Reports from Eugene and Houston (now complete)

Regular updates on the performances of Colorado-connected athletes at USATF JOs and World Juniors.

Please note that these reports will be restricted to athletes in the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups from USATF JOs. There are too many athletes with names I do not yet recognize in the younger age groups and I don't want to mention some and overlook others.

Tuesday

It was probably a day Haley Showalter would like to forget, as three consecutives fouls kept her from advancing in the hammer throw competition at World Juniors. 

From Houston, Chasidy Horton (Fountain-Fort Carson) finished 14th and Erika White (Brighton) took 17th in the women's heptathlon. Interestingly, the throws went well for both. Horton finished fourth in the javelin (99-9.75) and White finished third in the shot put (32-5.75), marking the high finishes in the seven-event competitin for both Colorado athletes.

Wednesday

In the 15-16 age group, Chris Youngs advances to the semi-final round of the 200 meters with a 22.55, while Brock Miller bows out with a 22.80. Brock Helvey runs a 2:04.83 and misses advancing in the 800. Jared Brannen's 1:00.32 also fall short of advancing in the 400 hurdles. Eric Tucker (39-7) and Tyler Wylie (36-4) came up short of the required distance to place in the triple jump. Audra Koopman's 25.29 200 was short of what it took to advance to the next round, as was Aleksandra Anderson's 1:10.58 in the 400 hurdles. Maya Evans went 18-9 (+1.5) to finish fourth in the long jump, while Koopman finished just out of the places at 17-11.

Moving up to the 17-18 age group, Philip Benjamin Thomas bowed out of the 800 at 1:57.26, while Trenton Stringari easily advanced in the 400 hurdles with a 54.33. Kossi Tchenawou advanced to the next round of the 200 by the thinnest of margins with a 21.80. Aaron Ragin's 22.81 did not make the cut. On the girls side, Ginger Hutton's 2:14.55 was good enough to take her to the next round of the 800, while Rachel Hough bowed out with a 2:25.80. Mackenzie Howie (1:01.02) and Carly Lester (1:01.17) were both among the advancers in the 400 hurdles, while Tianna Terrell missed finals with a 1:06.07 and Khayla Doublin bowed out with a 1:09.04. Carly Lester would also advance a round in the 200 with a 24.74. Maddie Leatherbury (126-5) and Mariah Walker (125-1) both missed finals of the hammer throw.

Thursday 

Up in Eugene, it wasn't Valarie Allman's best discus throw ever, but her 171-9 in prelims was good enough to advance her to the final round (throws of 52 meters or better were required to advance) on Friday evening. Allman got her mark on the first of three allotted throws and was able to rest her arm while others kept going until reaching the standard or the three throws were spent.

Things were a little more lively where Colorado was concerned today in Houston. 

Going down the list of the day's events, Kiana Gomez placed 19th in the 17-18 girls long jump at 17-3.25. Natalie Platil ran 5:10.64 but missed qualifying for finals in the 15-16 girls 1500. Andrea Willis took 5th in the 15-16 girls pole vault at 11-7.75. Noah Riley qualified for finals of the 17-18 1500 with a time of 4:07.74. Megan Mooney and Ginger Hutton did the same on their side of the ledger with times of 4:41.21 and 4:41.95, respectively. Marcus Howard went 15.92 in the 15-16 110 hurdles, but that was not enough to advance him to the next round. A similar fate awaited Joseph Saling's 15.06 in the 17-18 division. W. Montgomery Lopez was 36th in the 15-16 long jump at 18-11.25. Tromas Buckner was a few places back at 18-1.5. Zoe Gilbertson qualified for 15-16 100 hurdles finals at 14.62, but Rhyan Pettaway missed at 15.15. Despite running 14.31 and 14.70, Carly Lester and Kiana Gomez missed advancing in the 17-18 100 hurdles. Khayla Doublin and Victoria Coombe also bowed out in prelims. Mariah Walker finished sixth in the 17-18 discus with a modest (for her) throw of 131-6. 

And, folks, that all happened before noon. In the afternoon session, we saw the following:

Audra Koopman and London Evans qualified for the next round of 15-16 100s with a 12.12 and a 12.32, respectively. Chris Youngs made his cut with an 11.06. Going up to 17-18s, Alexis Groce missed at 12.30. Kossi Tchenawou made it at 10.87, but Javan Lanier missed at 10.92. Andrew Bradberry missed at 11.10. Alex Cutright finished 28th in the 15-16 steeple at 7:55.64. Chris Youngs checked out of the 200 in the sem-final round, as did Carly Lester, but it's interesting that Lester's 24.74 matched her time from prelims. And Kossi Tchenawou completes the list of Colorado entries eliminated in the 200 semis. Heide Beier went 33-4 in the 15-16 triple jump, which landed her in 31st place. Perhaps a Baskin-Robbins celebration followed? 

