* Jaikeem Mitchell (Dallas, TX) celebrates his 9yo boys 400m win on Saturday.
Recap written by Ashley Tysiac
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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Saturday marked the exhilarating conclusion to the 2022 installment of the AAU Junior Olympic Games highlighted by numerous record-breaking moments and close races for title wins.
Look no further than the AAU national record books for the storyline of the day from the final day of performances at the eight-day-long competition.
Going into Saturday's events, the new record count stood at 15. The most number of records set in a day came on Friday with six new age group all-time mark in the history of the games.
That number nearly doubled come Saturday evening.
The tally reached an astounding 29 by the conclusion of Junior Olympic competition as athletes left it all out on the track and in the field on a Saturday filled with finals across countless events and age groups.
Scroll below to view content from the final day of action at the exciting 2022 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
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Day 5 recap: Gutsy races steal the show
Day 4 recap: Athletes shine in 1,500m
Day 3 recap: More records fall
13yo Girls 3,000m: Annabelle Steckel (Philadelphia, PA) and Clare Puryear (Uncasville, CT) ran stride-for-stride going into the bell lap, but Steckel opened up with 200m to go to take her first title win of the Junior Olympics on the final day in 10:22.24. Steckel now leaves the competition with an AAU title and two runner-up finishes in the 1,500m and 800m to make for a successful campaign. Puryear crossed just behind in second with a significant personal best time of 10:24.47.
13yo Boys 3,000m: Making an aggressive move with 1,000m to go, Kieran Tyrrell (Allen, TX) separated from Samuel Baker (Kalamazoo, MI) and Ty Williams (Fort Worth, TX) to pull away for the title win in 9:29.45. That made for Tyrrell's second medal of the week after finishing sixth in the 1,500m in the days prior. Baker made a strong down the last straightaway for second in 9:40.02, and Williams held on for third place with his 9:42.04 final time.
14yo Girls 3,000m: Sophia Hamdani (Houston, TX) took the race out at a blistering pace, and defending champion and 1,500m winner from earlier in the week Addison Moore (Versailles, KY) went with her. With 600m to go, Moore began breaking away in a push to the finish, and a finish time of 9:57.45 not only earned her her second national title of the meet, but put her name in the record books as the new AAU age group national record holder for 3,000m. Virginia Kraus (Bethlehem, PA) had a strong close to finish second in 10:08.74, and Lauren Virmani (Columbia, MD) had an impressive performance in the second half of the race to grab third in 10:10.72.
14yo Boys 3,000m: Behind an exhilarating 64-second final lap, Gannon Dolan (Fort Worth, TX) raced his way to a new AAU national record of 8:59.75 to take the 3,000m win. Joining Dolan under 9:10 was Quinn Sullivan (Spicewod, TX) with his second-place time of 9:07.44, and Sintayehu Levenson (Southfield, MI) picked up the pace over the last 400m to earn third in 9:12.97
15-16yo Girls 3,000m: Jayden Harberts dominated the field with her winning time of 10:13.39, right ahead of second-place finisher Micaela Villarreal (San Antonio, TX) in 10:27.60. Crossing the line next came Mariana Chapa (Sugar Land, TX) for bronze in 10:45.66
15-16yo Boys 3,000m: A stellar 63-second final 400m helped James Butler (Del Valle, TX) pull away from the field and win the AAU title in 8:55.98. Butler was the only man in the field to finish under nine minutes as Andruw Villa (Abilene, TX) and Maxim Seliger (New York, NY) clocked medal-winning times of 9:00.51 and 9:00.98 for second and third.
17-18yo Women's 3,000m: Team Puerto Rico's Kariana Figueroa-Ramirez impressed with her 3,000m win in 10:30.30, taking the title by more than 30 seconds. In a closer race for second and third place, Madison Haldiman of Sugar Land, TX took the slight advantage over Figueroa-Ramirez's fellow teammate Ana Santos, running 11:07.71 to Santos' 11:09.24.
