Hurdles Party Time at USATF JR's

No events held more expectations, or resulted in more mind-bending results, than the Women's hurdles.
Take your pick.
You had the HSR holder in the 400H--Sydney McLaughlin--readying for the Olympic Trials.
You had as deep a field---on the HS level---as any seen at the Professional level among USA Women in the 100H.
For the Men, while somewhat less in deed, you had a strong trio ready to roar in the Sprint Hurdles.
And you had Sydney's brother Taylor ready to prove that not ALL the McLaughlin family Hurdling talent laid on the female side!
Let the Games begin!!

Sydney?
Eh.
She ran a measly 54.54 to win the long race.
(I'm KIDDING, folks!!)
A mere 0.08 slower than her HSR, she surely looked ready for more---a LOT more!
Cruising to victory, she set the USATF JR's Meet Record, breaking her own mark!!

While she wasn't seriously challenged, the 2nd & 3rd placers ran better than ever!
Anna Cockrell broke into the 55's, running an 0.39 PR, her 55.89 moving her up 1 spot on the A-T HS list, from 5th to 4th!
And Brandee Johnson really revved up her game, timing 56.16, and moving all the way from 17th to 6th on the A-T HS list!!
In the heats, McLaughlin ran 56.62,  while Cockrell did 57.05.

Taylor McLaughlin strode to a win in the 400H with his non-PR of 50.74.
He had run his heat in 51.04.
Norman Grimes, with a 50.10 PR, ran just 54.99 in his heat!
Don't know why!

In the 110H, Marcus Krah took control in the heats, running a quick, though non-PR time of 13.37.
But in the final, he ripped a 13.25, with a legal wind of 1.6.
This moved him from 4th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 3rd.

Two other HS'ers took 3rd & 4th.
(I'm not mentioning the 2nd placer, a collegian, as they don't use the 39 inch hurdles!!)
Grant Holloway ran 13.37, making him 9th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
Then came Trey Cunningham, also timed in 13.37.
He moved from 20th A-T HS, tied with 3 others, to 9th, where he's now tied with Holloway!
Another threat, Chad Zallow, was DQ'ed!

I saved the best--and most startling!!--for last!  (Among the Hurdles races, that is!)
Remember the name Tia Jones.
A 15 year old Freshman (She turns 16 in September!!), she shocked everyone--maybe including herself!!--by SMASHING through the 13 second barrier, and by breaking the High School Record of Dior Hall, and by breaking the Meet Record held by Kendell Williams----running a spectacular time of 12.84 (1.2), while beating an All-Star field in the doing!

And that was in the HEATS!!!
You heard me!
In the frigging HEATS!!

She blasted off the blocks, leaving all her older rivals behind, and arrived at the tape in just 12.84 seconds, WAY ahead of anyone's most insane predictions or dreams!!
Ir's the HSR, the Frosh Class record, the World Age 15 record, and the USATF JR's Meet Record!!
She moved from 7th to 1st on the A-T HS list!

In a separate heat, with a wind of 0.6, Tonea Marshall ran a non-PR (!) of 13.07,
Next in the same heat came Chanel Brissett's non-PR of 13.13, followed by Alexis Duncan in 13.16
For Duncan, she moved from 15th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 9th.
Next (in Jones's heat) came USC Collegian Jasmyne Graham, with her 13.21.
Ashley Miller ran 13.25, while Jayla Stewart ran 13.29.

Then came the final!
What would the sprightly young Tia do for an encore?
All eyes focused on this incredible phenom!

She ran 13.05.
In any other situation, any other race, this would have been a PR by 0.09 seconds, and still the Frosh Class record.
In this race, she was nipped by the fast improving Duncan!
Her winning 13.04 moved her from 9th to 6th, where she's tied with 1 other!
They're on their way to Poland!!
There were no more PR's, but the times were still good, with a legal wind of 0.3.
Anna Cockrell, a two-time Hurdles talent, ran 13.21 in 3rd, followed by Ashley Miller (13.22), Graham (13.25), Brissett (13.29), Stewart (13.32), with Marshall bringing up the rear with her 13.50.
(Not sure why Marshall wasn't up to her high standards here!)

