This post is entirely about the USATF Junior Championship, held the past 3 days alongside the Senior version at historic Hayward Field!
Remembering the World Junior Championships held there in 2014---with some of the same people competing here!---the Hayward crowds know quality when they see it, and duly show their appreciation.
And boy, was there ever MUCH to appreciate!
I'm doing this separate post for a good reason.
The Junior meet produced so many GREAT marks, that I knew I couldn't fit all of the Junior news into my Senior meet post.
In fact, I MIGHT be doing TWO Senior meet posts---one for each gender---if the final day (Sunday) gives me as much material as I've compiled from the first 3 days!
So with the Junior meet now finished, let's check out what happened.
Noah Lyles, a "junior" in HS, came of age here, winning two VERY fast sprints!
The 100 came first, and his 10.14 took down the co-favorite, Ryan Clark, as well as some solid back-ups.
Using a max wind of 2.0, Lyles's mark broke the Junior Class Record.
He moves from 10th A-T HS, tied with 4 others, into 5th.
But it was his 200 that rocked Hayward!
His competition wasn't exactly slow, as he had 20.30 guy Michael Norman and 20.58 guy Ryan Clark to charge him up!
Running like a veteran, he charged the curve, came into the straight even with Norman, then blasted the straight, winning in 20.18.
It's the USATF Jr Meet Record.
It's also the Junior Class Record.
The former record was held by the overall HSR holder, Roy Martin, who had run 20.28 in his 11th Grade year.
That was 1984!
Lyles came within 0.05 of Martin's HSR of 20.13!
He moves from 13th to 3rd on the A-T HS list!
Norman finished in 20.24.
His 0.06 PR moves him up one spot on the A-T HS list, from 6th to 5th.
Clark improved too, from his previous 20.58 to 20.46.
He moves from 21st A-T HS, tied with 3 others, up to 12th, tied with 1 other!
The Women's sprints, with 10.98 HSR holder Candace Hill absent, weren't as noteworthy, but don't tell Teahna Daniels that!
She set 2 PR's in the 100.
In her heat, she ran 11.29, which moved her from 24th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 21st, tied with 2 others.
Then, in the final, she improved again, to 11.24.
This moved her from that 21st spot into 16th, tied with 1 other.
While Dior Hall won the 100H in what was, for her, a pedestrian time of 13.02, Misana Viltz took the Men's 110H in a USATF Jr Meet Record time of 13.21.
The PV's produced some excitement.
Eugene is known for its T&F knowledge and sophistication.
HA!
In the Women's PV, the winner went 13-9 and change.
No big deal in this world of 14-0 HS vaults!
So it came down to a jump-off for 2nd place, and for a spot on the Pan Am Jr meet team for Edmonton, Alberta this summer.
Except the officials supposedly began the jump-off for SECOND before the winner had finished vaulting!
She was going to attempt 14 feet!
I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the confusing officiating made some people shake their heads, wondering what's going on!
Desiree Freier made her jump-off height, so she's heading for Canada!
A Collegiate frosh won the Men's vault at 18-0.50.
But a couple of HS'ers got over 17-10.50.
Sean Collins had fewer misses, so his 17-10.50 makes him 10th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
One of those "two others" is Paulo Benavides.
His 17-10.50 moves him from 18th A-T HS, tied with 3 others, into 10th, where he's tied with 2 others, one of those being Collins!
Both failed in their attempts at 18-0.50!
But Collins's entrance ON my DDD caused 4 (I said FOUR!!) "oldies" to have to exit!
Steve Stubblefield's 17-6 dated from 1980!
Jayson Lavender's 17-6 was from 1990.
Jake Davis's 17-6 was from 1994.
But the one from 1992 became rather famous!
His name is Lawrence Johnson, and his 17-6 is from 1992.
Johnson is otherwise known as the CURRENT holder of the Collegiate Record, at 19-7.50!!
I said this post was going to be entirely about the Junior USATF meet.
But since we're concentrating on HS'ers (or mostly HS'ers, it seems!!), I must bring in news here from a High Schooler who ran in the Senior meet!
Kaylin Whitney turned Professional a few months ago.
But she's still in High School, having just ended her Junior year!
So her times are eligible for my "HS PRO" Record Department!
Her 11.18 in her 100 heat was wind-aided, but she ran 11.43 earlier this year, so that is the HS PRO record!
But while she didn't make it into the final, her 22.75 in the 200 Semi is her fastest time as a Pro, so stands as the HS PRO record!
And it seems she's ready for much more!
(I'll report on Alexa Efraimson's race in the Senior meet tomorrow. But HINT: No HS PRO records were broken by her!)
But who needs Alexa when you have Kate Murphy?
Who??