17-18yo Men's 3,000m: Jomar Rodriguez, Ian Rouse and Jase Crume broke away over the last two laps, but Rodriguez pulled away with 400m to go to join 17-18yo women's winner Figueroa-Ramirez as an event champion representing Puerto Rico. Rouse sprinted down the homestretch for second in 9:00.29, and Crume took third with a final time of 9:01.01
8yo Girls 4x100m: Xpress Track Club kicked off the 4x100m finals with a new national record of 59.08 to win the event. Golden Triangle came in a close second in 1:00.97, followed by DeSoto Swift in 1:01.91.
8yo Boys 4x100m: Greater Houston and Track Xcel both ran times under 58 seconds, but it was Greater Houston that took the win narrowly in 57.27 ahead of the four young athletes from Track Xcel in 57.53.
10yo Girls 4x100m: Florida Elite sped through the finish in a very quick time of 53.81, followed by West Coast Elite and The Fantastic Four, both of whom ran sub-55-second times of 54.37 and 54.74 for second and third.
10yo Boys 4x100m: The four athletes representing Westchase Cheetahs took command of the race with clean exchanges for a winning time of 52.61. DeSoto Nitro Track Club's time of 53.16 made for an impressive second-place finish, and the relay squad from Speed Legion clocked 53.97 for the bronze medal.
12yo Girls 4x100m: Cedar Hill Blaze set the national record of 48.79 in the prelims, and they reset that mark yet again in the finals, running 48.41 to smash their preliminary time by over three-tenths of a second. West Coast Elite also finished just off of the previous record set yesterday in second in 48.83.
12yo Boys 4x100m: Jackrabbit Track Club took over half a second off the national record to earn the championship in 47.18, followed by Better than Inc. in 49.43. BeastMode finished third with a time also under 50 seconds, clocking 49.96.
14yo Girls 4x100m: Black Lightning just missed out on dipping under 47 seconds, but their time of 47.01 made for more than enough to grab the championship title. Following closely on the team's tail was West Coast Elite, grabbing second in 47.15.
14yo Boys 4x100m: In a battle between Golden Army and Tallahassee Zoom, Golden Army earned the narrow advantage with their championship-earning time of 43.54. The four from Tallahassee ran 43.92 for second place, followed closely by I'm Better Than That Inc. in third with their mark of 44.19.
15-16yo Girls 4x100m: 46.47 for Union Athletics made for the best time in the field, coming away with the AAU championship. Second place went to Team Quest with their sub-47-second time of 46.88, followed by Charlotte Heat Track Club in third in 47.27.
15-16yo Boys 4x100m: Tallahassee Zoom just missed out on running below the 42-second barrier, but 42.07 ultimately earned them the win just 0.23 seconds ahead of Greater Houston Track Club in second. RDU Xpress grabbed bronze by just 0.01 ahead of DeSoto Nitro, running 42.42.
17-18yo Women's 4x100m: The squad from Team Quest finished only 0.15 seconds from the AAU record set last year by Track Life University, clocking 44.90 to earn the championship title. Coming in second was The Wings with a time of 46.35.
17-18yo Men's 4x100m: Spartan Chosen Virginia took the championship by just 0.16 seconds over Louisville Track Club, clocking 40.51 for the gold medal. The four boys from Louisville ran 40.67 to just outperform The Wings Track Club in third in 40.77.
8yo Girls 400m: Josalyn Glover (Kingsland, GA) dominated this race with her time of 1:05.22 to take the win ahead of Trinitee Ackles (Villa Rica, GA) in second in 1:09.74. Finishing quite closely behind Ackles came Ziyan Muhammad (Columbus, OH) for third in 1:10.26, just missing out on a sub-70-second performance.
8yo Boys 400m: It was a three-man fight to the finish between Bentley Slayden, Masiah McGee and Malone Clark, and Slayden took the championship win in 1:04.10, just ahead of McGee's time of 1:04.21. Slayden finished just a tenth of s second behind McGee for the bronze medal in 1:04.31.
