aliya Rae Garozzo ran 56.88 at the 2019 Rowan Open. Garozzo now runs for Penn and is part of Penn’s 1,600-meter relay team that ran 3:34.30 this spring and will compete this weekend in the NCAA Division 1 East Preliminaries. And Cheryl Scott ran 57.20 at the 2002 Meet of Champions in South Brunswick.
Magee also placed 6th in the 200 with a personal-best 26.83. It was her first outdoor 200 ever.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 