2016 High School Wrap-Up (& AOY's)

This one will be longer than the Collegiate review posted earlier.
More records broken, and more marks making my DDD's.
To save space, please refer to my Collegiate post for the usual intro stuff.
Pro HS'ers will be covered at the end of this post!!
The Men go first.

Four HSR's bit the dust in the 2016 OUTdoor season, and two of them came in similar (but different!!) events from the boys of Great Oak HS in Temecula CA.
They broke the 4X1600 Relay record with their 16:55.85.
And they nabbed the 40 year old 4X1Mile Relay mark with their 17:04.55 time!
Noah Ly;es broke another very old mark--the 200, with his 20.09.
And Chris Nilsen got the PV record with his 18-4.75!!

The Frosh Class saw 4 Class Records fall--out of 8 total!
Tyrese Cooper got 2 of them--the 200 in 20.62, and the 400 with his 45.23.
Sam Affolder got the Frosh Class 3000SC mark with his 9:16.43.
K Carrillo broke the Frosh Class DT record with his 198-9.
Mondo Duplantis got the lone Soph Class mark--his PV of 18-1.
Jordan Geist got the only Junior Class record--his SP measured 74-3.50.
Lyles and Nilsen were the Senior Class record breakers.

The following made my DDD lists!

200  Noah Lyles  (20.09--HSR--1st)  Michael Norman  (20.14--3rd, tied with 1 other)
400  Cooper  (45.23--8th)
800  Sean Torpy  (1:47.95--9th)  Michael Slagowski  (1:48.36--18th)
1500  Drew Hunter  (3:41.85--3rd)  Slagowski  (3:42.40--4th)  Austin Tamagno  (3:44.14--12th)
1 Mile  Hunter  (3:58.86--3rd)  Slagowski  (3:59.54--7th)  Tamagno  (4:01.04--12th)  Thomas Ratcliffe  (4:01.50--15th, tied with 1 other)
3000SC  Elon Nohilly  (9:06.36--13th)  Noah Affolder  (9:06.52--15th)
110H  Marcus Krah  (13.25--3rd)  Grant Holloway  (13.37--9th, tied with 1 other)  Trey Cunningham  (13.37--9th, tied with 1 other)  Damion Thomas  (13.42--21st, tied with 2 others)
HJ  Vernon Turner  (7-4.50--8th, tied with 5 others)  Darius Corbin  (7-4.50--8th, tied with 5 others)  Darryl Sullivan  (7-4--18th, tied with 6 others)
LJ  JaMari Ward  (26-1.50--8th, tied with 1 other)
TJ  Ward  (53-7.50--5th, tied with 1 other)
PV  Nilsen  (18-4.75--HSR--1st)  Duplantis  (18-1--7th)
SP  Geist  (74-3.50--5th)  Tripp Piperi  (73-5.25--7th, tied with 1 other)  Bronson Osborn  (71-7.25--16th)  Dan Guiliani  (71-1.50--20th, tied with 1 other)
DT  Terrell Adams  (213-9--15th)
JT  Liam Christiansen  (232-1--8th)
HT  Bobby Colantonio  (251-2--5th)

No marks for the 100, 3000, 2 Mile, 5000, 10000, 400H, or the Decathlon.
There were 32 marks dated 2016 on my Men's lists!

The "AOY" would be the TOY (Team of the Year)--IF I thought Relay teams should get top rank!!
But I want to keep this an individual's award, so I'm giving this year's Aaron K's Track and Field Record Book Athlete of the Year award for the 2016 OUTdoor season to--NOAH LYLES!!
While Chris Nilsen also got a HSR, his broke a very recent mark.
Lyles got a mark dating back to 1985!!
But give Nilsen an Honorable Mention, as well as both Great Oak Relay squads!
Add Jordan Geist and Ty Cooper to my list of HM's!

While the Athlete of the Year can't go to a Relay team, the Performance of the Year can---and does!!
Of the two HSR's going to G-O's team, their 4X1Mile broke a mark dating back 40 years, and belonged to a team from South Eugene HS--icing on the cake!!
And that HSR gets my POY!!
HM's go to Lyles & Nilsen, of course.
But also give it to Duplantis, Geist, Krah, Cooper (for his 400 mark!), and to Drew Hunter, for both his 1500 and 1 Mile marks.
Oh yes, add Great Oak's 4X1600 Relay team!!