9yo Girls 400m: Talayah Barnes entered finals with the second fastest time from the prelims, but she came out on top when it mattered most, running 1:01.97 to earn the individual crown. Top-seeded Elise Pridgeon still ran an exceptional time of 1:02.90 for the silver medal, and Tamai King came out victorious in a battle for third with her mark of 1:05.41.
9yo Boys 400m: 200m champion Jaikeem Mitchell clocked an impressive mark of 1:01.39 to finish first at the longer 400m distance, just under a second ahead of 800m medalist Cyprian Reid, who ran second in 1:02.15. It was a tight finish for third, but Logan Alsobrook came out on top for bronze in 1:03.20.
10yo Girls 400m: Gabrielle Wright just missed running a sub-60-second time, but she still took the win in 1:00.15. Long jump national record holder Mckinley Potts finished second in 1:00.28, and Camryn Brown took third place in 1:03.33.
10yo Boys 400m: Gunner Hammett took control of the race on the way to a 58.70 individual win, followed by long jump runner-up Cash Henry, who earned his second silver medal of the Junior Olympics in 1:00.21. 1:01.26 from Purpose Henderson earned the youngster the bronze medal to round out the top three podium spots.
11yo Girls 400m: The tight competition featured four girls that went under 60 seconds -- Ava Edwards, Alaiyah Choice, Carrington Harris and Zhoe Holt. The four athletes finished 1-2-3-4 in that order, with Edwards' winning time of 57.61 leading the way.
11yo Boys 400m: Running 56.64, Raymond Currie took the win in a tight fight to the finish with Kameron Edmonson. Edmonson followed up his 200m win from the other day with a strong runner-up finish in the 400m in 56.79, and Devon Williams ran under 58 seconds for the bronze in 57.24.
12yo Girls 400m: Top-seeded Khloe Washington finished on top yet again as she clocked 56.16 en route to a dominant performance in the championship race. Janae Coleman ran just over 57 seconds to take second place in 57.38, and Cayla Hawkins took third place by just 0.08 seconds, running 57.81.
12yo Boys 400m: The top three finishers all ran times under 54 seconds -- Gideon Newton, Terrence Dorsey and Jonathan Newton. Gideon earned the title win with his best of 53.36, followed by second-place Dorsey in 53.84 and Jonathan for bronze in 53.86.
13yo Girls 400m: Nevaeh Burns ran the first sub-56 time of the day among the girls divisions to win an AAU title in 55.89. Finishing a second behind Burns was Zion Bullard, running 56.89 to take the silver medal.
13yo Boys 400m: Jaelen Hunter ran a new national record time of 49.98 to take the win, becoming the first-ever 14yo boy to run under 50 seconds at the AAU Junior Olympics. Christopher Quick and Zamari Purifoy rounded out the top three with times of 50.39 and 50.57, respectively.
14yo Girls 400m: Lailah Green ran an impressive mark of 54.54 to win the competition by nearly a second. Andrea Taylor and Kaddel Howard had a tight race for the following two places as Taylor clocked 55.53 for second and Howard took third in 55.64.
14yo Boys 400m: He set the national record in the semis on Friday evening, and Quincy Wilson followed that performance up on Saturday with a title win in 47.77. Abass Hunter ran under 50 seconds for the first time to take second in 49.64, and Joshua Taliaferro earned the bronze medal with his sub-51-second time of 50.81.
15-16yo Girls 400m: Skyler Franklin kept her winning streak going, winning the 200m on Friday and following it up with a win in the 400m on Saturday with her final time of 54.00. Tianna Spinks ran under 55 seconds for just the second time ever to place second in 54.65, and Carlysia Cresser took third solidly in 55.11.
15-16yo Boys 400m: An impressive 46.84 from Micahi Danzy proved championship worthy, taking the win dominantly over Dwyne Smith Jr and Jonathan Simms. Smith clocked 47.55 for silver and Simms ran through the line in 47.68.
