PHOTO CREDIT: JOHNNY PACE
The 2026 USATF Outdoor Championships came to New York City this past week. Three of the women who wrote the headlines at Icahn Stadium arrived with careers that started long before the lights of a national final. Here is where each of them began.
Valarie Sion: An Eighth Straight National Discus Title
April 10, 2010. The Longmont Invitational, Colorado. Silver Creek High School freshman Valarie Sion stepped into the discus ring for the first competitive throw of her life and released the disc 70 feet, 2 inches. It landed her seventeenth in the meet. She was also competing in shot put and long jump that day.
She had not always planned to be a thrower. For most of her childhood she was a competitive dancer (ballet, jazz, hip-hop and contemporary styles), but her high school track coach encouraged her to give the sport a proper go. Naturally, her dance background allowed her to refine the art of body movement.
From there she went on a climb. Freshman: 70-2 opener, 100-2 by season's end. Sophomore: 132-2 opener, 145-5 for third at Colorado State. Junior: state champion at 164-0. Senior: 184-2 at Texas Relays, another state title at 167-3.
She went to Stanford and won her first collegiate meet at 187-7. Third at NCAAs as a junior with 201-6. Sixth at the 2016 Olympic Trials at 193-8. Her first USATF national title in 2018 at 208-6. Then Tokyo 2021 and Olympic gold at 68.98m. Paris 2024, gold again.
This week at Icahn Stadium she won her eighth consecutive USATF national discus title. The line from a 70-2 freshman entry at the Longmont Invitational to eight straight national titles just keeps on growing.
HS Progression
| Grade | Year | Best Mark |
|---|
| Freshman | 2010 | 100-2 |
| Sophomore | 2011 | 145-5 |
| Junior | 2012 | 167-0.25 |
| Senior | 2013 | 184-2 |
Nia Akins: A Comeback 800m Title in New York
March 2, 2013. Rancho Bernardo High School dual meet, San Diego. Freshman Nia Akins ran 5:28 for the 1600m and won it. That spring she ran one of her first competitive high school 800m races at the Palomar League prelims and clocked 2:18.22. She had started running track to stay fit for soccer.
She became a runner who got better every year. She was consistent and compounding improvement. Sophomore: 2:12.23 for the CIF San Diego Section title, first trip to CIF State. Junior: 2:09.07 for section, sixth at State in 2:08.91. Senior: 2:11.18 for section and then back to State.
She went to the University of Pennsylvania to run and to study nursing. Her Penn career: four Ivy Heptagonal individual titles, eight school records, two NCAA runner-up finishes in the 800m. The first Penn athlete ever named College Athlete of the Meet at the Penn Relays. In February 2020 she ran 2:00.71 for the indoor 800m, the second-fastest women's collegiate time on record at that point.
Embedd Nia
She made the Paris 2024 Olympic team after winning the USA trials, ran in semis and in 2025 was crowned the 800m NACAC champion. As for this year, she came back to racing after a car accident and concussion disrupted her early-season training. On Saturday at Icahn Stadium she sat in eighth in the two lap race with 200 to go, accelerated through the final turn, and won the national title in 1:59.25 for her third career U.S. championship.
| Grade | Year | Best Mark |
|---|
| Freshman | 2013 | 2:18.22 |
| Sophomore | 2014 | 2:12.23 |
| Junior | 2015 | 2:08.91 |
| Senior | 2016 | 2:10.14 |
Tara Davis-Woodhall: A Return to the Hurdles
January 18, 2014. California indoor state qualifier, Westmont. Agoura High School freshman Tara Davis-Woodhall, competing in the long jump and the 60m hurdles the same day, jumped 17 feet, 3.5 inches and ran 9.20 over the hurdles. She was already placing in events and she was already performing in multiple disciplines.
Her high school career is one of the great multi-event résumés in California prep history. Freshman: 14.31 at Arcadia for second in hurdles, 19-9.5 at CIF State for third in long jump. Sophomore: IAAF World Youth Championship gold in the long jump at 21-0.25, 13.55 at CIF State for third in hurdles, second in state triple jump at 41-6.75. Junior: CIF State 100m hurdles title at 13.38, second at State in long jump at 20-4, triple jump title at 41-5.5, and an appearance at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the long jump at 16 years old. Senior: swept the CIF State meet in the 100m hurdles, long jump, and triple jump.
TARA-DAVIS WOODHALL HURDLES THROWBACK
Her wind-aided 12.83 at CIF State broke the state hurdles record in conditions. Her 13.01 legal at Arcadia was a California state high school record.
She went to Georgia and set the world junior 60m hurdles indoor record at 7.98. She transferred to Texas and won NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump titles. Tokyo 2020: sixth in the long jump. Paris 2024: Olympic gold in the long jump, celebrated with her husband Hunter Woodhall in a moment that traveled around the world. In 2025 she won the long jump world title.
She had not raced the hurdles competitively since 2021. This spring she brought them back - a race at the Ward Haylett Invitational in May, a race at the LA Grand Prix, then USATF this past weekend. On Sunday at Icahn Stadium she finished third in the 100m hurdles final in 12.57. The long jump is still her event, as for the hurdles? They are most definitely there too.
HS Progression
| Grade | Year | 100mH SB | Long Jump SB |
|---|
| Freshman | 2014 | 14.26w | 19-9.5 |
| Sophomore | 2015 | 13.48 | 21-0.25 |
| Junior | 2016 | 13.38 | 20-8.25w |
| Senior | 2017 | 12.83w | 22-3.75w |
