Field events and race prelims excite at Youth Outdoors in Bloomington

Field events and race prelims excite at Youth Outdoors in Bloomington

6/27/2014

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana -- The USATF Youth Outdoor Championships saw the start of field events and the beginning of race prelims Thursday, June 26 on the campus of Indiana University.

The 17-18 men’s 3,000 meters saw a photo finish between Cody Jones (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Benjamin Szuhaj (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) with only .62 separating the duo. Jones finished just ahead in 8:55.98, while Szuhaj clocked a 8:56.60. Jacob Jansen (Tulsa, Oklahoma) rounded out the top three with a time of 9:03.25.

There were notable performances occurred in the first round of the 800m. In the girls 11-12 age group, Rachel Glenn (Long Beach, California) ran 2.29.38 to qualify for the top seed in Saturday’s final. Erick Steward (Carson, California), in the 11-12 boys, finished first with an impressive time of 2:18.69.

The 200m brought strong talent in all age groups. Tanner Green (Olathe, Kansas) of the 17-18-year-old men was the fastest of athlete of the day and the only to finish below 22 seconds with his time of 21.92. Ramiah Elliott (Indianapolis, Indiana) of the 9-10 girls age group won her heat and the qualifying, both by nearly a second.

The field events began and were in full force today, with finals in the long jump, shot put, triple jump, and pole vault. The Long jump saw finals in the 15-16 boys, and then both the boys and girls in the 7-8 age group. Jaden Rouse (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) won the 15-16 age group long jump with a distance of 6.08m/19-11.50ft. In 7-8 age group Joslyn Hamilton (Raleigh, North Carolina) won the long jump with a distance of 2.82m/9-03ft and Jivari Milton won the boys with a distance of 3.70m/12-01.75ft.

The shot put saw two finals with a victory by Caden Rouse (Tarentum, Pennsylvania) in the 7-8 boys group with a throw of 6.10m/20-00.25ft and Kayla Beasley's 11.72m/38-05.50ft (Durham, North Carolina) in the 13-14 girls group.

In pole vault there was a dominating victory by Jaci Bickett (Robards, Kentucky) with a height of 3.15m/10-04ft. The boys 13-14 winner, Brandon Hanoch (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma), jumped 3.00m/9-10.00ft.

The boys 13-14 triple jump final was the last field event of the day. Samuels Sommers (Sweetser, Indiana) leaped his way to victory with a distance of 11.01m/36-01.50ft.

Day four of the USATF Youth Outdoor Championships starts at 8 a.m. Click here for today’s results and a schedule of Friday’s events.

Tyler Stevenson
Communications Intern
Tyler.Stevenso@usatf.org