Candace Hill, the new Pro, took care of Kaylin Whitney's then-HSR (as well as MR) of 11.10, sprinting the 100 in 11.09--in her heat!
Using a near-max wind of 1.9, Hill's time was an MR, as well as a HS PRO record, and a HS PRO Junior Class record!
She went on to run 11.24 to win the final (1.2).
Second was a full 0.17 seconds behind!
She scratched from the 200, even though she'd said in an interview that she wanted a time of 22.3 in the final!
She'd won her heat easily in 22.76.
Jayla Kirkland used Hill's absence to beat Taylor Bennett's 23.20 with her 23.16.

Michael Norman and Noah Lyles were 2 other sprinters being closely watched here!

Lyles--whose brother Josephus didn't run in the meet, and in fact ended his season, due to slow recovery from an injury--ran a great time of 10.08 in the 100.
But he was foiled by a JUST-illegal wind of 2.2!

Norman--after a heat time of 20.54 (0.8), tore up the track in the final, timing 20.15.
This was a USATF JR's Meet Record--beating the 20.18 by one Noah Lyles!!
Norman moved from 5th A-T HS to 3rd--just 0.02 from tying the HSR!!

The distance crowd performed very well overall, with some fast times--but it was the Women's 5000 that produced the most unexpected result!

Anna Rohrer, a Notre Dame Freshman, had run 15:32 INdoors, losing only to her teammate Molly Seidel!
No HS'er in the field had run faster than 16:28, a time Fiona O'Keefe had run earlier this OUTdoor season.
She seemed a safe bet for an easy ticket to Poland!

The race proceeded at a good clip, with the HS star tagging along in the shadow of the older Rohrer.
Now experienced in tight races (See my Brooks PR report on the Women's 2 Mile there!), O'Keefe clung to Rohrer like a barnacle to a rock.
With just over a lap to go, Rohrer started her kick, putting some distance between them, appearing on her way to a solid win.
But her engine stalled.
Running an "average" final lap of 71, O'Keefe finally won by a second, 15:56.84 to Rohrer's 15:57.92.
It's the Meet Record (by almost 14 seconds!!), and moves her from 17th A-T HS to 6th!!
Bella Burda was a far back 3rd in 16:43 and change!

If only Kate Murphy cared (or knew!) about HSR's!
With a 4:07.21 PR in the 1500 (off a 62 last 400!!), she has definite HSR (and then some!!) potential, probably in the range of a sub-8:50 for 3000 meters!!
But she's on her way to Eugene soon, where she'll face the likes of AR holder Shannon Rowbury and iconic Jenny Simpson, with possibly THREE races to run (if she makes the semis and final!!).
So here, in Clovis CA, she was more interested in "just" winning, and gaining a free ride to Europe for the WJC's!
This explains her winning time of 9:10.51 over the 9:11.66 of Katie Rainsberger!!
Missing the 1975 HSR of Lynn Bjorklund by less than 2 seconds, her time is the new Meet Record (beating Mary Cain's mark from 2014!), as well as the Junior Class record!
It makes her 2nd A-T HS!!
Rainsberger sprinted into 3rd on the same list!
They were followed by Destiny Collins, who ran her final HS race in a non-PR 9:21.44.
Knocked OFF my DDD were a couple of "oldies".
Gone are Sarah Schwald's 9:22.57 from 1990, as well as Aileen O'Connor's 9:22.68, dating back 39 years, to 1977!!

Two different young stars of the middle distances had a great duel in the 1500.
At least over the last 800!!
With an easy (!?) target of Mary Cain's 4:14.74 MR to beat, the duo of Christine Aragon (4:09.27 PR) and Alexa Efraimson (4:03.39 as a post-HS Profesh) took off together from the gun---slowly!
Hitting the 700 meter post at a snail's pace (for THEM!!) 2:09, they were aimed at finishing in a MoBot-style 4:30 or so--or just under 4:50 Mile pace!!
But Alexa, who has some serious street cred toward making the Rio squad, then upped the ante to a 62.7 lap to the 1100 line, followed like a preying hawk by Aragon.
It was only in the still-fast last 400 that Efraimson was able to put her young wannabe away, where they ran credible times in the mid-60's.
Their final 800's were 2:07.3 (Efraimson) and 2:08.3 (Aragon)!
THOSE 2 laps work out to a potential time of 3:58 or so!!
Shannon and Jenny may be locks (??), but that 3rd spot is gonna be a RACE!!!
And these 2 (as well as Kate Murphy) should have all the "adults" watching their backs!!

