Darius Carbin and Michael Burke made the high jump competition on the final day of USATF Junior Nationals into a Cali kinda thing. The 2016 Mt. Pleasant grad and the 2015 Lemoore grad (now at UCLA) finished 1-2 in that event, earning the automatic spots on Team USA for the World U20 Championships in Poland next month. Carbin cleared 7' 3.25" to take the win, moving up to US #3 this season in the process, while Burke was one of two athletes over 7' 2.25. Trabuco Hills rising junior Sean Lee finished 5th at 6' 9.75", gaining valuable experience that could pay off in two years for the next Junior Nationals.
They weren't the only Golden State athletes to soar in Clovis Sunday, either. Rachel Baxter (Canyon Anaheim Hills) was one of two athletes to clear 13' 9.25" in the Women's Pole Vault, edging Carson Dingler (GA) to earn her the win and a trip to Poland. We assume that Baxter decided to save her energy instead of attempting another height once the top two (automatic qualifiers) had been determined. Erika Malaspina (Pacific Collegiate) finished in a tie for 3rd at 13' 7.25". Both Baxter and Dingler are juniors, so we could see a duel of 14-footers at a few meets next year!
The "Roller Coaster of Emotions" award for the meet goes to Hannah Waller (Buchanan). First, she experienced the high of setting a new PR and finishing 2nd, which would have been an automatic qualifying spot for World Juniors. That all came crashing down when she found out she had been disqualified for a lane violation. By the end of the day, though, good news came in that helped lift the spirits of the eternally positive Waller: she would still be heading to Poland as part of the 4x400 Relay pool!
The 4th new member of the California delegation on her way to Poland is Lyndsey Lopes (Clovis West/USC), who finished 2nd in the Heptathlon with a score of 5171 points. She will have her work cut out for her in July at World Juniors, as the top 10 U20 athletes in the world are all over 5500 points.
Michael Norman Jr. (Vista Murrieta) closed out the day with a bang, clocking 20.15 in the 200 to rank US #1, World #1 U20, and US #3 All-Time! You can bet Norman will also be on the Team USA 4x100 and 4x400 teams in Poland, which will provide him with some excellent international experience before he moves on to USC in the fall.
Throwers Elena Bruckner and Bronson Osborn each added a second top-two finish for the weekend, as both finished second in their respective events Sunday. Bruckner threw 51' 0.75" to take shot put silver behind NBN champion Alyssa Wilson (NJ), and Osborn went 189' 4" to earn the runner-up spot in the discus, losing to Connor Bandel (MI), also the NBN winner in that event.
More California athletes of note from Day 3 of USATF Juniors:
- Tara Davis (Agoura) finished 5th in the triple jump with a best mark of 41' 1".
- Austin Tamagno (Brea Olinda) ran 3:48.90 in the 1500, coming up just 0.51 seconds short of finishing second and advancing to international competition.