Three events got 4 marks each on my DDD's.
They were the 1 Mile, 110H, and the SP.
With 3 marks were the 1500 and HJ.
The 200, 800, 3000SC, and the PV had 2 marks on my lists!

Unlike the Collegiates, only one meet deserves recognition as Meet of the Year--and that's ALWAYS the NBN!!
Thus, I'm giving no award for this category for HS'ers!!
(Or just give the meet a Perpetual Trophy!!  LOL)

For the first time ever, HS Men went Pro before leaving the HS ranks!
They are Drew Hunter and the Lyles brothers, Noah and Josephus!!
All Seniors, they nonetheless had Professional marks prior to August 31st!!
(Actually, Josephus ended his season early, due to injury, before turning Pro!)

Hunter ran his fastest Mile--a 3:57.15--in July.
Lyles ran his 20.09 at the Olympic Trials--after the NBN, but before going Pro.
Thus, my HS Pro AOY goes to DREW HUNTER!!
(As well as the HS Pro Performance of the Year!!)

And now for the Women---who, as ever recently--came through with more of---everything!!
(Well, they tied the Men for most HSR's!!)

Katie Rainsberger FINALLY took down Lynn Bjorklund's 1975 HSR in the 3000 meters!!
And no asterisks or special notations are needed!!
Her time of 9:00.62 did the trick!
Tia Jones ran the 100H in 12.84.
Sydney McLaughlin got the 400H record with her 54.15 (after first breaking it with her 54.46!!).
And as with the Men, the Great Oak HS 4X1600 Relay team got the HSR, running 19:52.88.

Thirteen Class Records fell--14, if you include Kate Tuohy's 8th Grade 1500 record of 4:24.36.
I don't, but thought it worth mentioning!!
The ones that count included 2 Frosh Class marks--the 12.84 by Tia Jones, and the 42-1.75 TJ by Jasmine Moore.
No Soph Class standards fell.
The Junior Class record list includes Kate Murphy's 4:07.21 in the 1500, Chanel Brissett's 100H time of 12.95 (which tied the record!!), McLaughlin's 54.15 (and her earlier 54.46--but I'm only counting her fastest!!), Rachel Baxter's 14-3 in the PV, Alyssa Wilson's SP mark of 55-9.25, and Nevada Mareno's 2 Mile mark of 10:00.44.
Senior Class records went to Christine Aragon's 4:08.71 in the 1500, Rainsberger's 3000, Anna Cockrell's 55.20 in the 400H, Vashti Cunningham's HJ of 6-4.25 (Before she turned Pro!!), and Emma Fitzgerald's Heptathlon total of 5577 points!

The Women scored heavily in the DDD department!

100  KT Seymour  (11.26--20th, tied with 2 others)
200  Lauren Rain Williams  (22.80--6th)  Lauryn Ghee  (22.97--20th, tied with 1 other)
400  Lynna Irby  (51.39--7th)  McLaughlin  (51.87--12th)
800  Sammy Watson  (2:02.91--9th)  Aaliyah Miller  (2:02.96--10th)  Ruby Stauber  (2:03.43--16th)
1500  Murphy  (4:07.21--3rd)  Aragon  (4:08.71--4th)  Rainsberger  (4:12.62--6th)  Ella Donaghu  (4:14.11--7th)  Mareno  (4:18.48--18th)  Caitlyn Collier  (4:19.05--22nd)
3000  Rainsberger  (9:00.62--HSR--1st)  Murphy  (9:10.51--3rd)  Weini Kelati  (9:19.91--17th)
2 Mile  Mareno  (10:00.44--5th)  Fiona O'Keefe  (10:05.63--12th)  Abbey Wheeler  (10:08.64--16th)  Brie Oakley  (10:08.89--17th)  Rebecca Story  (10:11.24--22nd, tied with 1 other)  Molly Born  (10:11.36--24th)
5000  O'Keefe  (15:56.84--6th)
3000SC  Flournoy (1st name unknown right now!) (10:48.68--9th)
100H  Jones  (12.84--HSR--1st)  Alexis Duncan  (12.93--3rd)  Brissett  (12.95--4th, tied with 1 other)  Tonea Marshall  (13.04--7th)  Brandee Johnson  (13.08--8th)  Cockrell  (13.17--10th, tied with 1 other)
400H  McLaughlin  (54.15--HSR--1st)  Cockrell  (55.20--2nd, tied with 1 other)  Johnson  (56.16--6th)
LJ  Samiyah Samuels  (21-1.50--9th, tied with 1 other)  Taylor DeLoach  (20-10.50--24th)
TJ  Tara Davis  (43-2--10th)
PV  Baxter  (14-3--3rd)  Carson Dingler  (13-11.25--11th, tied with 1 other)  Alina McDonald  (13-10.50--14th)  Erika Malaspina  (13-9--15th, tied with 5 others)  Andrea Willis  (13-9--15th, tied with 5 others)  Margaret Ollinger  (13-8.25--22nd, tied with 1 other)  Makenna Caskey  (13-8--24th, tied with 2 others)
SP  Wilson  (55-9.25--2nd)  Elena Bruckner  (54-7--5th)  Nickolette Dunbar  (52-3.75--18th)
DT  Bruckner  (186-10--4th)  Josie Schaefer  (176-3--24th)
JT  Sophia Rivera  (180-4--3rd)  Katelyn Gochenour  (171-1--11th)
HT  Joy McArthur  (203-8--2nd)  Wilson (191-2--14th)  Kamryn Brinson  (187-0--17th)  Courtney Jacobsen  (185-11--19th)
Heptathlon  Fitzgerald  (5577 points--2nd)  Tyra Gittens  (5337--12th)