Both 800's produced Meet Records, but the Men's race winner was NOT named Donavan Brazier!!
A last minute scratch---or maybe just a DNS--Mr Brazier was maybe saving his all for next week's Trials!
Meanwhile, Vincent Crisp (Huh?  Who??) took the win with the MR time of 1:46.87.
(How much faster might Brazier have taken it down??)
He beat Brian Bell's 1:47.18, and Carlton Orange's 1:47.87.
First HS'er--in 5th--was Brandon McGorty, with a 1:49.21.

In the Women's 800 heats, HS'er Ailiyah Miller ran 2:04.07, becoming 21st A-T HS.
Caitlin Collier, who recently ran a 1500 PR of 4:19.05 (See a previous post!), finished in 2:04.89, missing my DDD by 0.49 seconds.
But the final was a rip-roaring doozy!!
Sammy Watson--she of the 2:03.06 PR--outsprinted Miller by just 0.05, both nailing Trials Q's!!
Watson's 2:02.91 is the USATF JR's Meet Record!! 
It was the oldest MR too--LeAnn Warren's 2:03.1 from 1979!!
This moved her from 11th to 9th on the A-T HS list!
VERY close behind came Miller's 2:02.96, which moves her all the way from 21st to 10th on the same HS list!!
In 3rd was surprising Ruby Stauber, whose 2:03.43 makes her 16th A-T HS!!
Knocked OFF my list was a real oldie--Ann Regan's 1977 time of 2:04.4!

The Women's HT was a biggie!
Joy McArthur, a newcomer to the HS list recently, upped her game to 203-8, which moves her from 5th to 2nd on the A-T HS list!
She'd had an earlier-round PR of 199-3, along with 4 fouls!
Ohio State's Olatoye Sade hit 198-8, with Haley Showalter next with 194-1.
In 4th, with a big PR throw of 191-2, came Shot Putter-supreme Alyssa Wilson!!
It makes her 14th A-T HS!!

Wilson won her specialty with 52-7.25, over 3 feet shy of her Junior Class record!!
Elena Bruckner threw just 51-0.75 in 2nd.

The Men's SP--which used a 13.2 pound ball!!--saw the 12 pound star trio of 2016 prevail!
Tripp Piperi won with 66-2.50---which for my purposes, is meaningless and useless!!
Bronson Osborn was next with 65-11.25, with Jordan Geist's 64-3.50 following.

Chris Nilsen found it less windy here, so nailed another 18 footer, his 18-0.50 prevailing over Deakin Volz's 17-10.50.
Nilsen made the height on his 3rd try, then missed 3 times at 18-6.50!
In the Women's PV, Collegian Mackenzie Shell went out after clearing 13-3.50.
She finished 5th.
The winner was Rachel Baxter, whose 13-9.25 matched Carson Dingler's 2nd place mark.
Dingler moves from 19th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 13th!

The Multis were taken by Cale Wagner, who scored 7532 points in what appears to be his first Decathlon (!!), and by NBN winner Emma Fitzgerald's 5451, which missed her NBN score by 13 points!!
Kaylee Hinton, who was fighting for the win after 5 events, fouled 3 times in the JT, finishing back in 10th after running the 800!

