A Brief History of the
Mile – West Virginia High School Girls
A Short History of the Mile -
The word “mile” comes from the Latin “mille”, meaning thousand, and a mile was 1,000 Roman strides, a stride being two paces. A mile is equal to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards or approximately 1,609 meters. Currently, the United States and Great Britain use the mile as a measurement unit. The mile became standardized as exactly 1609.344 meters by international agreement on July 1, 1959.
In the early 1980s, U.S. high school state federations switched from the Mile to the 1600 meters because new tracks were 400 meters instead of 440 yards and thus, the 1600 meters (9 meters short of a Mile), due to convenience, unfortunately and sadly, replaced the Mile at high school State Meets (except Massachusetts and a few states that run the 1500 meters). ~ Source BringBacktheMile.com
A Brief History of the Mile is a record of West Virginia High School girls who have gone sub-5:00 in the 1600-meter run/Mile Run for Outdoor Track & Field. Sub 5:00 runs span over an eleven-year period from 2007 to 2017. This Brief History of the Mile records all West Virginia High School girls who have ran sub 5:00.
2006 – Kaylyn Christopher of Preston High (Kingwood, WV) runs 4:58.18 to become the new state record holder and first West Virginia high school female to break 5:00 in the 1600-meter run. She accomplished this feat at the Erickson/Camden-Clark Invitational on April 13th, 2006.
2007 – Kaylyn Christopher would better her time in the 1600m by running 4:54.82 at the Morgantown High/WVU Invitational on April 21st, 2007.
2007 – On May 19th, there was a showdown between former teammate’s, Preston's Kaylyn Christopher and University's Amber Riley. Christopher led throughout, but Riley was close on her heels well into the 3rd lap before Christopher started generating a gap. Christopher pulled away to take the event by over 2 seconds as the pair became the first to go under 5:00 at the West Virginia High School State Track & Field Meet. Christopher's 4:55.85 was the Best All-Time State Meet Performance Regardless of Class and the Best Class AAA All-Time State Meet Performance and the Best Class AAA Performance for this decade. Riley would become the second West Virginia high school female to break 5:00 in the 1600-meter run. Her 4:58.01 was the 2nd Best All-Time State Meet Performance Regardless of Class and the 2nd Best Class AAA All-Time State Meet Performance and the 2nd Best Class AAA Performance for this decade.
2012 – Maggie Drazba of St. Marys High (St. Marys, WV) runs 4:51.88 to become the new state record holder, first junior and third West Virginia High School female to run sub 5:00. Drazba is currently the only West Virginia High School class A female runner to accomplish this feat.
2012 – St Marys Maggie Drazba runs 4:56.23 at the West Virginia High School State Championships on May 19th, 2012 to break the Class A girls 1600-meter run.
2013 - Amelia Paladino of University High (Morgantown, WV) runs 4:56.57 for the mile run at The Penn Relays Carnival on April 25th, 2013 - April 27th, 2013 to become the fourth West Virginia female high school athlete to break 5 minutes.
2014 – On May 24th, University’s Amelia Paladino runs 4:51.74 in the AAA girl’s 1600-meter run. That time gives her the All-Time Best State Meet Performance and the All-time Best Class AAA State Meet Performance.
2014 – Paladino currently holds the fastest outdoor true mile time in West Virginia high school history of 4:45.34 at The Penn Relays Carnival on April 24th, 2014 - April 26th, 2014. Her time of 4:45.34 for 1 mile converts to 4:24.28 for 1500m and 4:43.69 for 1600m. Paladino also has run more sub 5:00’s than any other West Virginia High School female distance runner with 9.
2017 – Tori Starcher of Ripley High (Ripley, WV) runs 4:55.48 to become the first freshman and fifth West Virginia High School female to run sub 5:00.
West Virginia High
School Girls 1600m (Outdoor Rankings):
1. 4:43.69 – Amelia Paladino - University High - April 24th, 2014 - April 26th, 2014
2. 4:51.88 – Maggie Drazba – St. Marys High - April 13th, 2012
3. 4:54.82 – Kaylyn Christopher – Preston High - April 21st, 2007
4. 4:55.48 – Tori Starcher – Ripley High - April 15th, 2017
5. 4:58.01 – Amber Riley – University High - May 19th, 2007
Note: Only top times
were used for each individual. Paladino’s time is converted from the Mile.
Sub 5:00
1600m/Mile Run (By Individual):
Kaylyn Christopher
(Preston High / Class of 2007)
4:58.18 - Erickson/Camden-Clark Invitational on April 13th, 2006 (1600m)
4:54.82 - Morgantown High/WVU Invitational on April 21st, 2007 (1600m)
4:55.85 - West Virginia High School State Track Meet on May 19th, 2007 (1600m)
Amber Riley
(University High / Class of 2007)
4:58.01 - West Virginia High School State Track Meet on May 19th, 2007 (1600m)
Maggie Drazba (St.
Marys High / Class of 2013)
4:51.88 - Pizza House Invitational on April 13th, 2012 (1600m)
4:56.23 - West Virginia State Championships on May 19th, 2012 (1600m)
4:53.67 - New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 16th, 2012 (1 Mile)
4:59.47 - Pizza House Invitational on April 12th, 2013 (1600m)
4:54.97 - LKC (Little Kanawha Conference) Championship - May 3rd, 2013 (1600m)
4:54.43 - New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 16th, 2013 (1 Mile)
Amelia Paladino
(University High / Class of 2014)
4:56.57 - The Penn Relays Carnival on April 25th, 2013 - April 27th, 2013 (1 Mile)
4:59.43 - West Virginia State Championships on May 18th, 2013 (1600m)
5:01.78 - New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 14th, 2013 - June 16th, 2013 (1 Mile)
4:45.34 - The Penn Relays Carnival on April 24th, 2014 - April 26th, 2014 (1 Mile)
4:47.29 - Gazette/Friends of Coal Relays on May 2nd, 2014 (1600m)
4:54.94 - Ohio Valley Conference Championship on May 10th, 2014 (1600m)
4:51.74 - West Virginia State Championships on May 24th, 2014 (1600m)
4:54.81 - New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 13th, 2014 - June 15th, 2014 (1 Mile)
4:46.69 - Brooks PR Invitational on June 21st, 2014 (1 Mile)
Tori Starcher (Ripley
High / Class of 2020)
4:55.48 - Russ Parson/United Way Invitational on April 15th, 2017 (1600m)
Submitted by Mike McMillion (Last updated 4/23/2017)
Results courtesy of RunWV