Sports
Gray Ends Prep Career with Historic Run
The BHHS senior ran the 1,600 meters in 4:59.78, just off the school record.
Knowing it was the last time she would compete on the track as a high school athlete, Beverly Hills High School senior Sydney Gray wanted to make her last race memorable.
Not only was it memorable, it made history.
Gray ran the 1,600 in 4:59.78 in an all-comers meet Wednesday evening at West Los Angeles College, becoming only the third Beverly Hills girl to run under five minutes in that event. Nick Harper, who won the varsity boys Coaches Award in the spring, also ran the race.
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Gray's time was 2.48 seconds off the BHHS girls record shared by twins Judi and Shari Zucker, who both clocked 4:57.30 in 1978.
Even more impressive than running a sub-five minute 1,600 is that Gray did so while also competing in two sprint events. She ran the 100-meter dash in 13.77 seconds and the 200 in 27.05—placing her on the school's all-time list in every individual event from the 200 to the 3200 as well as the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
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Wednesday's performance added an exclamation point to one of the best seasons ever by a Norman runner.
Gray ran the 800 in 2:09.15 (the 19th fastest time nationally) and finished fourth in the . At the Golden West Invitational on June 11 in Sacramento, she covered the mile in 5:03.45, the 20th fastest clocking in California and No. 87 in the country.
She earned first team All-Ocean League, first team All-CIF, All-State and All-American honors and was named varsity girls MVP at the 2011 BHHS Awards Banquet.
Gray was the top qualifier for the state finals, setting a school record of 2:10.51 in the 800 in the prelims and shattering the previous BHHS mark of 2:11.12 set one year ago by Raquel Hefflin.
She was ninth in the 800 meter at the CIF Masters Meet in a stellar 2:12.49, only one week after winning the Southern Section Division 2 title in 2:13.51. She also ran the second leg on the Normans' 4x400 relay, which finished eighth in the Southern Section finals in 4:01.61.
Gray has chosen to accept a track and field scholarship at the University of California at Berkeley. She had originally planned to attend George Washington University.
"She went on a visit [to Cal] last week and loved it," BHHS track coach said.
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