Saturday Action
Junior action at the US National Track meet was highlighted by a national record in the women’s javelin plus a 16th best in the men’s 5k. Avione Allgood, a prep athlete from Nevada, established a new standard in the javelin of 53.85 m (176‘ 8“), when she placed 4th in the Senior Women’s field early in the day. Her mark eclipsed the American Junior record of 53.70m set by then Penn State freshman Karlee McQuellen in 2008. Allgood also set the high school junior class and high school records with her mark. Allgood returned later in the day in the Junior competition but ended up placing 2nd to Hannah Carson, yet another prep who finished 9th against the Seniors. Carson won the Junior title with a toss of 50.91m (167’) topping Allgood’s throw of 48.81 m (160’ 11”). Fawn Miller of the University of Florida placed 3rd.
Action in the men’s 5k for Juniors provided a three way battle between Ammar Moussa, (photo left by Don Rich/PennTrackXC) , Parker Stinson, and Jacob Hurysz early in the race but Moussa, a prep from California pushed the pace late in the contest and led the way at 3600 M with a time of 10:21.8. His move dropped North Carolina’s Hurysz, and it became a two man duel. Stinson, now a runner at the University of Oregon, who had won the Junior 10k the other day, made a move with 600 M to go, and Moussa responded as best he could. He would later mention that he was tired and thought for a moment of giving up but he was well aware of his rival’s earlier effort. He also had heard the Oregon coach shout “take him at 600,” and that remark suggested Stinson must be as tired as he was. The recent high school graduate remained in contact and then unleashed his counter-attack on the final turn to draw away down the stretch. His winning time of 14:09.61 places him 16th on the all-time Junior list. Parker Stinson followed a second later and Jacob Horysz finished 3rd (14:14). Chase Caulkins of the University of Portland earned 4th while Kirubel Erassa, representing Oklahoma State, edged Bryan Spreitzer of NC state for 5th.
Oregon fans had a great deal to cheer about in the Junior pole vault, as local talent really came through on Saturday. Leading the way was JJ Julifs (photo right by Don Rich/PennTrackXC) of Sheldon High School in Eugene, who won the event with 5.25 m (17’ 2.75”). Julifs, who missed most of the season due to injury, was in fine form as he cleared the final height. Cody Klein of IL placed 2nd with 4.90 m and Cody Marshall of Ohio State took 3rd. Regan Gilbert, a prep out of TX, earned 4th, and Brandon Hooper of South Medford, Oregon, earned 5th.
Local fans could take a great deal of pride in the Junior high jump with two girls from the area, but the brightest star of the day in that event was Shanay Briscoe of the University of Texas. Briscoe kept raising the bar long after her challengers had been retired, and her winning leap was 1.88 m (6’ 2”). Rachel Proteau, a sophomore at West Albany HS in Oregon, added a true “feel good” aspect to the meet with her 2nd place effort of 1.8 m (5’ 10.75”). Although a state division champion, Rachel did not have even the qualifying mark for the meet of 5’ 9”. She worked on a number of aspects of form and at the Portland Track Festival two weeks ago she earned her berth at nationals, which she took advantage by securiing her second place medal. Moira Cronin of Andover High in MA, placed 3rd with 1.74m although she cleared the same height as Vanderbilt’s Brionne Williams. Fiona Paladino garnered 5th with1.69 m. Chancey Summers of Estacada, OR, who had leaped 5’ 10” earlier in the season was one of a number of leapers who struggled in the afternoon and failed to clear a height.