Ms Murphy is a HS Soph who blasted the final straight in the Junior meet 1500, leaving Sarah Feeny behind like she's stuck in cement!
Her winning time was a totally unexpected 4:16.98!!
The race was relatively slow for the first 800, reached in 2:20.
Feeny, now a Collegian, but who ran 4:39+ in the Mile as a HS'er last year, took over from early leader Stephanie Jenks.
Reaching the bell in 3:10, Feeny led Jenks, with Murphy about 4 seconds back.
Finally, on the backstretch, Jenks had fallen back, but Murphy was starting to rev it up!
Her last 400 was 63 (Similar to Mary Cain's 62.5 in her Penn Relays Mile while a Soph in 2012!), but while I don't have an exact time for it, I'm willing to bet her final 200 was UNDER 30 seconds!
She blasted past Feeny just before the end of the final curve, then ran like a sprinter the final 100 meters.
I mean, this girl looked AT LEAST as fast that final 150 meters as in any of Mary Cain's BEST kicks!
She is now 10th A-T HS.
Erased FROM my DDD was another "oldie"!
(Seems a LOT of "oldies" got axed this weekend!)
Cherie Williams's time dated from...1978!!
The 400H races gave me some new marks to put into my T&F Record Book.
Anna Cockrell, who's having a pretty good June, won the Women's race in 56.67.
She jumps all the way from 21st to 5th on the A-T HS list!
Reonna Collier followed in 57.27.
She's now 14th A-T HS.
The Men's race was won by a Collegian, but 2nd was HS'er Norman Grimes.
His time of 50.59 makes him 23rd A-T HS.
Carlton Orange had supposedly never broken 1:50 in the 800.
Until Saturday's final, that is!
His 1:47.67 was run off a 51.4 first 400!
This makes him 5th A-T HS!!
Not a bad breakthrough into the sub-1:50 group!
Oh yes, ANOTHER oldie was erased from my DDD!
His name is Jeff Van Wie, whose time dated from 1983!
College Frosh Raven Saunders competed in BOTH meets in the SP!
She easily won the Junior meet, but no Meet Record, as I thought likely!
(See my Women's Preview post!)
However, Sophia Rivera came through with another PR---She's had a few this year!
Her newest reached 53-5.75.
It moves her up 2 spots on the A-T HS list, from 10th to 8th!
Kaylee Hinton won the Heptathlon with a PR score of 5245 points.
She's now 17th A-T HS.
Before I close, I have a few old HS marks to report.
(Thank you, T&FN website, for being a VERY valuable source of material!!)
Laura Marty PV'ed 13-7.
This makes her 19th A-T HS, tied with 3 others.
Kirsten Webber Vaulted 13-6.50.
She's now 24th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
Oh yes, and she's from BELLINGHAM!!!
There's 3 HS's here (Sehome, Bellingham, and Squalicum), and she's from Squalicum!
Peyton Montgomery threw the Javelin 162-5, making her 22nd A-T HS.
Finally, Jacob Beene threw the Hammer 231-11.
He's 17th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
Overall, this Junior version of the USATF was a fun exciting meet.
(I watched most of it on USATF-TV--as well as large chunks from the "Adult" USATF meet!)
But it could have been Sooooo much better!!
As I noted earlier, the new record-SMASHER of the Women's 100 HSR, Candace Hill, didn't compete.
Neither did 22-5 LJ HSR holder Kate Hall.
Milers Ryen Frazier, Christine Aragon, Danielle Jones, Katie Rainsberger, and Jordyn Colter, among others, were also AWOL.
(Imagine the race if Aragon had been in the 1500 with Kate Murphy!!)
Vashti Cunningham WAS here.
She won easily, but missed her 3 tries at 6-3.25!
The Weeks twins, Tori and Lexi, were missing.
As was Mondo Duplantis.
(He had a pretty good excuse, as he's stated he'll be competing Internationally for Sweden, thus making him ineligible for US teams!)
Anyway, you get the picture.
While this complaint isn't new---the exact same complaint can be made about most Senior USATF meets!---it still shouldn't have to be!
What could add more to a young athlete's life than to be able to represent the United States in some International competition?
Most, if not all, athletes who DO wind up on a team say they're SUPER proud to be able to wear the USA uniform!
Well, I guess the Pan Am Junior meet isn't important enough for them.
I guess they'd rather "hang" with friends, or work their shift at Burger King!
Rant is over!
You can open your eyes again!
LOL
As noted, I'll have the Senior USATF meet report ASAP after the meet finishes late tomorrow afternoon!
A teaser.
I have almost FOUR full pages of great Records & Marks already compiled, and ready to report!
By the end of the meet, I wouldn't be surprised for that number to almost double!!
Hang tight!
And be sure to look for my post in LESS than 24 hours!!
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