Kaitlyn Connors took first place in the 3200 meter run for Metuchen in the Group 1 Championship meet at Franklin High School in Somerset.
Connors was one of two Metuchen runners to take a top five finish in the 3200 meter run. Connors cme in with a time of 10:52.42 while her teammate, Sally Kelton, came in fourth place with a time of 11:19.57.
While Connors was proud of her final time, it was finishing in first that was more important to her.
"I was really shooting to make it to the Meet of Champions. That was my goal," Connors said. "I was not trying to expect anything less than that."
In the longest race of the evening, Connors started in the second lane and paced herself throughout her under-11 minute run.
"I always want to go sub-11 [minutes], but that was not really a priority today," Connors continued. "It was really to stay in the race and make it competitive and use the other girls to help me push to get the place I want to advance in."
The other girls, being her teammates in the race and on the sidelines, cheered her on and gave her the confidence to keep going and push herself to the front-most spot in the 3200 run.
"The other girls are really talented," she said. "I was trying to use them to help me keep a good pace. I was trying to stay right on the front. I never wanted to let too much separation get in because that can be a big mental block as well as physical."
Mentally, Connors said, is where the run takes its toll. After each lap, Connors reminds herself that she can finish the race.
"I believe that that really allows you to build up your strength to make it all the way to the end," she said. "In the last lap, it's really just everything you have left, no matter how dead you are, it's how much do you want it."
Delana Einreinhofer of Wallkill Valley came in second place behind Connors with a time of 10:56.14.
Jordan Hadfield of Schalick finished in third place with a final time of 10:59.56 as the top three finishers all came in with sub-11 minute times.
After Kelton, who came in fourth place, was Violet Page of Mountain Lakes who came in fifth place with a time of 11:27.69.