Monday News & Notes: Taylor (GA) Leaps U.S.#1 at LJ in 24-09.75, USATF Cross Re-Cap

Jordan Hasay (CA) runs away to win the Junior Women's XC title

(Photo by Fred Finke)

With the Simplot Games, USATF Cross Country Nationals and the Pepsi Classic all taking place this past weekend, it was easy to overlook a few performances that really shook up the high school track and field scene.  Read our Monday News & Notes section to find out the odds and ends of this past weekend.

Monday News & Notes (2/18)

Carolina Chick-Fil-A Invitational (NC)

Carolina Chick-Fil-A Meet Page

Carolina Chick-Fil-A Results: Mens / Womens

  While most of the top highlights were coming from high school only competitions this past weekend, the Carolina Chick-Fil-A Invitational at the University of North Carolina showed the strength of some elite high school athletes.

  Long jump and triple jump superstar Christian Taylor (GA) lept to a new U.S. #1 mark in the long jump and won the triple jump against collegiate competition.  Taylor's new U.S. #1 leap was 24-09.75, 2.75 inches farther than Marquise Goodwin's (TX) jump back in mid-January.  Taylor's 50-05.25 leap in the triple jump made him the only athlete in the country this season to break the 50 foot barrier more than once this season thus far.

  In the mens pole vault, Scott Houston (NC) broke the 16 foot barrier once again, this time vaulting 16-04.75 to win the event by nearly a foot.  On the girls side, Jacinda Evans (NC) and Sherice Walker (NC) provided highlights in the womens long jump and triple jump competitions.  Evans placed third in the long jump with a U.S. top five effort of 19-06.25, while Walker finished second in her flight in the triple jump with a leap of 39-01.25, a U.S. top ten effort.

Greer (OR), McNamee (WA) Impress in Washington

Husky Class Results

UW Open Results

  Moving towards the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington hosted two indoor competitions this past weekend.  On Saturday, many of the top collegians in the country took to the track at the Husky Classic.  While the collegiate performers were the ones capturing all the media coverage, Elijah Greer (OR) ran in the mens 800m dash, and ran well enough to capture the U.S. #1 ranking.  Greer ran 1:52.66, leaping over Isaiah Ward's (MI) U.S. #1 mark of 1:52.80 set in mid-January.

  In Sunday's competition, the UW Open Invitational, Kelly McNamee (WA) lept 5-08.75 in the high jump, which pushes her into the U.S. #1 position in the event.  McNamee is one of the top returnees in the event after jumping 5-10 in 2007.

USATF XC Nationals Wrap-Up

USATF XC Picture Gallery

USATF XC Nationals Results: Junior Men / Junior Women

  While the past few months have been the time for track and field athletes to shine, and cross country seems like a thing of the past, this past weekend in San Diego showed that cross country has one more last hurrah before it shuts down for the season.  At the USATF Cross Country National Championships, many of the top high school distance runners participated in the junior races.

  On the girls side, Jordan Hasay (CA) repeated as Junior Women's champion, beating a strong field with a strong push in the last 2000m.  Hasay won the race by 13 seconds over runner-up Alex Gits (Stanford University), racing to a time of 20:32 over the 6k course.  The only other high school prep to make the Junior Women's national squad was Emily Reese (GA).  Reese ran a tactically smart race, sitting in the lead pack for much of the race, before pulling away in the end to finish third in 21:26.

German Fernandez (CA) wins the Junior Men's title

(Photo by Fred Finke)

  In the Junior Men's race, third place Foot Locker Nationals finisher German Fernandez (CA) sat with the lead group for much of the race, before pulling away in the closing strides, beating Iona College's Ryan Sheridan by one second for the win.  Fernandez cruised to a 24:18 8k victory, leading the charge for two more prep qualifiers.

  Kevin Williams (CO) and Ben Johnson (NM) captured the final two Junior Men's team spots, finishing fifth and sixth.  Williams closed strong to finish in 24:39, while Johnson tied for sixth on time in 24:41, but outleaned Stanford's Brendan Gregg at the line.

  All five prep athletes will travel to Scotland to compete in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, which take place on March 30, 2008.

Bob Gourley's Weight Throw Rankings

Bob Gourley's Weight Throw Rankings

  It's that time of the week again.  Bob Gourley's Weight Throw Rankings have been published once again on OHRunners.com.  While a few big performances from this weekend are missing from the list (published last Wednesday), Mr. Gourley's list always provides key insight into an event that deserves more coverage than it receives.

The Week Ahead

MileSplit National Calendar 

U. of Kentucky H.S. Invitational Meet Page

  While last weekend saw three seperate competitions take place that deserved national attention, one especially stands out this coming weekend.  The University of Kentucky H.S. Invitational takes place Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky.  Many of the top athletes in the country will be participating in the always hyped up invite.

  The marquee match-up on the boys side takes place in the 800m dash, where the top two national returnees in the event go head-to-head.  U.S. #1 returnee Dylan Ferris (NC) takes on U.S. #2 Andrew Perkins (WI) in a hyper-competitive battle, that should lead to a new U.S. #1 ranking in the event. 

  The girls side sees a match-up between freshly minted U.S. 60m hurdle record-holder Jacquelyn Coward (TN) and Jasmin Stowers (SC).  Stowers beat Coward earlier in the season, so this re-match has a bit more intensity than some may originally suspect.

  A few more big names plan on participating as well.  U.S. #1 long jump and triple jump Christian Taylor (GA) is scheduled to compete, as are high jumper Tim Fletcher (IN), multi-event star Ben Davies (TN), distance runner Sean Kevere (TN) and thrower Tyler Hiatt (IN).  Brittany Porter (GA), Brittany Long (GA), Chalonda Goodman (GA), Meshawn Graham (OH) and Virginia Hine (TN) all should shine in their respective events on the girls side.