Many fans did not witness the exciting distance races in the evening, as the crowd had mostly dispersed prior to the NON events. Those, who stayed, were treated to fine competitions in the Junior Men’s 5k and the Junior Women’s 3k. The young women’s 3k proved to be an interesting contest, as the leaders went out early and had splits of 2:27 (800m) and 4:58 (1600). A pack of four runners had quickly broken away from the rest of the field and interestingly enough they were all high school runners. The quartet was made up of Waverly Neer of IN, Kayla Beattie from IL, Allison Woodward of WI, and Katie Knight of North Central HS in Spokane, WA. The first three were Foot Locker qualifiers last December. Knight, an NTN finalist, was coming off an impressive mile at New Balance. As the race progressed, Neer and Beattie had extricated themselves from the pack and battled through the 2k point which was reached in 7:12. In the end, it came down to a final kick between the two Midwest stalwarts and Neer claimed the hard-fought victory with a 9:16.23 clocking. Kayla Beattie, who had won the 5k earlier, added a 2nd place medal with 9:16.39. Allison Woodward pulled ahead in the final few laps to take 3rd in 9:33.11 and Knight, just a sophomore facing her senior rivals, claimed 4th in a fine 9:36.893. Kathleen Stevens of the University of Virginia edged Samantha Nadel for 5th and University of Arizona bound, Haley Stenquist took 7th with 9:56.86. There is always at least one other race within a race and one other story and on this day the story was the quest to break the ten minute barrier and the struggle to claim 8th place. There were four runners, who shared these goals, and they worked together early and then battled late. Emily Nist of Bishop Kelly in Boise, ID, won the mini-duel with 10:04. Gracie Todd, just an eighth grader from Monroe Middle School, who will attend Sheldon High next fall, placed 9th with 10:06. Erin Clark of South Eugene placed 10th (10:07.29), and Megan Fristoe of Summit HS in Bend finished 11th in 10:07.
Jordin Andrade annexed the 400 M Hurdles title with a time of 51.61. He was followed closely by Monte Corley of California (51.87) and Michael Stigler 52.07. Shelby Ashe dominated the women’s hammer with her mark of 58.34 m winning by over two meters. Karen Henning of LSU placed 2nd (56.23) and Brook Pleger of Bowling Green took 3rd with 52.43. Shanique Walker of the Carolina TC won the triple jump with 12.49 m. Mollie Bribbin placed 2nd with 12.43 m. Marqueshia Stallworth of South Florida (12.36 m) topped Tristine Johnson of UNC (12.33) for 3rd.
The men’s triple jump was claimed by Donald Scott with a mark of 15.71 m. Philip Young was a close 2nd with 15.61m, and Warrick Campbell (15.52 m) was third. Gabe Hull dominated the junior men’s discus with an effort of 59.34 m. There was a close battle for 2nd which Alexander Thompson of the University of Wisconsin (55.79 m) won over Kyle Long (55.14 m).
Austin Mudd, a prep senior from Michigan, moved up from the 800 where he has the leading US mark, to the 1500 and triumphed over Elias Gedyon of CA, Omar Kaddurah, and Kirubel Erassa, a freshman from Oklahoma State. The quartet charged down the home stretch with Josh Lampron and Isaac Presson in a blanket finish. Mudd was timed in 3:48.34, while Gedyon, Kaddurah, and Erassa were credited with 3:49 and change. Interesting enough, the Junior men had gone out faster than the Seniors.
Immanuel Hutchinson (photo left by Robin Frazier), a prep from CA, annexed the 800 M with 1:48.56 to top Derrick Daigre of Kent Meridian HS in WA (1:50.05) and Nick Hartle, a junior from Las Vegas, (1:50.19) following.
The Junior women’s 1500 saw Cory McGee of the University of Florida win with a time of 4:21.91 after pulling away from Mary Cain. Cain just a prep sophomore from NY placed 2nd with a fine 4:23 and was followed by Brook Handler of Michigan who ran 4:24. Nikki Hiltz, a sophomore from CA, ran 4:26 to edge Rachel Paul and Shelby Houlihan who ran versions of 4:26. Shelby had set th4e early pace running splits of 70 and 2:05.94. Alexandra Leptich led at the steeplechase. Her 3k time of 10:39 topped Grace Heymsfield of the University of Arkansas by a second. Emily Giannoti (10:57) was 3rd.