Saturday, August 01, 2015

Record-setting Saturday sees young talent shine at USATF Junior Olympics

 

8/1/2015
 
JACKSONVILLE -- Familiar names and fast times ran rampant on Day 6 of the 2015 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships held at Hodges Stadium on the campus of University of North Florida.

Daniela Quintero (Los Angeles, California) put on quite the performance in the first event of the day in the 11-12 girls’ 3,000m final. Quintero ran her to the title in 10:14.39, which was more than 13 seconds better than the rest of the field. The runner-up was none other than Daniela’s sister, Natalia, crossing in 10:27.11.

Tarrianna Jackson
(East Point, Georgia) was impressive in the 7-8 girls’ 200m final, winning in 29.12 for a new national and JO meet record. Shawnti Jackson (Wake Forest, North Carolina) won the 9-10 girls’ 200m in 27.22, continuing to show those fast genes from her dad, five-time USATF Outdoor 400mH Champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Bershawn Jackson.

Breshawrd Cooper (Athens, Georgia) had the top overall time across all 200m events, winning the men’s 17-18 200m in 21.05. Terryon Conwell (Atlanta, Georgia) and Rodney Rowe (Clayton, North Carolina) finished second and third, respectively, with times of 21.15 and 21.34.

Cassondra Hall (Warner Robins, Georgia) put a cap on her 200m performance with the best time in the 17-18 women’s division in 23.55. Anglerne Annelus (Grandview, Missouri) ran 23.57 for second and Wurrie Njadoe (Seattle, Washington) finished in 23.99 for third place.

Christopher Williams (Baytown, Texas) won a fast boys’ 13-14 200m group finishing in 22.26. Khafre Brown (Charlotte, North Carolina) finished less than a tenth of a second off of Williams in 22.35.

The fastest final of the day, however, came from the boys’ 7-8 800m division featuring five times that all surpassed the previous meet record set back in 2013. Led by the winner Brandon Leacock (Rolesville, North Carolina) in 2:29.55, Preston Stensland (Ames, Iowa) in 2:29.62, Robert Burse (Miami, Florida) in 2:31.98, Ethan Ervin (Lawrenceville, Georgia) in 2:32.38 and Colby Alexander (Lawrenceville, Georgia) in 2:32.95 all broke the previous record of 2:33.73.

400m saw semifinalists advance along on Saturday as well. Ryan Champlin (Arlington, Texas) had the fastest overall time of the day heading into the 17-18 men’s final tomorrow, finishing in 47.17. Caleb Ogden (Oak Creek, Wisconsin) and Brandon Cachon (Naples, Florida) had the next best times in the division on the day with 47.19 and 47.46 respectively.

Cole Sunkel (Port Orchard, Washington) delivered a championship-caliber performance to win the men’s 17-18 javelin on his last attempt of the morning, tossing 63.85m/209-6. Liam Christensen (Mt Pleasant, South Carolina) and William Petersson (Frisco, Texas) rounded out the top three with throws of 62.46m/204-11 and 60.19m/197-6, respectively.

Arlaysha Forte (Winter Haven, Florida) had the best throw in the 13-14 girls’ discus from the morning with a best attempt of 39.62m/130-0. Zoe Burleson (Rocksprings, Texas) came up short of the top of the podium, finishing second with her mark of 39.41/129-3.

Ryan Stevens
Communications Intern
Ryan.Stevens@usatf.org
Click here for full results from the first six days of the 2015 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships.

The USATF National Junior Olympic Championships can be seen live on USATF.TV. Action concludes Sunday, August 2. Click here for more information regarding the rest of the weekend.

Fans are invited to join the conversation by following USATF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtags #JOTF and #USATFutureStars.

Ryan Stevens
Communications Intern
Ryan.Stevens@usatf.org

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