Josette Norris shows heart in her Millrose Games homecoming | Cooper
The Millrose Games were a homecoming game for Josette Norris.
With her family and a large North Jersey cheering section rooting her every step, the former Tenafly High School star finished second in the WHOOP Mile in a new personal best time of 4:20.81, second behind American record holder Elle Purrier St. Pierre, on Saturday at the Millrose Games at the Armory in New York City.
After congratulating St. Pierre, Norris waved to the crowd and said she was proud of her effort.
Mainly, the Jersey girl with the movie star smile was proud to Represent.
“A lot of people came out from Tenafly,” Norris said afterward. “I had a lot of people in the stands and I got to interact with a lot of them. My high school coach (Dave Burns) came out and a lot of my friends and family.”
Norris, who now runs professionally for the Reebok Boston Track Club, was near the lead the entire race. She was fourth in 2:10.14 at the halfway mark and moved up to second for the last quarter-mile.
But St. Pierre had a bit more in the tank at the end and was able to pull away down the stretch.
“I wanted to go out there and be competitive and patient and calm,” said Norris. “I think I timed my moves throughout the race really well. I wish I had more of a final kick in that 200 to be more competitive with Elle, but to come out and run a 4:20 and a personal best in January, I can’t really complain about that. It makes me hungry, because I want to go out and win every race I compete in.”
In the pre-race hype, the NBC broadcast featured 800-meter Olympic Champion Athing Mu, who was entered in the mile, but also focused a lot of Norris — although they did misspell Tenafly.
Norris wore a WHOOP band during the race that tracked her heart rate, and it was discussed during the final lap. Norris later said that was "really cool" and was looking forward to watching the replay.
She said after the race how nice it was to be so close to home. Norris ran plenty in the Armory in her high school career and made her pro debut there.
“She is honestly one of my biggest inspirations,” said Ridgewood senior Camryn Wennersten, who ran in the high school girls mile about an hour before Norris. “I love getting to watch her. That made me happy. I know how much she pushes herself and how she trains.”
Norris was eighth in Olympic Trials in 2020 in the 5,000 and continues to climb the professional ladder. She plans to run the 3000 at New Balance and continue training.
Wennersten stands tall
Ridgewood’s Wennersten crossed the finish line and wanted to keep going.
“At the end, I had so much more left in me,” she said. “I said ‘Wow, that was a quick race.’ ”
Wennersten got boxed in a bit early in the 17-girl field in the Girls Mile, but rallied from back in the pack to finish sixth in 4:51.01. Wennersten wished she had gone out a little harder at the start but was still pleased with her finish.
River Dell sophomore Christina Allen placed 12th in 4:54.5.
Heredia makes it go
Jacob Heredia said he was going to go for it.
The Clifton star set a new personal best in the Boys Mile, running a 4:15.42 and placing ninth in a loaded field.
“This was a race where you have nothing to lose,” Heredia said later. “My coach and I were like, we are here to run a fast time, not to sit back, so from the start I wanted to get out and make it a fast race.”
Heredia hit the quarter-mile at 1:02.61 and was in fifth, but dropped back. Still, he called the race a big success, saying the time shows him he’s right where he was at the end of the outdoor season last year.
“I think I was definitely shooting for more like a 4:13, but we have to put things in perspective,” Heredia said. “4:15 is a big indoor PR, and we have only been training for a little more than a month.”
Medal for Ramapo
Ramapo’s ride to the Armory on Saturday morning wasn’t easy.
“It was passable,” Green Raiders coach Bill Manzo said, referring to the snowy conditions. “Dicey, but passable.”
The ride back was a lot smoother and came with some medals. Ramapo took third in the 4x400 in 4:03.73, becoming the first Ramapo runners to medal at the historic Millrose Games.
“They all ran tremendous,” Manzo said. “It was just the kick that got us in the end, but it was a season best for us in both races.”
The Green Raiders had girls relay teams in the 4x400 and 4x800. Julia Wowkun and Carly Griffin were in both races, which were only about 30 minutes apart. The Green Raiders 4x800 was in medal contention for a while but fell back to sixth.
“The agreement we had with the kids was that we would go to Millrose Trials, and if we get in, we don’t train for it, but we prep for Millrose, so we don’t change our end-of-season goals," Manzo said. "Today was a checkpoint for us.”
Darren Cooper is a high school sports columnist for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: cooperd@northjersey.com
Twitter: @varsityaces
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Josette Norris shows heart in her Millrose Games homecoming | Cooper
