Event Preview: USATF Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Posted June 18th, 2008 at 10:25 AM by Jesse Squire
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, High School
The USATF Junior Championships will be held this coming Friday through Sunday in Columbus, Ohio in Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. On the line is a trip to July’s IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. (No, I can’t pronounce that, either.) Yours truly, the Track & Field Superfan, will be on site for all three days.
The meet is open to all athletes who are teenagers for the entirety of the 2008 calendar year, and that means all high schoolers and many college freshmen. Unfortunately, USATF was caught in a scheduling bind–some of the biggest states (New York, Ohio and others) had late state championships, pushing Nike Outdoor Nationals a week later than usual, while the Olympic Trials caused the Junior championships to be held a week earlier, and the result is that the two meets are on the same weekend.
In this article, the National Scholastic Sports Foundation (the people who put on the NON) encourage America’s best high schoolers to opt for the Junior meet. The biggest name, German Fernandez, will not take their advice and is targeting the national high school 2-mile record at the NON meet. Doubling at the two meets is theoretically possible in some events but not practical. USATF has a list of declared entrants for the Junior championships.
Top names entered include high school distance phenom Jordan Hasay, NCAA hurdles champ Jeshua Anderson, NCAA pole vault champ Maston Wallace, and local hero Jessica Beard.
The men’s 1500 should be a great contest. Wisconsin’s All-American Evan Jager is entered along with Oregon’s Matt Centrowitz and Penn Relays high school champ Cory Leslie. I’m not sure Leslie has much chance against the college boys, unless they try a wait-and-kick strategy–Leslie has blazing speed; two weeks ago he broke the divisional state record in the 800, previously held by pro speed demon Rob Myers.
Another battle, the men’s high jump, should come down to a pair of local high schoolers. Erik Kynard of Toledo’s Rogers High is the national leader at 7′ 3 3/4″, but hasn’t cleared better than 7′ 1/2″ since the indoor season. (At the state meet, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a high schooler look more discombobulated while clearing seven feet). At the Ohio championships, Ryan Fleck of nearby Napoleon High competed in a smaller-school division and jumped a divisional record 7′ 1 1/2″. Even though their schools are located less than 40 miles apart, they have not jumped against each other this year (and maybe not ever).
More coverage to come over the following days. In the mean time, check out this list of Ohio’s high school all-comers records (best marks ever made in the state).
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Tags: columbus, high school running, high school track & field, high schoolers, jeshua anderson, Jessica Beard, jordan hasay, Maston Wallace, nike outdoor nationals, ohio, Olympic Trials, USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, USA Track & Field, usatf, usatf junior championships
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