* AJ Green of Eastview (MN) ran a season's best of 1:50.75 at the West Coast AAU Junior Olympic Games in mid-July*
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It's safe to say that AJ Green has shaken off the rust. Hailing from Apple Valley, Minnesota, Green has already competed four different times since June, traveling from Texas to Nevada and recently to Illinois this outdoor season.
He is scheduled to be lining up in both the 400m and 800m next week in the boys 17-18 division.
So far this outdoor season, Green has lost just one 800m -- on Monday against Brandon Miller -- and has run a season best effort of 1:50.35, which is currently ranked the fifth-fastest 800m time this year.
Last year, he ran a personal best of 1:49.83 for the second-fastest time in the nation that season. During the fourth of July weekend, he ran a 49.48 at Track Dynamite Track Meet.
This is just 0.12 off of his personal best in this event. Will he be able to go sub 1:50 and set a personal best in the 400m at the AAU Junior Olympic Games? The AAU Junior Olympic Games presents Green perhaps with one last opportunity.
2. Adam Mason To Challenge AJ Green in 400m and 800m
Along with Green, Adam Mason will be entered in the 400m and 800m in the boys 17-18 division. Mason is an athlete who was ranked in the top 50 in the nation during the indoor 2020 season and we could potentially expect him to pick up where he left off.
There's no doubt that Mason has been training during the pandemic, as he opened the season with his first outdoor 800m with a 2:01.28, and dropped down to a 1:54.86 personal best at the Track Dynamite Track Meet a few weeks ago.
The Manvel (TX) High School rising senior will be one of Greens's competitors at this meet.
* Matthew Fernando earned the bronze medal last year at the AAU Junior Olympics in the 1500m*
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3. Matthew Fernando Combines Speed And Strength in the 800m And 1500m
Fernando has run three races so far this outdoor season in the 800m, 1500m and 1600m. But he's also coming off a strong cross country campaign where he placed ninth at the GHSA State Cross Country Championships.
Last year, he placed second in the 800m at the AAU National Club Championships. Then, a few weeks later, he placed third in the 1500m and 10th in the 800m at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
* Immanuel Edwards competed in the 3000m last year at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Greensboro, NC*
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4. Immanuel Edwards' Entry in 1500m and 3000m Double
A rising senior who competes in the homeschool division in Texas, Edwards is entered in the 1,500m and 3,000m next week. So far, Edwards has been all over the track and the sandpit this outdoor season. He's been on the track in the 1500m, 1600m, 3000m, and 3,200m races, but he's also leapt to a personal best in the triple jump, too.
Last year, Edwards placed 20th at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in the 1,500m and fifth in the 3000m, where he ran times of 4:17.85 and 9:18.05, respectively.
In 2018, he won the AAU National Club Championship in the 3,000m. His experience of competing at the national level will be an advantage for him at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
5. Francisco Ramirez Is A Triple Threat In The 1,500m, 3,000m and 4x800m
Ramirez will have a busy weekend in the distance events.
In December, he placed third at the AAU National Championships during the cross country season and then followed outdoors by placing ninth in the 1,500m with a personal best of 4:15.45, and fourth in the 3,000m with a lifetime best of 9:18.89 -- accomplishing that feat at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Recently, he competed for the first time since the pandemic in July and ran time of 4:16.65 in the 1,600m at the Alabama Heat 5th Annual Regional Tune-Up.
Watch out for him as he competes in two individual events on the distance side and running one of the legs on the 4x800m for the G.O.A.T Farm TC (FL).
*Victor Jaimez-Solorio of Pacific Coast Shock Waves TC (CA) broke the 1500m 8 and under AAU Junior Olympic record with a 5:07.14*
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6. Victor Jaimez-Solorio Going After National Records
Even as an eight-year-old, California native Victor Jaimez-Solorio has dominated the 800m and 1,500m events. At the AAU Junior Olympic Games last year, he broke the national record in his age group for the 1,500m with a time of 5:07.14.
So far this outdoor season, Jaimez-Solorio has run a personal best of 4:57.28, just beating the AAU Junior Olympic national record for the nine-year-old age group of 4:57.47. In order for that record to be his -- for a long time -- he will have to replicate the same race in Florida.
The 9-year-old will also be competing in the 400m and 800m races, too.
He set three personal bests so far this year at the AAU West Coast Junior Olympics with times of 1:06.04, 2:25.54 and his 1500m time a few weeks ago.
And as Jaimez-Solorio told us in July at the AAU West Coast Junior Olympic Games, the farther the race, the more he enjoys the talent. Watch out for this wunderkind.