Yesterday was the first day of the USA Junior National Championships in Clovis, California. A strong group of high school and collegiate athletes from Texas made the trip to the west coast to fight for a spot at the World Junior Championships in Poland.
University of Houston freshman, Amere Lattin advanced to the final in the 110H by winning his heat with the fastest wind legal prelim time (13.39). New Balance Outdoor National champion Marcus Krah ran away with the top spot in the final with a junior world leading 13.25(+1.6). The second spot for worlds was decided by five hundredths of a second. Lattin (13.32) out-leans University of Florida bound Virginia star Grant Holloway(13.37).
Lining up against one of the deeper fields in the mens events at Junior Nationals, Brandon Taylor easily qualified for the 100m final by running 10.44 to finish second in his prelim. In the 100m final, Noah Lyles blew away the competition with a 10.08(+2.2). Brandon Taylor's 4th place 10.41 was good for fourth place and a selection for the USA World Junior 4x100m team.
3K Steeplechase - Alex Rogers
Not the typical event for Alex Rogers (entered in only his second ever 3K steeple race) but the University of Texas freshman ran a smart race out in California. He didn't go into the race with the same amount of experience as the the steeple specialists, but there's not doubt he had the track speed to be the most dangerous athlete in the field. He calmly positioned himself with the leaders throughout the whole race, and then coming through the water pit for the final time, he kicked hard and left the rest of the field in the dust. His winning time of 8:56.03 obliterates his previous PR of 9:06.
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