With the New England Championships and the Nike Indoor Nationals sill on the slate, Erin vonHousen continues to remain sharp for her upcoming competitions.
Eight days after her 3K victory at the State Meet, the Chariho High senior earned a running milestone on Sunday at the third annual Ocean Breeze Elite Invitational in New York City. Competing in the seeded mile race, vonHousen clocked an all-time best by placing second overall in 4 minutes, 58.46 seconds. The Charger standout was just a few meters behind Northern Burlington (NJ) junior Lilah Gordon, who won the race with a time of 4:57.47.
For vonHousen, it was her first time breaking the five-minute barrier and it a best by more than nine seconds. Her time ranks No. 11 all-time in the state.
“It was definitely a really great meet, and a beautiful facility too,” she said. “The race itself was certainly a bit different for me because I had to adjust to racing in a pack, which I haven’t had to do very often this year. I think it was a great learning experience for me though, and I was super happy to officially break the 5-minute mile barrier. That was one of my bigger goals for the season, so I was really happy to get that chance.”
Next up for vonHousen is Saturday’s New England Championship in Boston where she scheduled to compete in the two mile. She’s then heading to the Nike Indoor Nationals in NYC from March 8-10. where she’s in the Championship races of the two mile, 800-meter run and the mile
