Davis grad Fiona O'Keeffe rallied to win the 5000 and earn a trip to World Juniors, while Valley Christian alum Elene Bruckner won the discus to punch her ticket to Poland.
Recent high school graduates Elena Bruckner and Fiona O'Keeffe will be going international even before they head off to college in the fall! The two Golden State stars won their events on Friday, the first day of competition at the USATF Junior Nationals. As a result, they qualified to compete in Poland in July at the IAAF U20 World Championships, commonly known as "World Juniors" before being renamed this year.
Bruckner, who just graduated from Valley Christian, threw 179' 10" to claim victory in the discus throw. That is her best result since her all-time PR of 186' 10" in April, which ranks her 2nd in the world among juniors (athletes under 20 years of age). Bruckner will also throw the shot put on Friday; she ranks 5th in the world among juniors in that event, behind world leader Alyssa Wilson (NJ).
O'Keeffe had to rally past Notre Dame freshman (and two-time Foot Locker national champ) Anna Rohrer to win the 5000 Meter Run in 15:56.84. The time ranks her sixth in US high school history as well as giving her the current national lead by nearly 30 seconds over Weini Kelati. However, the time does not crack the top 10 in the junior world rankings by the IAAF, so she will have her work cut out for her in Bydgoczsz.
Full USATF Junior Coverage
Several other recent California grads performed well on the first day of the three-day meet at Memorial Stadium on the Buchanan campus:
- Celera Barnes (St. Bonaventure) came within 0.002 of securing an automatic spot in the U20 World Championship, getting barely edged for second place with a new wind-legal PR of 11.41 US #6.
- Jurnee Woodward (Vacaville) experienced similar disappointment, as she was the first girl out of the 400 Hurdles qualifying when she finished 9th in 1:00.59.
- Joseph Anderson (Upland) finished 6th in the 110 Hurdles, gaining great experience for his senior year in the process.
- Austin Tamagno (Brea Olinda) clocked 3:53.93 to finish 11th in the 1500 prelims, advancing to Sunday's final.
- Evan Negash (Los Angeles High 2015), competing for Cal State LA, placed 5th in the 3000 Steeplechase.
- Former Mount Pleasant athlete Kurt Felicitas, now at Cal State Northridge, finished 11th in the Long Jump with a mark of 23' 2.5".
- Austin Laut (Oak Ridge 2015), competing for Yale, cleared 16' 8.75" in the pole vault, good for 7th place.
- Kyle Brown (La Costa Canyon) ended up in 10th place in the pole vault with a height of 16' 2.75".
- Former Clovis North star Mikaela Smith, now at USC, advanced to the 800 final by winning her heat in 2:07.54. Bianca Alonzo and Erica Schroeder both competed, but did not advance.