17-18yo Women's 400m: The North Carolina talent Jameesia Ford added to her list of accomplishments with an AAU 400m title in 52.41 coming on the heels of her 200m win on Friday. Behind Ford came Sage Hinton with a 54.65 time for second, and 800m runner-up Cha'iel Johnson clocked 55.09 to earn her second medal of the 2022 games.
17-18yo Men's 400m: Shamar Heard bounced back from his third-place finish in the 200m earlier in the week with an event win, personal best and Michigan state record in the 400m. 46.02 made for a strong first-place finish, beating out Mekhi Gammons' silver medal time of 46.58 and Amir Green's third-place finish of 46.66.
8yo Girls 100m: 14.41 from Autumn Gregory made for quite the stellar win in the 100m. Only a hundredth of a second separated Saniyah Hartford and Jonae Ellinger in second and third, with Hartford taking the silver in 14.61 ahead of Ellinger's 14.62.
8yo Boys 100m: It came down to 0.02 seconds to determine a winner in a photo finish at the line, and Andrew Akinkuolie came out victorious right ahead of Masiah McGee in 13.89.
9yo Girls 100m: Lilyanna Duvra could not be stopped at the 9-year-old ran 13.37 to take the win in the 100m after setting the 200m AAU national record earlier in the competition. Elise Pridgeon got her second runner-up finish of the day, running 13.63 after placing second in the 400m just an hour prior.
9yo Boys 100m: Jaikeem Mitchell completely the rare 100m-200m-400m triple in winning fashion, winning his third individual sprint gold of the games with a time of 12.86 -- a new national record. Chael Williams and Nasir Riley finished second and third in 13.18 and 13.34.
10yo Girls 100m: Christlyn Collins nearly ran under 13 seconds, grabbing the win thanks to an impressive sprint of 13.02. Aniyah Walker and Kelly Smith rounded out the top three with times of 13.32 and 13.39.
10yo Boys 100m: Bershawn Jackson Jr. won yet another championship, adding the 100m win to his 200m title that he won on Friday, clocking 12.43 at the shorter distance. Separated by a tenth of a second, Isaiah Lassiter and Kaden Johnson ran 12.68 and 12.78 for the silver and bronze medals.
11yo Girls 100m: Zhoe Holt, Tanesia Johnson and Tahjai Clements all finished within a tenth of a second of each other, finishing 1-2-3 with times of 12.77, 12.84 and 12.86.
11yo Boys 100m: Rudyard West Jr. sprinted his way to an AAU title in 12.18, and Kameron Edmonson earned his second runner-up finish of the day with his time of 12.28. The silver medal performance from Edmonson came just an hour after finishing second in the 400m.
12yo Girls 100m: Kennedy Jackson clocked 12.19 to sprint to a dominant win in the 12-year-old division. In a very close race between Ranasia Simmons and Madison Brooks for second, Simmons took the silver by two-hundredths of a second in 12.46.
12yo Boys 100m: Chadney Cross and Khalil Hurd had a photo finish for the title win, and Cross came out on top in 11.56 to Hurd's 11.59.
13yo Girls 100m: In another tight finish in the 100m, Aida Joseph ran 12.13 to win -- just 0.02 seconds in front of Vanessa Waite in second. White's 12.15 beat out Trinity Fruge in third in 12.31.
13yo Boys 100m: Third-seeded Lee Prince Jr. pulled off the upset in the finals with his winning time of 11.26. A close race for second saw Caleb Murray earn the slight advantage -- 11.33 for third, just ahead of Chad Works-Wright's 11.36.
14yo Girls 100m: Adyn Kinard speeded her way to the individual win with her mark of 11.74. But Aria Pearce and Kennedy Branch weren't too far behind as they placed 2-3 in 11.89 and 11.92.
14yo Boys 100m: The breakout star of the meet -- Kendrick Jones Jr. -- set yet another national record in his final event of the meet, running 10.76 to make for his third record of the games. Both Bryice Smith and Micah Green ran sub-11 to earn silver and bronze in 10.95 and 10.96.
