Counting in wrote:
I believe Lauren Ping is currently the best 8th grade girl distance runner in the U.S., and I think her 4:50.64 in the 1600 on Friday night (04/26) at the Hamline Elite Meet provides strong evidence of that. I don't know of any other 8th grader in the U.S. who can match her at the present. To provide some perspective, 9th grader Roisin Willis, who famously upset Athing Mu in February, just set her new 1600 PR on 04/20: 4:53.26. Someone else above claimed that Lauren Ping is (right now) "peaking." Nonsense!
What is especially remarkable about this new PR is that it is not only still rather early in the season but also that she did not compete in indoor track over the winter. Instead she competed in cross country skiing which is proof they are not overly obsessed with running at this point.
As for the "peaking" guy he is just a clueless troll. He didn't even know that Jordan Hasay holds the USATF age 13-14 records while making false claims about those very same records.