No marks were dated 2016 in the 1 Mile, 10000, or the HJ!
(Oh, what coulda been in the Mile!!  With all the above-listed STUDS in the 1500, a blitz attack from those Women on the 1982 Mile HSR would have had a SRO crowd, and might have gotten televised live on ESPN!!  A MONSTROUS oversight and a unique LOSS to HS historians!!)

The 2016 HS Athlete of the Year had several STRONG candidates!
And it took awhile for me to talk myself OUT of giving it to Tia Jones for her amazing 12.84--in the LOADED 100H event---as a FRESHMAN!!
It was THIS close--and I might be regretting it 5 minutes after posting!
But in the end, you have to go with someone who not only destroys the HSR---TWICE--but makes the Olympic team in doing so---and only performs somewhat below par because she got sick a week before her event began in Rio!!
For those reasons, this award goes to SYDNEY McLAUGHLIN!!

But (more than) Honorable Mention goes to Ms Jones!
Other HM's go to Rainsberger, Murphy, Baxter, Brissett, Cockrell, Cunningham, Wilson, and Fitzgerald.

Performance of the Year DOES go to Tia Jones's 12.84 in the 100H.
In a year which could easily be labeled the "Year of the Hurdles--BOTH distances!!", Jones's mark was simply stunning!!
You just don't break High School Records as a FRESHMAN!!
Yet she not only shoots that myth to pieces, she does it in an event that calls for some maturity, and learned technique--not just raw speed!!
But also give major props as POY HM's to Murphy's 1500, Rainsberger's 3000, plus to Wilson's SP and to Fitzgerald, who missed tying the HSR by ONE point in the Heptathlon!!

The prize for Event of the Year (based on number of marks on my DDD's dated this year!) SHOULD go to the PV, which led with 7 marks!!
But the 6 marks in the 100H--as noted above--included the HSR, plus several other high list placings!
The 1500 was close in this regard--also getting 6 marks, and with very high placings.
BUT---no HSR!!
So the award goes to the 100H!
The 2 Mile also got 6 DDD marks.
The Hammer Throw had 4.
Three each in the 800, 3000, 400H, and the SP.
Two apiece in the 200, 400, LJ, DT, JT, and Heptathlon!

Three Women competing as HS'ers in 2016 were Professional athletes---and one of them--Vashti Cunningham--didn't turn Pro until she'd already competed as an amateur OUTdoors.
(See my "amateur" DDD listings above!)
But AFTER turning Pro, Cunningham HJ'ed 6-5-50--becoming the first HS Pro FIELD event athlete to get a Pro mark!
Also competing as HS Pro's were 3 sprinters--Khalifa St Fort, Kaylin Whitney, and Candace Hill.
While all ran well, they didn't break any records--even if they'd be eligible to do so!!
St Fort went to the Olympics as a member of the Trinidad & Tobago team!
Whitney and Hill didn't make the US team, but did okay at the Trials!
Cunningham made the Rio team, and made the final!!
For that accomplishment, she gets my HS Pro AOY!!

Onwards to the INdoor season!!