All-Time List - Girls' 1600m - All sub-5:00m performers - All sub-4:55 performances

JAVMAN83

JAVMAN83

Well-known member
This was awhile in the making, but now that it's done, may I present THE all-time 1600m/Mile list for Ohio girls' 1600m and 1 Mile performers and performances. Compiling from numerous sources including Track & Field News High School Track issues (1978-now), MileSplit, Baumspage, old issues of Ohio Track & Field News, numerous online newspaper archives, and a number of other sources, this list was years in the making, but now I feel comfortable to present it to the community. As I stated in past threads, my goal is a top-50 listing for outdoor events, and a top-30 listing for indoor events. However, in order to get to that point, you really don't know where those cutoffs might be until you actually compile the lists. Also, there are certain recognizable cut-off standards that stick out in the mind. Sub-5 minutes is that standard for the girls' 1600m...at least for now. Here are some interesting stats from the list:

Top 10 performers cut-off: 4:47.23
Top 30 performers cut-off: 4:50.94
Top 50 performers cut-off: 4:53.66
Top 100 performers cut-off: 4:57.42
# Sub-5:00 performers: 175 (changed) - total with official 1600m times (1600m races & 1600m recorded enroute splits)
# Sub-4:55 performances: 222 - includes 43 converted mile times

Also, there are a number of performers who have better converted mile bests than their official 1600m bests. I've included those situations as well; however, their ranking is based solely on an official 1600m time only. Those include recorded 1600m time enroute to the mile. Converted times don't count for official ranking.

Keys to understanding the list:
Manual-Timing - shown to 1/10 second (e.g., 4:5x.x)
Auto-Timing (FAT) - shown to 1/100 second (e.g., 4:5x.xx)
+ = converted mile time, rounding up to the nearest 1/10 or 1/100 second
° = auto-timed 1600m mark enroute to the mile
Those rows where the font appears in blue are a way to quickly denote races to the longer 1 mile where no recording device was available at the 1600m mark.

As with all my compilations, additions, corrections, questions are welcome, and the lists will be updated as needed.

So, I now present that compilation to you and hope you all enjoy.
 

Attachments

  • Ohio All-Time Lists - Women - 1600 meter 1 Mile Combined - sub-5 min 1600m.pdf
    129 KB · Views: 28
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I know how much time and effort you put in this project. It's simply amazing to see your love for this sport. Of course, I saw that same energy in the years you spent finding every district winner from the four Cincinnati district meets for both boys and girls. You deserve the title of GURU for Cincinnati and Ohio Track and Field
 
Thank you. I hope someone will take up the baton once I retire. I see myself as just continuing what the late Craig Whitmore did. He laid the foundation. I've just gone back & confirmed his work, moving it into an expanded format that is more readily traceable (my engineering experiences lend itself towards this), and adding in those events that followed after Mr. Whitmore's death.

Lancermania is the GURU of LaSalle T&F & X-C history!
 
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Request for help from the community, Centerville historians in particular:

The late Craig Whitmore states that Kristin Jumer, Centerville great of 1999, ran a 4:50.68 sometime in 1999. Track & Field News records her best for the year as 4:53.70, that time coming in her win at State in '99. I've searched and searched, but have yet to come up with a 4:50.68 for her that year. Anyone in the Centerville community sphere of influence have any such evidence? Whitmore has been correct on near 100% of the stuff I have from his archives, but this is one I've yet to find confirmation of. Any help to affirm or deny would be appreciated.
 
Runningfast said:
The Centerville team website (Elkstrack.com) lists her best as 4:53.71.

http://www.elkstrack.com/history/all-time/girls-top-5-board

I'm sure Matt Somerlot could confirm or deny.
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Thanks. Centerville needs to look at the 1999 state results more closely. Clearly she ran 4:53.70 https://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Track-Field/pastresults/girls/1999-g.pdf

Quickly perusing their records site, they need to revisit their record-keeping. I've already identified errors on a few of their pages.
 
