* Ashlie Blake (Liberty, NV), one of the top shot put talents to compete at the AAU Junior Olympic Games, competes at the 2013 World Youth Championships.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
The AAU Junior Olympic Games annually make for stunning performances from thousands of athletes from around the country, especially in the field events.
When looking at some of the best field performers in AAU Junior Olympic history, numerous stand out, from those who set records that have stood for decades, to others who showed versatility across multiple field events.
Scroll below to see some of the most impressive AAU Junior Olympic Games field event showings to date
Cleavon Dillon, Leavenworth (TX)
Year: 2001
Event: Long Jump
Performance: 25-6.25 for AAU high school boys national record
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More than 20 years have passed and Dillon's sensational winning long jump mark from the 2001 AAU Junior Olympic Games still stands as a national record.
Dillon jumped 25-6.25 to set the new AAU high school boys long jump record at the 2001 meet and it's a mark that has remained untouched in the two decades since. But it didn't come without a challenge as competitor Albert Davis pushed the future TCU star, finishing with a second-place mark of 25-2.
To hold onto a record for that long at the AAU level proves quite impressive. It puts Dillon among some of the all-time great field prep athletes.
Randall Cunningham, Bishop Gorman (NV)
Year: 2012
Event: High Jump
Performance: 7-2 clearance to set a new 15-16 Boys AAU national record
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Cunningham began the family AAU legacy just a few years before his sister, Vashti, burst onto the scene.
At the 2012 AAU Junior Olympics, Cunningham put family high jump athleticism on display.
A 7-2 clearance for a win and AAU all-time record made for one of the most dominant field event performances in Junior Olympic history. Cunningham jumped nearly a foot higher than the next best finisher to make for an eye-catching performance.
That puts him first all-time for AAU Junior Olympic high jump performances and makes him one of two athletes to ever surpass the 7-0 mark.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
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Ashlie Blake, Liberty (NV)
Year: 2012
Event: Shot Put
Performance: 52-1 for the 15-16 girls title and AAU national record
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A decade later, and Blake's shot put performance at the 2012 AAU Junior Olympic Games still stands out as one of the most impressive throws performances in meet history.
Blake eclipsed the 50-foot mark and launched a record-breaking throw of 52-1 to win the girls event for 15-16 year olds. The future UCLA star remains the only girl to ever have surpassed 50 feet in the event at the AAU Junior Olympics.
In addition to her sensational shot put showing, she finished second in the discus with a 149-10.5 mark.
Shawn Barber, Kingwood Park (TX)
Year: 2012
Event: Pole Vault
Performance: 18-3.5 new national record in the 17-18 boys Pole Vault
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No one has ever cleared a height in the AAU Junior Olympic pole vault as stunning as Barber's winning clearance back in 2012.
A height of 18-3.5 from Barber at the 2012 installment of the Games broke the national record -- no athlete since then has come close to touching that mark at the Games. The mark made for a huge improvement for the high schooler hailing from Kingwood Park (TX), who surpassed his prior outdoor personal best by almost a foot.
Barber, who would go on to vault for Team Canada, remains the only prep talent in AAU Junior Olympic history to clear a height north of 16-6.
Photo Credit: James Lang/USA Today Sports
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Vashti Cunningham, Bishop Gorman (NV)
Year: 2014
Event: High Jump
Performance: 6-1 clearance for the win and AAU national record in the 15-16 girls age group
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As a high schooler, Cunningham was head and shoulders above her junior competition.
It showed at the 2014 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
The Bishop Gorman talent cleared 6-1 in the 15-16 girls division to not only capture the title but set a new AAU national record in the process. It marked the end of an outdoor campaign that saw Cunningham rise to the top of the national rankings in the event, consistently clearing bars set over the 6-0 mark throughout the course of the 2014 season.
It's also worth noting that the high jump wasn't the only field event Cunningham contested at the 2014 Junior Olympics. She also took to the pit for the long jump, finishing fifth with a mark of 17-10.5.
Gabriel Oladipo, Ford Bend Hightower (TX)
Year: 2017
Events: Shot Put and Discus
Performance: 73-8.75 (Shot Put) and 210-4 (Discus) marks to set two 17-18 boys national records
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Oladipo's performance at the 2017 Games stands out as perhaps one of the best from a field athlete all-time, regardless of event discipline.
The Ford Bend Hightower (TX) star not only earned a couple of event wins on the Junior Olympic stage, but he did so while breaking records in the process.
He started the AAU Junior Olympic Games with a 73-8.75 new national record and win in the shot put. Oladipo later followed up his title win with another record-setting mark, this time in the discus with a 210-4 throw.
Both of those marks still stand as the top high school AAU Junior Olympic shot put and discus performances of all time.
Carlie Weiser, LC Express (TX)
Year: 2018
Event: Shot Put
Performance: 50-2.5 to break the 13-year-old girls division national record
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As a 13-year-old, Weiser threw a winning mark in the middle school shot put competition that even surpassed the marks of those at the high school level.
With a throw of 50-2.5 a the 2018 AAU Junior Olympic Games, Weiser broke the previous 13-year-old girls age group national record of 49-7 and solidified herself as a promising young throws talent. That makes her the only middle school girl to ever throw over 50 feet in Junior Olympic competition.
Weiser also finished as runner up in the discus competition to add to her 2018 Junior Olympic hardware.
Photo Credit: Olivia Ekpone/MileSplit
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Skyler Schuller, Coppell (TX)
Year: 2021
Events: Heptathlon, Pole Vault
Performance: 15-16 girls Heptathlon winner with 4,864 points; 13-11.25 in the PV for a new AAU national record
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To win the grueling heptathlon event is impressive in and of itself.
But to follow that up with a pole vault win in record-setting fashion certainly stands out, too, and Schuller accomplished that high feat one year ago.
Schuller won the heptathlon competition to begin her 2021 AAU Junior Olympics campaign, but she her winning ways didn't stop there. Just a couple of days later, the high schooler from Coppell, Texas put her versatility on full display with a 13-11.25 new AAU national record in the pole vault.
* Ashlie Blake (Liberty, NV), one of the top shot put talents to compete at the AAU Junior Olympic Games, competes at the 2013 World Youth Championships.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports