What’s next for Alexa Efraimson?
In case you missed it, Alexa Efraimson ran really, really fast on Saturday. That’s nothing new for the Camas sophomore, who has emerged as one of the nation’s best middle-distance runners and was honored in Wednesday’s paper as our girls track and field all-region athlete of the year. But a couple things were noteworthy about Saturday’s performance:
— Running against an elite field, Efraimson beat her previous personal record for the 1,500 by more than 3 seconds and finished in 4:16.00.
— Before Mary Cain came along, the fastest 1,500 ever run by an American high school girl was 4:14.50 by Jordan Hasay, who just completed her senior year at the University of Oregon. Cain, a high school junior from New York, ran the 1,500 a couple weeks ago in 4:04.62, making her nearly 10 seconds faster than any high school girl in history. But Efraimson isn’t far from being the second-fastest.
— According to Track and Field News, the fastest time ever run in high school competition is 4:16.52, set in 2012 by Cain. Efraimson’s best time against high school competition, as far as I can tell, is 4:22.33 this year at the Jesuit Twilight Relays. So that will give her something to shoot for next year.
— Next up for Efraimson is the 800 meters Sunday at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina. Then she has the 1,500 at the World Youth Championships Trials in Edwardsville, Ill., for a chance to represent the United States in Ukraine. Should be a busy summer for a runner who has become one of America’s best.