And, unless I've overlooked somebody (very much a possibility), that wraps up the day's action for Colorado individuals.

Friday

It was a very good Friday for Colorado's entries at World Juniors. Dior Hall advanced to semi-finals of the 100 hurdles with a 13.29 win in her prelims heat. Bailey Roth and Elise Cranny ran smart, patient races to advance to finals in the 3000 steeplechase and 1500 meters respectively. Roth's time of 8:48.60 establishes a new US high school record for the 3000 meter steeplechase, giving Roth both national steeplechase marks. Cranny's 4:15.21 wasn't a final round kind of time but accomplished the essential--advancing her to the final round. Hall competes in semis on Saturday, while Roth and Cranny await Sunday's final for their events. And, late in the day, Valarie Allman claimed a silver medal in the discus finals with a throw of 186-2 (56.75m).

It was still another busy day in Houston for the Colorado contingent there. Dakota Divich (36-2.25) and Anne Lauder (33-8) went 16th and 19th in the 17-18 triple jump. Tromas Buckner topped out in the high jump short of the medals at 5-8.75. Alex Cutright topped out at 5-3. Noah Riley continued his success with a fourth in the 17-18 3000 with a time of 8:59.66. Heide Baron qualified for semis of the 15-16 400 with a 57.60, but Kalie Black's 400 did not make the cut at 1:02.30. Brock Miller also missed a cut at 50.29. Julia Hall's 58.71 missed a cut in the 17-18 age group, as did Aaron Ragin's 50.07. Mariah Walker, on the other hand, didn't miss any cuts, taking the 17-18 shot put at 46-2.5. Audra Koopman and London Evans bowed out of the 100 semis at 12.26 and 12.48. At least where individuals are concerned, that appears to be it for today's Colorado results. Many more results to come tomorrow.

Saturday

Colorado's day at World Juniors began 13.09 seconds after it started. That is all the time Dior Hall needed to qualify for tomorrow afternoon's finals of the 100 hurdles as the #2 seed. Hall has one remaining opportunity to set the US AT #1 high school 100 meter hurdles mark.

Meanwhile, things have been a little busier in Houston. Kiara Kearney went 5-4 to claim fifth in the 15-16 high jump. Natalie Platil ran 11:12.35 for fourth in the 15-16 3000. Megan Mooney put a major result on the board, winning the 17-18 3000 in 10:34.22. It was a nice day for Horizon distance, to say the least. Heide Baron ran 57.94, but missed advancing to the finals of the 15-16 400. Trenton Stringari also missed advancing to 400 hurldes finals with a time of 55.60. Ginger Hutton ended up sixth in the 17-18 800 at 2:14.88. 

Sunday

Colorado's representatives saved their best for last at the World Junior Games. The day ended with two US #1 AT marks for Colorado, one for Dior Hall and another for Bailey Roth. Dior Hall's 12.92 100 hurdles mark was wind legal and should stand as the best-ever high school mark in this nation. Hall ended up with silver as the win went to Kendell Williams of Georgia (race video and interview here). Bailey Roth took tenth in the 3000 Steeple and lowered his own national high school record by a little over a second with a final time of 8:47.04 (Sunday on-site summary--includes Bailey Roth interview). And, finally, Elise Cranny got the elusive win over Alexa Efraimson and finished fourth in the 1500 at 4:12.82 (race video and Elise Cranny interview).

When MileSplit intereviews go up for these performances, I will post links to them in the text above.

In Houston, the 2014 National Junior Olympics worked their way to a close, and there were still Colorado athletes competing on the final day. Nolan Ellis finished 10th in the 17-18 pole vault at 14-5.25. I don't understand what led to two heats of the final of the 17-18 boys 100 meters, but Javan Lanier ended up at 10.83 for fifth, and Kossi Tchenawou at 10.91 for eighth. Mackenzie Howie ended up sixth in the 400 hurdles at 1:04.04, a time which suggests that the week-long event and the rounds thereof may have taken a toll on a few athletes. Megan Mooney concluded her outstanding week with a 4:42.79 and third place in the 17-18 1500. Ginger Hutton was a few steps behind at 4:46.98 in seventh. Noah Riley went 4:06.03 for eighth in the 17-18 1500.