“I thought she did well,” said Barrington coach Ann Marie
Marino last night. “It was a tough start. The northeast was pushed back a bit
at the starting line and she didn’t get a good jump. At the beginning of the
race she was back, but she rebounded. The pace wasn’t slow.”
Eventual winner Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka, Ind., and a lead
pack that also included second- and third-place finishers, Ryen Frazier
(Ravencroft, N.C.) and Makena Morley of Bigfork, Mont., blazed through the
opening mile close to 5:10. McMillan passed the mark a shade over 5:20.
The Eagle star maintained her position from that point to
the finish. She struggled somewhat going up a steep incline near the finish, a
point that runners passed twice on the two-loop course.
In comparison to the numbers in the field, her placement is
slightly better than what former Portsmouth great Laura Turner did during her
junior season at Foot Locker. Turner, the only other female to make it to the
national meet, was 21st among 32 entries at the 1996 race. She
improved on the placement in 1997 by taking 13th overall.
“(Emma) wasn’t 100 percent thrilled,” Marino said, “but glad
she did she did what she did.”