Other USATF JR events included---
Anali Cisneros Walking to a 10K win of 51:24.73, with Mile record holder Lauren Harris far back in 3rd.
Cameron Haught taking the Men's Walk with his 47:04.32.
Lynna Irby winning the 400 in 52.51, after a heat in 53.10.
Kahmari Montgomery edging Wil London in the Men's 400, 45.61 to 45.64!
Bobby Colantonio defeated Adam Kelly in the HT (NOT the HS weighted implement!!), 243-2 to 239-6!
Katelyn Gochenour taking the JT with her 163-10.
Madison Wiltrout was 5th.
Elena Bruckner beating Kiana Phelps in the DT, 179-10 to 176-9.
In 3rd was Josephine Schaefer, a HS Junior, her 176-3 making her 24th A-T HS!
Haley Showalter finished 11th, while Alyssa Wilson had 3 fouls!
Connor Bandel took the Men's "junior" weight Discus Throw with 202-7.
Darius Corbin took the HJ with 7-3.25, while Nicole Green won her gender's event with 6-0.
Charles Brown (No jokes, please!) of Texas Tech won the TJ with 53-7.75.
JaMari Ward was just 6th!
But Ward won the LJ, leaping a solid 25-8.75!
This makes him 23rd A-T HS, tied with 2 others!
Harrison Schrage was 2nd with 25-3.25.
Hudson Keffer of Arizona State won the JT with 229-10.
Liam Christensen had 3 fouls!!
The first 4 guys in the 10000 finished within 0.69 of each other, with Thomas Pollard's 30:46.04 prevailing.
Alaskan HS'er Levi Thomet was a creditable 4th in 30:46.73, but missed the HS list by 16 seconds!
Bria Matthews took a close Women's LJ with her 21-3.50 win over Samiyah Samuels's 21-1.50.
It makes Samuels 9th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!!
Matthews also won her specialty, the TJ, with a modest 43-2.25.
HS'er Chinne Okoronkwo was 2nd with 42-8.25.
At 1100 (in the Men's 1500), Austin Tamagno led in 2:51.20.
But he was outkicked by 2 Collegians, with Diego Zarate's 56 final lap leading to a time of 3:47.53.
Tamagno ran his final 400 in 57.7!
The 3000SC's were won in pedestrian (Read: SLOW!) times of 10:31.11 (Devin Clark) and 8:56.03 (Alex Rogers).
HS'er Eion Nohilly, who ran 9:06 recently, was 4th in 9:10 and change.
In 8th in the Women's race was HS'er Marissa Flournoy's 10:48.68, which make her 9th A-T HS!
Finally (at the JR's meet!) was the Men's 5000!
I'm embarrassed to reveal the winning time.
Let's just say that the two leading WOMEN in their 5K would have been somewhat competitive here!!
Zachary Snider ran (Errrr, CRAWLED!!!) the distance in 15:28.46!
(Remember, Anna Rohrer's PR is her INdoor 15:32.03!!)

Want more??
Well, I HAVE more!!
Take a breather, then come back in and sit down!!

Khalifa St Fort--the (almost!) forgotten (by ME!!) HS PRO--ran 11.15 in the Trinidad & Tobago Oly Trials, which is the new HS PRO Senior Class record!!
Also in this meet, Michael Cedeno won the 400 in 44.45!

In the African Championships---just days before the Kenyan Olympic trials!--22 year old Alice Aprot won the 10000 in 30:26.94, a startling 58 second track PR (She ran a Road 10K in 31:02!).
Wayde Van Niekerk won the 200 in a quick 20.02.

In the Ratingen Multis meet, Jessica Ennis-Hill scored a big 6733 points, indicating super fitness before Rio!
The Men's Decathlon was won with a PR of 8605 by Germany's Arthur Abele!!
He misses my World DDD by 49 points!

Renaud Lavillenie got a World leading PV with his 19-6.25!

Pawel Fajdek threw the Hammer 268-7.

What better way to end (Yes, END!!) this BOOK than with an American Record??
Shalane Flanagan's winning time at the BAA race did the job, her time being 30:52!
She beat her own 31:03, run last October!
And she had some challengers!
Edna Kiplagat, now 36 years old (Flanagan will turn 35 in just 11 days!!), ran 31:06, after sticking with Flanagan through 5 miles!
Getting a big PR in 3rd was Flanagan's friend, training partner, and Olympic Trials Marathon savior, Amy Cragg, who timed out in 31:31.

Daniel Chebii took the Men;s race in 27:55.
In 4th was Dathan Ritzenhein's 28:12.

Next??
My MASSIVE Olympic Trials Preview posts---one for each gender!
That (hopefully!!) will be followed by my blog's blanket coverage of the US Trials...beginning in about 81 hours with the 20000 Meter Walks!!

See you soon!!