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JAVMAN83 said:
This was awhile in the making, but now that it's done, may I present THE all-time 1600m/Mile list for Ohio girls' 1600m and 1 Mile performers and performances. Compiling from numerous sources including Track & Field News High School Track issues (1978-now), MileSplit, Baumspage, old issues of Ohio Track & Field News, numerous online newspaper archives, and a number of other sources, this list was years in the making, but now I feel comfortable to present it to the community. As I stated in past threads, my goal is a top-50 listing for outdoor events, and a top-30 listing for indoor events. However, in order to get to that point, you really don't know where those cutoffs might be until you actually compile the lists. Also, there are certain recognizable cut-off standards that stick out in the mind. Sub-5 minutes is that standard for the girls' 1600m...at least for now. Here are some interesting stats from the list:

Top 10 performers cut-off: 4:47.23
Top 30 performers cut-off: 4:50.94
Top 50 performers cut-off: 4:53.66
Top 100 performers cut-off: 4:57.5
# Sub-5:00 performers: 169 - total with official 1600m times (1600m races & 1600m recorded enroute splits)
# Sub-4:55 performances: 222 - includes 43 converted mile times

Also, there are a number of performers who have better converted mile bests than their official 1600m bests. I've included those situations as well; however, their ranking is based solely on an official 1600m time only. Those include recorded 1600m time enroute to the mile. Converted times don't count for official ranking.

Keys to understanding the list:
Manual-Timing - shown to 1/10 second (e.g., 4:5x.x)
Auto-Timing (FAT) - shown to 1/100 second (e.g., 4:5x.xx)
+ = converted mile time, rounding up to the nearest 1/10 or 1/100 second
° = auto-timed 1600m mark enroute to the mile
Those rows where the font appears in blue are a way to quickly denote races to the longer 1 mile where no recording device was available at the 1600m mark.

As with all my compilations, additions, corrects, questions are welcome, and the lists will be updated as needed.

So, I now present that compilation to you and hope you all enjoy.
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I downloaded the sub-5:00 1600 list and I’m not sure I’m reading it correctly. I don’t see Taylor’s Emily Thompson who ran 4:58.7 MT in 2003 which set the record at the Coaches Classic. What am I missing?
 
Thank you for the additions. I also discovered a couple myself after reviewing for an hour this morning. The following changes have been made:

Additions
#82 - 4:56.75 - Samantha Coleman (Rocky River) @ State this year.
#125 - 4:58.3 MT - Melanie Price (Turpin) @ Fort Ancient Valley Conf. in 2003.
#132 - 4:58.7 MT - Emily Thompson (Taylor) @ Coaches Classic in 2003.
= #134 - 4:58.81 - Amanda Burger (Lakota West) @ Greater Miami Conference in 2007 (2nd behind Ridder).

Changes
#100 - 4:57.42 - Brooklyne Ridder (Oak Hills) - moved from 150 to 100 with her win over Burger at the GMC in 2007.


This is why I put the lists out for public scrutiny and welcome all changes/additions. Iron sharpens iron. The goal is to make the lists as accurate and complete as possible.
 
I'm also trying to track down a 1973 mark by Joy (Joyce) Jarvis (Fairmont East - soph) of 4:58.2 MT over the mile.
 
Add 5th place finisher from the 2009 DI State final Samantha Norman (Louisville HS) to the list. 4:59.07 was her time, and she was a 12th grader. June 6, 2009 was the date. Samantha was part of a seemingly endless parade of distance runners who headed south to the U. of Kentucky where she competed for a few years before finishing her collegiate career at NC State.

All of the other sub-5:00 performers from that DI state race are on the list, and so are the other 7 girls from Stark County who have broken 5:00 in the 1600. I'm hopeful that at least 1 more Stark Countian will make the list next year with Bella Graham of Marlington sporting a personal best of 5:00.62 as she enters her senior year.

Incidentally, are you looking to list all performances below 5:00 (ex. Suzy Q occupies 3 rows with a 4:59.62, 4:57.41, and a 4:55.83), or is your ultimate goal to list the fastest performance from each individual on the list (ex. Suzy Q is listed once with her time of 4:55.83 after revisions are made)?
 
Mr. Slippery said:
Add 5th place finisher from the 2009 DI State final Samantha Norman (Louisville HS) to the list. 4:59.07 was her time, and she was a 12th grader. June 6, 2009 was the date. Samantha was part of a seemingly endless parade of distance runners who headed south to the U. of Kentucky where she competed for a few years before finishing her collegiate career at NC State.

