Is Chinne Okoronkwo (WA) the 2015 answer to four-time New Balance Nationals champion Keturah Orji?
Triple Jump
Last year, New Jersey’s Keturah Orji (NJ) swept the long and triple jumps at both New Balance National Championship events — yes, that means both Indoors and Outdoors. How does her graduation to the Georgia Bulldogs leave the state of national level jumps?
For triple, Chinne Okoronkwo (Mountlake Terrace, WA) and Sydnei Murphy (Apex, NC) are the top names to watch this indoor season.
Okoronkwo is the top returner from the 2014 indoor season with a 40-3.25 best, launched at NBN Indoors en route to a fifth place finish. All four athletes ahead of her at nationals graduated in 2014. She improved her national finish at NBN Outdoors to fourth overall (41-0.25), but Murphy — also a top short sprinter and long jumper — stole the show with a huge personal record 41-7 runner-up finish.
Murphy went on to finish runner-up at USATF Junior Olympics, improving her best to 41-7.25. Okoronkwo’s best leap came at that meet as well, with a personal best 41-1.75 fifth place finish.
The versatile Murphy has found so much success in several events that it remains to be seen whether or not she will focus on the triple jump at NBN.
Behind those studs, McKyla Brooks (Frontier, NY) is the only other athlete besides Okoronkwo to clear 40 feet last year indoors. She boasts an indoor best of 40-2.5, though she finished just outside of All-American honors at NBN Indoor (12th, 38-4.75). Asa Garcia (Texas City, TX) took the last All-American spot with an eighth-place, 39-10 leap, making her the third returner from 2014.
Long Jump
Kate Hall (Lake Region, ME) returns as the NBN Indoor runner-up with the nation’s top returning mark of 19-11.5. Not enough for ya? The Iowa State commit already owns the nation’s top mark this season with a 19-7.5 clearance and was sixth at NBN Outdoors (19-4.25).
Margaux Jones (Redlands, CA) nabbed the final All-American spot at NBN Indoors with an 18-11.75 finish. She owns the seventh-best returning indoor mark, but the second-best outdoor mark (20-5.5). Jones is one of the few Californians to compete indoors. Fellow Golden Stater Country Corrin (Harvard Westlake) was the NBN Outdoors runner-up and will return to the outdoor season on top by far with her 20-8.25 best. That leap beats out Jones by nearly three inches, but Corrin’s all-time best came in 2013 with a 21-foot leap to win the USATF World Youth Trials. The big-time performer went on to place fifth at the IAAF World Youth Championship that summer. She could be heir to Orji’s throne if she decides to compete indoors this season.
Milan Parks (Western Branch, VA) owns the second-best returning mark at 19-6.75. She’s already almost eclipsed that mark with her US #3 19-2.5 last weekend at the Suffolk Stars Invitational (VA). Bruins teammate and 10th-place NBN Indoors finisher Jewel Smith is the third-best returner at 19-4, which the formidable Murphy tied with her 2014 North Carolina 4A Indoor State Championship win. Right now, Murphy is US #2 at 19-2.75. She finished third at NBN Outdoors (19-8), with Okoronkwo right behind in fourth (19-6.25).
No. 5 returner Brooks is the final returning prep to clear 19 feet last season, as she lept to a season-best of 19-2. She was 12th at NBN Indoors.
One more indoor competitor to watch for is senior Maddie Holmberg (Hempfield, PA), who placed just outside of All-American honors at NBN Indoors in ninth overall (18-10.75) but was eighth at the outdoor championship (19-2.5). But the most impressive part? Her 20-1 personal record that earned her the Pennsylvania AAA State Championship.
High Jump
High jump, like many field events, can be a finicky sport. With so many talented high schoolers clearing between 5-8 and 5-10 during the season, it’s all about how many clean jumps a competitor can make on championship day.
Janae Moffitt (Oak Hill, IN) returns with the nation’s top indoor clearance of 5-10, but jumped just 5-9 to finish runner-up at NBN Outdoors. She did not compete at NBN Indoors.
NBN Indoor runner-up Cyre Virgo (Fleetwood, PA) returns with her US #2 returning indoor jump (5-8.5). The 2014 Penn Relays runner-up skipped NBN Outdoors, but finished the spring with a 5-10 personal record.
