New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory, January 5^th - The Armory is bringing in the new year with the EmblemHealth Hispanic Games. Taking place on January 9-10^th, the Games will feature the East Coast’s foremost high school track and field athletes.

Marissa Sheva is a distance runner on the rise and will surely be one to look out for in the girls 3000m. The Pennridge HS athlete’s meet record breaking performance of 4:50.73 at last month’s Bishop Loughlin Games automatically qualified her for the New Balance Mile at the NYRR Millrose Games on February 14^th.  Garden City HS’s Stephanie Gerland and Hannah Molloy of Pennsbury HS will also be major players in the race.

D'Jai Baker of Benjamin Cardozo HS took sixth in the girls 400m at last year’s EmblemHealth Hispanic Games, but has her eyes on the first place prize this year. Arianne Strunkey of Taft Educational Campus and Amanda Crawford of Paul Robeson HS, both of which competed at the 2014 New Balance Indoor Nationals, may be Bakers biggest competition.

The girls mile will feature a deep field of talented up-and-comers. Bella Burda of Arlington HS, Lindsey Kane of Washington Township HS, Jamie Grossman of Harborfields HS, Paige Duca of Friends Academy, Grace Bugara of Lakeland Panas and Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury HS all have national championship experience and will compete to the finish. The winner of the race will receive a spot in the New Balance Mile at the NYRR Millrose Games.

Jennifer Gerland of Garden City HS won last year’s EmblemHealth Hispanic Games mile steeplechase and will return to defend her title against a field of eager competitors.

Marco Pompilj of Collegiate School won last year’s mile, but will return this year with his eyes on the two mile. Craig Corti of Wallkill Valley HS and James Burke of Port Jefferson HS are athletes with a lot of big stage experience, and will definitely be at the front of the two mile pack.

The boys 400m will be a must watch event. Richard Rose of Boys and Girls HS, Rai Benjamin of Mount Vernon HS and Josepus Lyles of T.C. Williams HS – three of the nation’s biggest names in the sprints – will look to turn heads on the track.

One of track and field’s most notable athletes, Mike Brannigan of Northpoint HS, will be a major contender in the boys mile. Germantown Acadamy’s Sam Ritz is fresh off of a 1:52.81 800m victory at the Armory’s Marine Corps Holiday Classic and will join St. Benedicts HS standout Edwin Rutto in the race’s stacked field. The winner of the race will receive a spot in the New Balance Mile at the NYRR Millrose Games.

Find the EmblemHealth Hispanic Games order of events, invitational entries and more here:

http://www.armorytrack.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=576&mgroup_id=45586&year=2015