All of the other sub-5:00 performers from that DI state race are on the list, and so are the other 7 girls from Stark County who have broken 5:00 in the 1600. I'm hopeful that at least 1 more Stark Countian will make the list next year with Bella Graham of Marlington sporting a personal best of 5:00.62 as she enters her senior year.

Incidentally, are you looking to list all performances below 5:00 (ex. Suzy Q occupies 3 rows with a 4:59.62, 4:57.41, and a 4:55.83), or is your ultimate goal to list the fastest performance from each individual on the list (ex. Suzy Q is listed once with her time of 4:55.83 after revisions are made)?
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Thank you for the addition.

With regard to performances, I didn't know where the cut-offs might be when I started compiling the list. Now that I have over 200 performances sub-4:55 published, I will continue to add sub-4:55 performances for at least a few years, but will not publish them. I am not interested in compiling all sub-5:00 peformances. That would take too much time away from tackling other events. From now on, I will publish sub-5:00 performers, and then the top 100 performances once per year. Once I've completed all the events, I'm going to put together the top-50 performers and performances into one file to be published separately. This is very similar to how T&F News and ATFS (Association of Track and Field Statisticians) operate. The lists they publish are only a small part of their actual compilations. I've read that Jack Shepard's lists are some 200-300 deep, whereas the girls' outdoor editor, Jack Kennedy, keeps lists some 300-500 deep. If you look at http://www.alltime-athletics.com/ , you'll see that those lists are REALLY deep and are focused on performance standards as opposed to performance rankings.

I hope that clears up any misconceptions.

The list has been updated to reflect Ms. Norman's addition in the #144 slot. Also, I've made a correction to Jodi Harrington, moving her up from the previous #153 slot to now the #149 slot.

Starting next year, I'll be including the Class (Frosh, Soph, Junior, and Senior) records, and the yearly list leaders as far back as I have them compiled at the time of publication. Currently, I have all the yearly lists leaders for the combined girls 1600m/mile lists back to 1971 except for a couple of years. I'm also confirming/updating the event record progressions first developed by Craig Whitmore and will publish those as well.
 
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I'm also trying to track down a reported 4:58.9 1600m by 1980 State AAA champion, Kathy Bryant (Columbus Bishop Watterson). The best I have from her currently is her 5:00.5 from her win at state. Unfortunately, Ohio T&F lost her all-too young in 2017 at the young age of 55.
 
JAVMAN83 said:
I'm also trying to track down a reported 4:58.9 1600m by 1980 State AAA champion, Kathy Bryant (Columbus Bishop Watterson). The best I have from her currently is her 5:00.5 from her win at state. Unfortunately, Ohio T&F lost her all-too young in 2017 at the young age of 55.
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Is there any chance her 4:58.9 was a converted mile time? The Dispatch reported on May 13, 1980 that Bryant ran a 5:00.5 mile and a 2:18.9 880 to lead Watterson to the Central Catholic League championship held at DeSales HS. I found the results summary in the Dispatch from May 11, 1980 and attached it as well as the blurb from 2 days later. The blurb mistakenly stated that she was on the 440 relay when she was on the mile relay.
 

Attachments

  • 1980CCLMeet.pdf
    610.9 KB · Views: 18
  • News_Article__Columbus_Dispatch_published_as_THE_COLUMBUS_DISPATCH___May_13_1980__p32.pdf
    46.1 KB · Views: 18
Mr. Slippery said:
Is there any chance her 4:58.9 was a converted mile time? The Dispatch reported on May 13, 1980 that Bryant ran a 5:00.5 mile and a 2:18.9 880 to lead Watterson to the Central Catholic League championship held at DeSales HS. I found the results summary in the Dispatch from May 11, 1980 and attached it as well as the blurb from 2 days later. The blurb mistakenly stated that she was on the 440 relay when she was on the mile relay.
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That is no doubt the performance Mr. Whitmore referenced. It does convert to a 4:58.8+ for 1600m, and I've updated the list to locate her between the #138 & #139 1600m slot. Thank you so much!
 
I believe that Rachel Banks of Chardon ran 4:57.78 for the mile at the 2016 Rod Russel meet. I do not see her name on the list.
 
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