Other returning Indoor All-Americans include 5-9 outdoor performer Crystal Jones (VA), current US #2 Nicie Grier-Spratley (VA), and defending NBN 60m Hurdles Champion Shayla Broughton (NY). All three have indoor bests of 5-8. Senior Grier-Spratley also finished fourth at NBN Outdoors (5-7) with just one more miss than third placer Abby Jones (Franklin, PA). Seven girls — places third through ninth — cleared 5-7 at the championship.
In all, 14 returning athletes cleared 5-8 or better last indoor season. During outdoors, 62 returners cleared 5-8 or better — 19 of which jumped at least 5-9 and 12 made 5-10. Just two returners cleared six feet — Vashti Cunningham (Bishop Gorman, NV) and Stacey Destin (Santaluces, FL). Cunningham does not compete indoors and Destin travels sparingly, though with the #3 All-Time Florida mark this spring, the senior may be compelled to make the national circuit.
Another Florida girl - Nicole Greene of Ponte Vedra - currently sits atop the national leaderboard by a full two inches. The UNC signee cleared 5-10 to win the NCRunners Invitational right before the holidays.
Pole Vault
Twins Lexi and Tori Weeks hardly waited for 2015 to get started before busting out 14-0.5 clearances at the Jack Frost Vault Meet (AR). The Cabot High School seniors — both committed to the Razorbacks — tied for US #1 with the mark. (Watch the video here!). Lexi’s previous personal bests were 14-0 (outdoors), 13-6.5 (indoors), while the January meet was the first time that Tori has ever cleared 14 feet. She entered the meet with PRs of 13-2 (outdoors) and 12-6.75 (indoors).
Lexi is the nation’s top indoor returner in the event, as her 13-6.5 clearance was strong enough to win the USATF Arkansas Indoor Pole Vault Championship. Olivia Gruver (Franklin, MD) is the second returner based on clearance (13-4.5) and top returner based on placement at New Balance National Indoors with her third place finish. Meagan Gray (Hays Buda, TX) cleared 13-0.75 to finish fourth at NBN Indoors; she is the third returner. Just one more girl who cleared 13 feet indoors last year returns — NBN fifth placer Zoe McKinley (Grapevine, TX) at 13-0 even.
Nicole Summersett (Austin Westlake, TX) finished just 12th at NBN Indoors (12-4.75), but had a big spring as she cleared 13-3.5 for an upset third place at NBN Outdoors. The mark was a two-inch personal record — she knows how to perform when it counts.
Weight Throw
Smart money for any throwing event is on senior Sabrina Gaitan (Sprayberry, GA), who won NBN Outdoors in the hammer throw and represented Guatemala (she’s a dual citizen) in the event at the IAAF World Juniors. There is no indoor hammer throw, but Gaitan is the top returnee from the NBN Indoors weight throw (4th, 56-8.75). Her personal best of 59-0 (Indoor Alumni Age Group Invitational, 12/27) currently leads the nation.
World Youth Olympics qualifier Haley Showalter (Valor Christian, CO) did not compete at NBN Indoors, but returns with the nation’s top mark (59-0) and currently ranks US #4 (53-10.5).
Other returning Indoor All-Americans in the weight throw include Kamryn Brinson (Marist, GA) and Monae Cooper (New Rochelle, NY).
Brinson owns the second-best returning mark (58-8.75), while Cooper has the sixth-best mark (53-9.25). Kaylee Antill (57-7.5) and Alva Hicks (56-8) are returners no. three and five.
Shot Put
Edith Svonavec (Garfield, OH) has the top returning mark (46-2.75) and is the top returner from NBN Indoors with her fifth-place finish. She threw a personal best of 47-6 in the spring and placed sixth at NBN Outdoors.
Courtney McCartney (Selinsgrove, PA) nabbed seventh place at NBN Indoors and is the #3 returner at 45-7.25, but had a big spring to finish runner-up at NBN Outdoors with an elite 49-0.25 mark. She is the top outdoor returner.
Meia Gordon (Cypress Creek, TX) has the second farthest returning mark for both indoors (45-11) and outdoors (48-8), though she does not travel much indoors. Filling out the top five indoor returners are Minnesota’s Shay Nielsen (45-5) and Pennsylvania’s Emily Stauffer (45-4).