Mike Kennedy's 2013 World Youth Championships Prospects-March 23rd Report (Exclusive to MileSplit)

Boys Watch List   |   Girls Watch List   |   US Trials Qualifying Information

MARCH 23rd Report

2013 WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS (WYC) 

At Donetsk, Ukraine July 10-14 

2013 U.S. WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS

At Edwardsville, Ill, June 25-26

           To be eligible to compete you must 1) be a U.S. citizen with a valid U.S. passport (begin application process now; it takes six weeks and is good for 10 years); 2) be born in 1996 or 1997; and 3) have met two qualifying standards. To qualify for the World Youth Championships, marks must be made between October 1, 2012 and June 26. To qualify for the U.S. Trials marks must be made between June 18, 2012 and June 17, 2013.  The standards for both meets are listed below with each event.

            Four in a  Series (through March 23).   Compiled by Mike Kennedy (e-mail mkentrk@aol.com )

         WESTBROOK AND WASHINGTON DUAL HIGHLIGHT SPRINT ACTION

Ky Westbrook of Chandler (Az.) and Ariana Washington of Long Beach Poly (Ca.) (PHOTO BY MARGOT KELLY) began what promises to be a season-long battle for spots on the U.S. Team for the World Youth Championships.  The two met in the star-studded Chandler Invitational this past week. Westbrook prevailed in both sprints winning the 100 in a national high school-leading 11.47 in the 100 and took the 200 in 23.64 for the fastest outdoor high school time this spring. Washington was second in 11.81 but made it much closer race in the 200, running 23.71. Earlier Washington had run 23.50 indoors. The two are set to meet again in two week at the Arcadia Invitational in southern California.  Sophomore Paul Lucas of Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) confirmed his earlier 10.68 win with a 10.66 running into a 1.1 meter per second win to win the boys 100. Across the nation, five Youth runners clocked 11.85 or faster the past two weeks including Krystal Sparling of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fl.) at 11.74 at the BCAA Championships in Fort Lauderdale, and Aleia Hobbs of McMain (New Orleans) at the Sugar Bowl Invitational. Two weeks ago Diamond Spaulding of American Heritage (Plantation, Fl.) ran 23.80 in winning the Bob Hayes Invitational in Jacksonville (Fl.) and last week Taylor Bennett of spring (Tx.) was second at the Victor Lopez Invitational in Houston at 24.11. 

   Two weeks ago Raevyn Rogers of The Kinkaid School (Houston) was second in the Texas Southern Relays 400 in 54.68 and Kendall Ellis of St. Thomas Aquinas won the Bob Hayes Invitational 400 in 54.71 the next week Rogers won the Victor Lopez Invitational 800 in 2:09.40. Frank Kurtz of Heritage (Brentwood, Ca.) won the Marsh Creek Invitational in 47.71 for the fastest Youth time of the year. Sophomore Myles Marshall of Kingwood (Tx.) took over the lead in the 800 with a 1:52.89 to win the Victor Lopez Invitational. Sophomore Alexa Efraimson of Camas (Wa.) continues to show her versatility at a very high level—this time at 1,500 meters with a 4:19.54 win at the Oregon Preview in Eugene against college and open competition. All distances runners should use Efraimson as an example of what high school distances runners need to do if they are serious about qualifying for the U.S. team. First, athletes must have times at 1,500 and 3,000 meters in order to qualify for the World Youth championships. Second, and just as import, if affords runners the type of competition that give them the best chance to meet the qualifying standards. Plan Ahead. Natalie Rathjen of Highland Park (Dallas, Tx.) turned in an outstanding 3,200 winning the Tracy Willis Invitational in 10:21.91. Steven Fahy of La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Ca.) was second in the Mt. Carmel Invitational 3,200 in 9:11.86.