15-16yo Girls 100m: Brianna Selby's impressive time of 11.58 finished just 0.09 seconds off of the national record, but still earned her the AAU individual championship. But Selby fought off a challenge from Aniyah Brown, who clocked a close 11.62 for second place.
15-16yo Boys 100m: In a close, photo-finish race, Antwan Hughes Jr. took the title by two-hundredths of a second over Jerrae Hawkins, clocking 10.48. Coming in third behind Hawkins's 10.50 was Evan Boykin, running 10.57.
17-18yo Women's 100m: Laila Hackett breezed through the line in a new AAU national record time of 11.46 for the impressive win. 400m champion Jameesia Ford turned around just a couple hours later to earn the silver in 11.66.
17-18yo Men's 100m: In a star-studded final, 200m runner-up Nigel Ancrum earned his first individual gold of the competition, running an impressive US No. 4 time of 10.18 into a slight headwind. 200m champion Nyckoles Harbor ran a personal best of 10.22 for the silver, followed by Zavion Langrin in third with a time of 10.47.
Video Features:
AAU Junior Olympic Games Trivia 2022
The Scoop:
9-10yo Girls 4x400m: The four girls comprising the Fantastic Four squad ran a time of 4:33.41 to take the win over San Antonio Swift. The team from Texas took silver thanks to a finish time of 4:35.09.
9-10yo Boys 4x400m: The anchor legs for Virginia Tigers and Southern Sprinters Elite battled to the line, and it was the team from Virginia that came away victorious with a time of 4:24.26. Southern Sprinters Elite finished behind them in a close second with a finish time of 4:24.87.
11-12yo Girls 4x400m: Black Lightning came so close to dipping under four minutes, but the relay squad still ran quite the stellar time of 4:00.39 to earn a title in the final event of the Junior Olympics. Finishing just a few seconds behind came the West Coast Elite boys, recording a second-place mark of 4:03.86.
11-12yo Boys 4x400m: The Southern Sprinters Elite team clocked a winning time of 3:48.57 thanks to an impressive 54.41 split on the anchor. A handful of seconds off the lead was Elite Sprint Athletics, and they finished second in 3:52.98.
13-14yo Girls 4x400m: Black Lightning continued its 4x400m winning streak in the 13-14yo division as the team ran 3:48.63 for the championship. The four girls from Greater Houston ran a stellar mark of 3:52.76 to cap off competition in the age group.
13-14yo Boys 4x400m: Compton Electric Speed finished just a few seconds off of the national record in 3:25.76, but that stellar time still earned the team a gold medal to close out the Junior Olympics. Only a second and a half behind in silver medal position was Virginia Elite, running 3:27.25.
15-16yo Girls 4x400m: Motor City Track Club and Five Star General Athletics both put together exhilarating relay performances, running 3:47.09 and 3:49.62 for the gold and silver medals. Courageous Track Club crossed not far behind in third with a time of 3:50.73.
15-16yo Boys 4x400m: The meet's first sub-3:20 relay performance in the finals came from Impact Track in 3:15.99 to earn the AAU title. But the real exciting battle came between Team Blaze and Charlotte Heat for the silver and bronze, with Team Blaze taking the advantage in 3:21.31, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Charlotte Heat.
17-18yo Women's 4x400m: To close out the girls age divisions, The Wings team took home the final running event of the games in 3:44.50. Team Quest also closed out the Junior Olympics strong in 3:45.40 for the silver medal.
17-18yo Men's 4x400m: The final event of the day saw one team dip under 3:10 -- the four men of The Wings Track Club. The relay squad clocked 3:09.52 to win, and SACS finished close behind in 3:10.44.
8yo Boys Long Jump: Less than an inch separated Robert Price IV (Delaware, OH) and Dylan Wright (Round Rock, TX) in the youngest division for the boys long jump, and it was Price's mark of 13-5 that won the title, just a hair ahead of Wright's second-place jump of 13-4.25. Kingston Hamilton (Hampton, VA) also finished just off the lead in third with his mark of 13-3.25.
