SACRAMENTO - National and meet records were set each day of the 2010 Junior Olympic Championships, and the sixth and final day of competition was no exception with Elijah Zoucha, Trinity Wilson and a Quiet Fire relay team's National marks. The meet, which began July 27, was held at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Sacramento City College in Sacramento, Calif.
The final day of the meet featured more incredible performances on the track and in the field, led by Elijah Zoucha's (West O Throw, Omaha, Neb.) record-setting performance in the Midget Boys shot put. His distance of 16.36m/53-8.25 broke the 30-year-old record of 16.15m/53-0 set by Troy Fowler in 1980. Zoucha, who won the Bantam Boys shot put in 2008, also placed second in the discus on Friday.
Youth Girls 100m hurdles National record holder Trinity Wilson (East Oakland Youth Development Center, Oakland, Calif.) tied the Intermediate Girls 110m hurdles meet record with a swift time of 13.87. Yolanda Johnson also ran that record time in 1994. As a part of Team USA, Wilson will attempt to chase down the National record at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore later this month.
Ending the meet on a exciting high note, Quiet Fire TC's (Hawthorne, Calif.) Midget Girls 4x400m relay team set a National record at 3:56.86. The team of Lauren Williams, Jeanette Paul, Kayla Richardson and Kyla Richardson battled against the team from 3M TC (Oakland, Calif.) through the first two legs before gaining a 10m lead and maintaining that position through the finish.
Running
Saturday's Bantam Boys 200m champion Re-Al Mitchell (West Coast Gazelles) held on at the finish to claim another title in the 100m dash in 13.31, just .05 seconds head of the runner up. Deionte Wall (A.W. Brown) also claimed his second sprint title, winning the Youth Boys 100m in 11.20.
2009 USATF Youth Athlete of the Year Bryce Love (Carolina Elite, Raleigh, N.C.) added to his 200m title yesterday, easily winning the Youth Boys 400m in 48.87. Love is the Midget Boys National record-holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m.
Nick Hartle (PS Vegas Flyers, Las Vegas, Nev.) also added to his earlier 3,000m win with a first in the Intermediate Boys 1,500m (4:00.02), and Sergio Miranda (Ssparc, Romeoville, Ill.) improved his time from his 2010 Youth Outdoor Championships win, taking another title the Young Men's 1,500m with a time of 3:57.51.
Cecil Sheffield (Track Houston, Houston, Texas) crushed the Youth Boys 200m hurdles field with a quick 24.18, more than a second faster than 2010 Youth Outdoor Championships runner-up Isaiah Moore's (Durham Striders, Durham, N.C.) 25.36 and less than two-tenths of a second off the National record. Sheffield and Moore returned to the track later in the day to face-off again in the 100m hurdles, with Sheffield once again claiming the win in 13.27 over Moore's 13.46.
Winning the Intermediate Girls 2,000m steeplechase and 3,000m run earlier this week, Amy-Eloise Neale (Snohomish TC, Snohomish, Wash.) showed up for yet another Junior Olympics title in today's Intermediate Girls 1,500m event (4:42.00).
After setting a Youth Girls National record in yesterday's 200m hurdle prelims, Jasmyne Graham (Moreno Valley, Calif.) returned with another strong run to win in today's finals in 26.64 seconds. Graham also finished runner-up in the Youth Girls Pentathlon and won the long jump.
Raevyn Rogers (The Wings TC, Houston, Texas) returned for her third win today in the Youth Girls 400m after winning yesterday's 200m and 800m events, and Midget Girls and Youth Girls 400m National record holder Robin Reynolds (Miami NW Express TC, Miami, Fla.) added another 400m title to her collection after winning the Intermediate Girls 400m dash in 53.23 seconds. She will join Trinity Wilson as a part of Team USA as she looks to continue her 400m victories in Singapore.
Taking advantage of a competitor's stutter step, Kendra Harrison (Carolina Eagles, Raleigh, N.C.) ran strong to take the lead around the final turn and win the Young Women 400m hurdles in 59.19 seconds. In the Intermediate Girls division, Jaide Stepter (Pops TC, Oro Valley, Ariz.) made a great comeback from her earlier fourth-place finish in the preliminary round to win in 1:00.60.
Field
Although Isaiah Moore (Durham Striders, Durham, N.C.) was denied a title on the track, he took first in the Youth Boys high jump, clearing 1.80m/5-10.75 on his first attempt for a decisive win.
Although 2010 USA Junior Outdoor championships runner-up Derek Eager (Seatown Express, Tahoma, Calif.) just returned from the IAAF World Junior Championships last week in Moncton, Canada, he still had enough competition left in him to claim the top spot in the Young Men's javelin throw. Eager had an outstanding fourth throw of 64.38m/211-3 to solidify his win and repeat his 2009 title.
Already claiming the Intermediate Girls triple jump title earlier this week, Carla Forbes (Waltham TC, Newtonville, Mass.) returned today with an impressive leap of 5.59m/18-04.25 to win the long jump event.
Olivia Midles (Barron Park Striders, Olympia, Wash.) easily tossed the hammer to 52.96m/173-09 for a victory in the Young Women hammer throw event. Out-tossing the rest of the field by nearly 20 feet, her performance was just shy of her personal and Washington state record, 53.59m/175-10 .
To watch interviews with athletes from the meet, visit the USATF YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/USATFweb.
For more information and complete results from the 2010 National Junior Olympic Championships, visit: www.usatf.org/events/2010/USATFJuniorOlympicTFChampionships/.