Paige Sheppard concluded one of the greatest seasons in New Jersey history by placing eighth in the women's 800-meter run on Saturday night at the World Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

The Stanford-bound Sheppard, a rising senior at Union Catholic, finished with a time of 2:06.94.

The youngest runner in the field, Sheppard, who won't turn 17 until October 24, qualified for the final by winning her semifinal heat on Friday night in 2:01.97, the fastest time of all the rounds combined.

Sheppard had a season for the ages.

She was the class of the country all season in the 800, highlighted by her U.S. No. 1 2:00.65 at the Brooks PR Invitational in June, which is No. 7 in U.S. history. Sheppard qualified for the World U-20 Championships by winning the 800 at the U.S. Under-20 Championships in June, which was her third national title, and last month she finished ahead of several pros when she advanced to the final in the 800 at the U.S. National Championships to become the first NJ high school athlete to make a final at the U.S. national meet since Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of UC finished third in 2016 to make the U.S. Olympic Team as a 16 year-old.     

Sheppard also broke the NJ record in the 1,600 this season when she dropped a 4:28.77, the second fastest time in the nation this season. That gave Sheppard a total of five NJ records (Indoors-800m-2:02.35.1600m-4:35.7 / Outdoors-1,500m-4:16.90, 1,600m-4:28.77. Mile-4:33.67).