Tar Heels Land Commitment From Half-Miler Makayla Paige


The University of North Carolina women's program has gotten its first primetime mid-distance recruit in the Class of 2021. 

On Sunday, Tewksbury Memorial (MA) High School senior Makayla Paige, the No. 15 ranked recruit in the class, made her commitment official, announcing her intention to sign with the Tar Heels over the upcoming National Letter of Intent period in November. 

This represents the first major recruiting commitment of the 2021 cycle for head coach Chris Miltenberg, who was appointed in Chapel Hill in 2019 and has begun to form inroads in the Southeast region after landing distance recruits Ava Dobson, Taryn Parks, Patrick Anderson, William Coogan and Max DiMuccio over the 2020 period. 

Paige could be a very good first get of this class.

* Paige in the 600m at the MIAA Auerbach All-State Championships

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The Massachusetts native was incredibly impressive in a variety of events over the 2020 indoor season, landing the nation's No. 1 time at 600 meters in 1:29.70, the third-fastest at 500m (1:12.35), the eighth-best at 800m (2:08.01) and two top 100 performances for 300m (40.13) and 1,000m (2:59.86). 

While the outdoor season was canceled due to precautions surrounding the spread of COVID-19, Paige also produced an outdoor relay split of 2:13 in the 800m during a record-attempt in July 24 in Indiana. 

All indications, however, led to her development in 2020, per as a sophomore she secured performances of 56.09 in the 400m, 2:06.27 in the 800m -- finishing third at New Balance Nationals Outdoor -- and even 1:01.61 in the 400mH. 


Paige has also won three state championships across the indoor and outdoor seasons. 

Stay tuned on MileSplit for more information across the National Letter of Intent signing period. 


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