Toronto runner Lucia Stafford sets personal best, finishes 2nd in mile event at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

CANADA Canada_CBC Sunday 05th February 2023 07:46 AM

Arabnews24.ca:Sunday 5 February 2023 07:46 AM: Lucia Stafford set a personal best, but she still came up a breath short in the women's mile event at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Saturday.

The 24-year-old athlete posted a time of four minutes, 23.52 seconds, but finished behind 27-year-old Heather MacLean of Peabody, Mass., who finished in 4:23.42.

—https://twitter.com/CanadianRunning/status/1621990617361293315

Esther Guerrero of Spain was third in the 14-runner final in 4:24.92.

Stafford was running third at the half mile mark and moved into second around the three-quarter of a mile mark, and stayed on the hills of MacLean.

Stafford told The Canadian Press earlier in the week that she'd like to dip under the 4:24 mark, which she did.

Stafford was 13th in the 1,500 metres semifinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, missing the last spot for the final by just four-tenths of a second.

She also clocked the fastest-ever indoor 1,000m by a North American woman with a time of 2:33.75 at the Boston University Terrier Classic last Saturday.

The Toronto native will be back competing in the women's mile event at the Millrose Games on Saturday in New York.

Kitchener, Ont., native Ben Flanagan placed fifth in the men's 3,000m, clocking it at 7:43.49, while American William Kincaid had a winning time of 7:40.71.

Julie Ann Staehli of Goderich, Ont., finished sixth in the women's 3,000m with a time of 8:51.96. Laura Muir of Great Britain won with a time of 8:40.34.

The 29-year-old returns to action next weekend in the 5,000m event at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine meet.