8yo Girls Long Jump: Erin Scott (Phenix City, AL) came into the competition seeded tenth, but that didn't stop her from leaping for the win, marking 12-8 to take the championship ahead of Kyra Carmenar (Wichita Falls, TX), who jumped 12-4.75. Just a quarter-inch off second place was Kali Roy (Houston, TX) as she leaped 12-4.25 for third.
11yo Boys Discus: With a stellar mark of 93-6 making him the only boy in the field to throw over 90 feet, Christian Cravens (Cedar Hill, TX) took the discus title on the final day of AAU action. Top-seeded Rayder Knaack (Bay Village, OH) had a fifth-round throw of 89-4 that earned him the silver medal, and Kenyon Simien (Houston, TX) marked 84-10.5 to solidly take third place.
10yo Boys Turbo Javelin: 99-0 for Josiah McBryde (Charlotte, NC) helped the young thrower live up to his top seed position to take the title win. Next was Joshua Holmes (Irmo, SC) in second thanks to a 94-4 fifth-round attempt, and Joshua McDougald (Thonotosassa, FL) hit 94-0 to capture third.
8yo Boys Turbo Javelin: Bryan Drayton (Clearwater, FL) crushed the previous national record of 89-6 by nearly 10 feet, throwing 98-4 to reset the record and win the event in dominant fashion. Second-place finisher Theophilus Whitley (Bonaire, GA) also surpassed the previous record with his mark of 89-8 to make for quite the impressive showdown in the youngest division of javelin competition.
9yo Boys High Jump: The first field event record of the day came from Cameron Turner (Virginia Beach, VA), who cleared 4-6 to take both the new AAU all-time best and the national title. Dash Harrison (Charlotte, NC) in second and Saiin Patel (North Wales, PA) in third both also jumped north of four feet with marks of 4-3.25 and 4-1.25, respectively.
17-18yo Men's Pole Vault: It came down to missed attempts to determine the winner of the pole vault competition between Kenneth Byrd and Kareem Nazim. Because it took him fewer attempts to clear the winning height of 14-5.25, Byrd earned the gold medal and Nazim took the silver.
11yo Girls Turbo Javelin: Magdalena Kandt continued her throwing dominance among the 11-year-olds with her javelin-winning throw of 97-5. Harmoni Mason threw a personal best mark of 84-3 to take second ahead of Arianna Mills in bronze position.
10yo Girls Turbo Javelin: Brielle Hudson could not be stopped at the 2022 Junior Olympics, and she ended her meet campaign on a high note. She set yet another national record and earned another title with a throw of 99-2 in the turbo javelin competition. For second, Kamiyah Freeman marked 77-4.75 on her fourth attempt.
13yo Girls Triple Jump: Kylia Sylvester took command of the competition in the final round as she had a big jump of 36-5.75 to propel her into first.Taking the silver medal by just a half inch was Nyla Folks, marking 33-4.75 ahead of Harley Stokes in third with a jump of 33-4.5.
13yo Boys Triple Jump: On his third trip down the runway, Jamir Crichlow had his best jump of the day of 38-1.5 to take the AAU crown on the final day of competition. But he wasn't the only Crichlow to perform well in the triple jump. His brother, Jayden Crichlow, jumped 37-8.75 to take second behind Jamir.
STAT OF THE DAY
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29
Number of AAU national age group records broken at this year's AAU Junior Olympic Games.
RACE OF THE DAY
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In the 17-18yo men's 400m, Shamar Heard (Clinton Township, MI) ran a Michigan state record and US No. 4 time of 46.06 en route to a title win.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
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"My legs feel like noodles."
Jameesia Ford on doubling back from the 400m to take second in the 100m.
INTERVIEW OF THE DAY
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Jaikeem Mitchell, 9yo boys winner in the 100m, 200m and 400m, says people call him a mini-Fred Kerley
PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Gabrielle Wright (Newllano, LA) celebrates her win in the 9yo girls 400m.
Photo Credit: David Nguyen/MileSplit