      Alaysh’A Johnson of Spring (Tx.) and Daeshon Gordon of Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fl.) (PHOTO BY JEFF SIDES)  both turned in outstanding hurdle doubles. Johnson won the 300 hurdles in a high school-leading 41.52 after winning and 100 hurdles in 13.98. Gordon won the 100 hurdles at the BCAA Championships with a 13.89 and then came back and took the 300 hurdles in 42.84. Craig Rock of St. Thomas Aquinas (Hammond, La.) won the Sugar Bowl Invitational 110 hurdles in 14.25 and Deron Gordon of Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fl.) was the BCAA champion in 14.29. Marlon Humphrey of Hoover (Al.) had an outstanding double at the Texas Southern Relays winning the 300 hurdles in a national high school-leading 36.05 and then finishing a very close second to Tony Brown of Ozen (Beaumont, Tx.) in the 110 hurdles. Both runners were timed in 13.74 with a barely over the allowable wind of 2.1 meters per second. Unfortunately, there have been a number of high quality sprint and hurdles times across the national that might have been wind-legal but since a large number of meet continue not to use wind gauges athletes are being denied performances that might otherwise have been legal. All that does is guarantee that runners do not get full credit for their efforts.

      Randall Cunningham of Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nv.) has cleared 6-10 or better in four meets with a best of 7-2 in a dual meet and a 7-0 that won the Las Vegas Invitational. The 7-2 jump is the best Youth jump in the world but can not be considered at a WYC qualifying mark because it came in a dual meet. Cunningham’s sister Vashti, a freshman, has a best of 5-10 but we will have to wait until 2015 to see her compete in the WYC as she is too young to compete in the 2013 edition. Another athlete who leads the worlds Youth is pole vaulter Devin King of Sumner (Kentwood, La.) who won the Sugar Bowl Invitational with a best of 17-2. In all 17 athletes have bettered the IAAF standard of 14-11. Kaitlyn Merritt of Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Ca.) cleared 13-6 at the California Relays to join Desiree Freier Northwest (Justin, Tx.) as the national leader. Merritt is just one inch short of the national sophomore and age 16 record. Nineteen vaulters have bettered the IAAF standard of 12-1 ½ including eight who bettered 12-8—an average mark that qualified for the last two World Youth championships final.

     Eleven shot putters have bettered the IAAF girls standard of 43-7 ¾. Ashlie Blake of Liberty (Henderson, Nv.) leads the way with a 49-0 ½. Last year she threw 52-1. Haley Teel of Gregory-Portland (Portland, Tx.) won the Texas Southern Relays at 48-3—a two-foot improvement from 2012. Five throwers have bettered 46 feet. It took an average of 43-7 ½ to make the last two World Youth championship finals. Lloydricia Cameron of Northwestern (Miami, Fl.) won the GMAC discus with a 156-10 for the best throw by a Youth athlete this year. Five boys have bettered the IAAF discus standard of 175-6 with four throwers over 180-0. It took an average of 182-2 to make the IAAF finals the last two years but that was with the lighter 1.5 kg. disc. That equates to about 172-2 with the high school discus. Kevin Roddy of Duncan (Ok.) is the leader at 182-6 at the Ardmore Invitational. Khalil Davis of Blue Springs (Mo.) won the Early Bird Invitational at Festus (Mo.) with a stunning 180-9. Last year he had a best of just 151-8. Amir Patterson of Crespi (Encino, Ca.) is among the top five Youth in both events with bests of 179-10 in the discus and 59-6 in the shot. Last year he had a best of 61-4½ in the shot. Both the long jump and the triple jumps have been hindered because almost no high school meet are able to have three wind gauges.     

U.S. Trials Qualifying Information

          The United States is the six-time defending World Youth team champion. The first two finishers in each event at the U.S. Trials meet in Edwardsville (Il.), provided they have meet the IAAF World Youth championship qualifying standard, will be placed in a pool and the team will be selected from that pool. The 2011 U.S. World Youth team was made up of 41 athletes, at this time the exact number has not been set but it could be between 45 and 55, which was the size of the 2009 team.

         The general guideline that has been used in selecting the team has been a demonstrated ability to advance to the finals of the World Youth Championships. Those standards are much higher than the entry standards set by the IAAF. It should be noted that the events where athletes have met just the IAAF standards but have not been named to the previous teams, are the events where the U.S. is in greatest need of developing its athletes. Let’s hope that the USATF will be able find a way to send all qualified athletes to all world championships. These athletes are at an age (16-17) where they are making a decision whether to continue with track and field or gravitate to other sports. It makes a difference.

            With a full season of competition to come, the U.S. has 26 girls and 25 boys, with a limit of two per event, that have achieved performances in 2012 that would place them in the finals of previous World Youth championships. However, they will need to repeat those performances between October 1, 2012 and June 26, 2013 and place in the first two at the U.S. Trials.  It is very difficult to speculate on the progress of athletes at this age, especially the boys, but it is very possible that as many as 55 athletes, with a limit of two per event, will achieve performance that would place them in finals. There were about 50 athletes that finished in the top two at the 2011 U.S. that had shown the ability to reach the WYC finals.  The IAAF provides funds for 20 athletes with U.S.A. Track and Field funding the remainder of the team.

           Perhaps the most important thing that athletes can do is to be sure to have a U.S. passport valid through 2013. You must have a passport with you when you participate in the U.S. World Youth trials. You will not be able to get a passport at the U.S. trials. Be sure to allow at least six weeks from the time that you apply for a passport until it is sent to you. You can apply for a passport through the Post Office. Getting a passport is a long-term investment. It is good for 10 years and there is every reason to believe that athletes with the talent to qualify for the World Youth Championships will have need of a passport in the next 10 years.

           A special note concerning the following events: 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters and 2000-meter steeplechase. All athletes must have a mark in these specific events to that meet the IAAF standards for entry into the World Youth Championships. You can not substitute 1,600, mile, 3,200 or two-mile times to meet the IAAF standards. You can use times in those events to qualify for the U.S. World Youth Championships Trials in Edwardsville (Il.). In the 100, 200, 100-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles plus the long jump and the triple jump, qualifying marks must be accompanied by wind readings of 2.0 meters per second or less. It should be noted that the hurdle heights at the U.S. Trials will be the regular high school heights while the height at the WYC will be three inches shorter in the boys 110 and 400 hurdles and three inches shorter in the girls 100 hurdles. For the first time marks made at the U.S. Trials can be used to qualify for the World Youth Championships.

         Here is the U.S.A. Track and Field website for the U.S. Trials for the 2013 World Youth Championships. http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2013/World-Youth-Track---Field-Trials.aspx

      Here is a link to the 2011 U.S. Trials for the WYC that will give you an idea of what to expect in 2013. This includes results from the U.S. Trials in 2011.    http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/WorldYouthAthleticsTrials/index.asp

Here is the IAAF website for the 2013 World Youth Championships. That also includes the results from the 2011 World Youth Championships.  Thttp://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-youth-championships

         U.S. ATHLETES IN CONTENTION FOR THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS                          

      The following list is for informational use only. It includes two categories: 1) marks made between October 1, 2012 and June 24, 2013 which can be used to qualify for the Worth Youth Championships and 2) marks made in 2012 or 2013 that included leading athletes who have not yet qualified for the WYC. Athletes entering the U.S. Trials must qualify for the trials using marks made between June 18, 2012 and June 17, 2013. The major purpose of this list is to let the readers know what is happening with regard to athletes and their prospects for the World Youth Championships.

***—freshman; **—sophomore; *—junior;

 i—indoor; os—oversize track; ‘—enroute time; w—wind aided; nwi—no wind information.

If you have an update or an athlete you feel should be included on the following list please e-mail list compiler Mike Kennedy at mkentrk@aol.com  You must include mark, meet, site, date and wind reading.

         U.S. ATHLETES IN CONTENTION FOR THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS                          

      The following list is for informational use only. It includes two catagories: 1) marks made between October 1, 2012 and June 24, 2013 which can be used to qualify for the Worth Youth Championships and 2) marks made in 2012 or 2013 that included leading athletes who have not yet qualified for the WYC. Athletes entering the U.S. Trials must qualify for the trials using marks made between June 18, 2012 and June 17, 2013. The major purpose of this list is to let the readers know what is happening with regard to athletes and their prospects for the World Youth Championships.

       ***—freshman; **—sophomore; *—junior;

       i—indoor; os—oversize track; ‘—enroute time; w—wind aided; nwi—no wind information.

If you have an update or an athlete you feel should be included on the following list please e-mail list compiler Mike Kennedy at mkentrk@aol.com  You must  include mark, meet, site, date and wind reading.