Deakin Volz of Bloomington South, Ind. is the national indoor record holder and national outdoor leader in the pole vault. He placed runner-up to Paulo Benavides at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, but will have another crack at the El Paso, Texas star this weekend.Boys Pole Vault
A battle thats been going on all year is the one between Deakin Volz and Paulo Benavides. At New Balance Nationals Indoor the two went back and forth both breaking the National Indoor record until Volz came out on top clearing 17'11.25 to keep the record. Just this past weekend at New Balance Nationals Outdoor the battle was rekindled between the two. It was back and forth again until Paulo Benavides cleared 17'-5" before Volz to claim first this time around. With the battle in full swing could we see the National Outdoor record go down this weekend by one of these two young men?
Boys High Jump
The best vertical jumper out of the high school ranks is without a doubt Brendon Rivera. The US #2 Texas State Champ jump a personal record of 7-2 in the middle of March. Although he hasn’t jumped over 7 feet since then, Rivera has won every competition he’s been except for the Texas Meet of Champs.
The only other high school competitor in the field is US #5 Ben Milligan who has a personal record of 7-1.5, just 0.5 inches off of Rivera’s best. The Oregon State Champ has won every competition this season except for when he got 2nd at Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays.
Boys Long Jump
The top dog in the long jump is US #1 Grant Holloway with his personal best of 25-8.75 at the Virginia State Meet. Most recently, he placed 5th at New Balance Nationals (NBN) Outdoor last weekend and will looking to get back to his 25 foot form.
DaJuan Seward, another long jump Virginia State Champ, will also be in the field. Seward finished right behind Holloway at NBN Outdoor. He has a personal record of 23-9.5.
Lee Mitchell out of California is another top high schooler in the field. His longest jump is 23-1.25 in February.
Boys Triple Jump
Missouri State Champ Jake Peister has the best mark in the field with his US #3 50-2. The other high school standouts all have season best marks within two inches of each other. Those three stars are Oregon State Champ Tristan James (49-1.5), Texas State runner-up Dajuan Seward (49-1), California State runner-up Dre Xandrine-Anderson (48-11.75).
Boys Shot Put
The field of high school boys will be lead by the U.S.#1 Matthew Katnick and U.S.#2 Willie Morrison lll. Both guys have thrown over 70 feet. Just a little behind them is Eric Favors who's thrown a U.S. #5 mark of 66'-7".
Boys Discus Throw
The best high schooler in the field is Trevor Detillion, with a U.S.#4 mark of 203'-6.5". Willie Morrison who is ranked U.S. #2 in the shot put, has the U.S. #11 mark in the discus with a throw of 194'-8". The top high schoolers will see competition from guys like Mathew Zajac who threw 185'-9" to place fourth in the NCAA East Prelims.
Boys Hammer Throw
This field features the U.S.#1 high school hammer thrower Robert Colantonio Jr., and U.S.#2 Adam Kelly who's thrown 241'-7". Kelly is on fire having thrown his PR just last weekend to win New Balance Nationals Outdoor.
Boys Javelin
Curtis Thompson of Mississippi State has made a huge impact in his freshman season, throwing 247-5.25 for third place at the NCAA Championship. That throw came one year after winning the USATF Junior Nationals.
Though Hudson Keffer of Central Witsap, Wash. is not quite at that level, he does represent the future as the U.S. No. 3 ranked javelin thrower with a 210-0 season-best. Oregon state champion Jackson Vanvuren of Faith Bible High School enters as U.S. No. 12 with a 201-9 personal best.
Boys Decathlon
One year after winning the USATF Junior Nationals, Stanford freshman Harrison Williams enters this meet as the strong favorite. The Memphis, Tenn. 2014 graduate has a best score of 7,806 this year.
Corey Reid was 13th at the USATF Junior Nationals in 2014, but has made a huge jump in just one year. His score has increased from 6,298 to 7,191 in that time. The Carson, Nev. senior is not ready to go after Williams, but could make a solid run for top three.
Sprints/Hurdles - Distance - Field
*Editor's Note: Seed times listed below are from the official USATF start list and are not representative of personal records or season-best times.