Many of the nation's top high school track and field athletes traveled to Detroit, Michigan for the AAU Junior Olympic Games that take place from last Saturday through this weekend. While many of the nation's best have shut their season down, the few remaining elite athletes are showing their best against one another for the last bragging rights of the 2008 track and field season. With the cross country season right around the corner, see who is making one last stand on the track.
AAU Junior Olympic Games Coverage
AAU Website / Meet Page / Live Results
Saturday Highlights
The 400m dash is always a signature event at a track meet. There's something about running one lap around a track that gets athletes to perform their best and gets the fans excited. Saturday's 400m dash finals were just that way, as a trio of athletes in the men's young division all broke 48 seconds. On Friday, Bernard Goodwyn (DE) ran a top prelim time of 46.64. While he entered Saturday's final with the top seed, Javell Bullard (VA) had something to say about who was tops on the day.
In the final Bullard finished strong over the final 150 meters, besting the field in 47.32. Goodwyn finished a half step behind with a 47.42 effort, while incoming senior Tavaris Tate (MS) finished third in 47.73.
On the girls side, Nijgia Snapp won the women's young division in 55.11, while Nia Fluker beat Kianna Ruff (MO) 55.18-55.45 in the girls intermediate division. Another top results came from Shannon Osika (MI) in the girls intermediate 3,000m run. Osika bested the field easily, winning in 10:00.39.
Elsewhere, Tasha Allen (WI) beat out a late charging Ronecia Nash (IL) 23.91-24.07 to win the women's young 200m dash, while Dentarius Locke (FL) won the men's young division in 21.03.
Thursday Highlights
Thursday's competition at the AAU Junior Olympic Games provided highlights in the 100m and 110m hurdles, as well as the pole vault. The best performance of the day came from Donique' Flemings (Saginaw, TX), who on Wednesday earned a U.S. top ten all-time performance in the 400m hurdles.
On Thursday, Flemings won the 100m hurdles in the young division 13.84-13.87 over Leslie Aririguzo (West Bloomfield, MI). In the men's young division David Howard (Spruce Creek, FL) won in 13.97, becoming the only athlete in the field to break the 14 second barrier.
In the young division pole vault, Rachel Fisher (Allen, TX) and Logan Pflibsen (Streator, IL) took home the gold medals. Fisher cleared a new personal best height of 12-06, tying the AAU national record. Meanwhile, Pflibsen soared over 15-06, good enough for the victory.
Wednesday Highlights
2008 saw a handful of events with greater depth and top-end talent then the rest. One of those events was the shot put. While the AAU Junior Olympic Games had less depth than some of the early-summer national competitions, two athletes in particular stood out during Wednesday's final. In the male young division, Stephen Saenz (Rio Grande City, TX) showed once again why he is one of the best in the country, placing first with a top throw of 67-00. Penn Relays shot put champion Emily Vannoy (Thomas Johnson, MD) also came up big with her winning toss of 47-07, a mark which set an AAU young division record.
Equally as impressive were the results in the female young division 400m hurdles. Donique' Flemings (Saginaw, TX) and AAU heptathlon champion Shakeia Pinnick (Waubonsie Valley, IL) waged a fierce battle that saw Flemings defeat Pinnick by less than half a second, 58.66-58.98. Both athletes' marks rank them in the U.S. top ten all-time in the event, and the best part is both athletes will be back next year to try and lower their times.
Pinnick continued her successful week with a victory in the young division 800m dash, taking home the title in 2:12.37. In the female intermediate division, Kianna Ruff (McCluer South-Berekely, MO) ran the fastest time of the day regardless of division with her 2:11.24 winning effort.
Some surprising results came in the steeplechase, which saw Vista Ridge High School (TX) teammates Zachary Ornelas and Ashley Isham each place first in the young division. Ornelas, who was the steeplechase champion at Nike Outdoor Nationals, won the 2k event in a new AAU young national record of 6:00.78. Isham was equally as impressive in her event, taking home the title in 7:25.74, winning by 19 seconds. McKinzie Schulz (Benet Academy, IL) took home the title in the girls intermediate division, running the best female time of the weekend with her 7:21.54.
The young division also saw a great competition take place on the boys side. Three seperate athletes cleared the seven foot barrier, with Mike Edwards (Poinciana, FL) taking home the title off of misses. Chris Copeland (Lakeland, VA) and Jonathan Hill (Walkersville, MD) placed 2-3 respectively with their seven foot efforts.
Tuesday Highlights
Few finals took place on the fourth day of competition, but one prep athlete that stood out among all others was California's Ciarra Brewer (Logan, CA). Brewer placed first in the girls intermediate division triple jump, breaking 40 feet yet again this season, this time jumping 41-08.25. The freshman earned a lifetime best with her winning mark and finished only a quarter-inch off of the national freshman record of 41-08.50 set by Ychlindria Spears (TX) in 1999.
Saturday-Sunday Highlights
The first two days of the AAU Junior Olympic Games were devoted mostly to the decathlon and pentathlon competitions. The young divisions showcased a few of the top multi-event stars in the country, including Tennessee's Ben Davies (Brentwood Academy, TN) and Illinois' Shakeia Pinnick (Waubonsie Valley, IL). Both athletes proved best on the weekend, taking home the male and female titles.
Davies, who had struggled a bit in decathlon competition earlier in the summer, blazed through the competition to earn first place overall in 7260. The University of Florida-bound senior scored the best mark seen this season in the decathlon and showed for the second time in as many years that he was the best in the country.
Meanwhile, Pinnick was able to outdistance her competition early on and never looked back, besting the field with an incredibly strong second day. Through day one Pinnick was actually in third place, but her strongest events were still to come. On day two Pinnick placed second in the long jump and fifth in the javelin throw, tallying up some major points. However, the winning performance for the Illinois junior came in the last event of the day, the 800m dash, which saw Pinnick win the event by ten seconds in 2:14.83. With such a strong final day, Pinnick took home the title with a 4883 point total, 291 points ahead of second place.
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