Mike Kennedy's 2015 World Youth Championships Prospects-March Update

Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, IL) won both the Long Jump and Triple Jump at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship last weekend. He is a leading contender to represent the United States in each event.

2015 WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS (WYC)

At Cali, Colombia, July 15-19

2015 U.S. WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS

At Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois, June 30-July 1

Boys Report | Girls Report

March 19th Report


To be eligible to compete you must 1) be a U.S. citizen with a valid passport; 2) be born in 1998 or 1999; and 3) have met two qualifying standards, one standard for the U.S. World Youth Championship trials and a second standard for the World Youth Championships (there are two separate standards and two different time frames when marks must be achieved). Those 2015 World Youth Standards can be found on the separate Boys List and Girls List. Those marks must be made between October 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015. The 2015 U.S. Trials standards for the World Youth Championships are now listed. The qualifying window for the U.S. Trials for the WYC is between October 1, 2014 and July 26, 2015. Here is a link to the USATF web site for the U.S. Trials. http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2015/World-Youth-Track---Field-Trials.aspx)

Third in a Series--Compiled by Mike Kennedy (e-mail mkentrk@aol.com )

JA'MARI WARD DOUBLES UP AT THE NEW BALANCE INDOOR MEET

Sydney McLaughin, Lauen Rain Williams and Brandon McGorty Star For Youth Group

Junior Ja'Mari Ward of Cahokia (Il.) opened up his competition at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in the long jump with a big personal best of 25-7¼ to move to No. 6 on the all-time U.S. prep indoor list. The next day he came to take the triple jump, winning at 51-7 ¾ to become the eleventh farthest indoor jumper of all-time. Ward also had jumps of 51-5 and 51-6 ½. Those efforts stack up very well when compared with the rest of the worlds Youth athletes. In 2015 Meykel Musso of Cuba is the world outdoor leader at 25-9¼ with teammate Juan Echevarria third at 25-2¾. In the triple jump Martin Lamoa of Francis is the indoor leader at 52-8¼ while Julio Carbonell of Cuba has gone 52-8 ¼ outdoors. At the 2013 World Youth championships Ward's best marks would have placed third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Deshaun Millington of Carlisle (Pa.), who triple jumped 49-6¼ without a wind-gage last year as a freshman, finished ninth at the NBIN in 48-3¼.

Although none of the marks on The Armory's famed 200-meter banked track in New York can be used to meet the World Youth championship qualifying standards because those marks must be achieved on flat floor layouts, there were still a number of outstanding performances. Lauren Rain Williams of Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Ca.) won the 200 in 23.39, just off her best of 23.36, and was fourth in 60-meters in 7.46. Sophomore Brandon McGordy of Chantilly (Va.) was second in the 800 at 1:51.50. Josephus Lyles of T.C.Williams (Alexandria, Va.) was third in the 400 at 47.35. Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, N.J.) won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.17 to break the sophomore class record of 8.19 set in 2012 by Dior Hall of East (Denver, Co.). McLaughlin's time makes her the third fastest performer of all-time with equal the third fastest performance of all time. Enroute , McLaughlin also took down Hall's 50-meter record, 7.60 to 7.61. Kamryn McIntosh of Suffern (N.Y.) won the 400 in 54.57 after running 54.09 in the heats and Sammy Watson of Rush Henrietta Sperry (Henrietta, N.Y.) took a very closely contested 800 in 2:08.13.

In the distances, sophomore Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.) was second in the two-mile in a personal best of 10:20.22 and Julia Heymach of Lamar (Houston, Tx.) was third 10:23.27. However, Murphy will not been in Cali, Columbia since she was born in 2000 and is too young to compete and will have to wait until the World Youth championships in 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. Sophomore Nevada Mareno of Lee's Road (Raleigh, N.C.) announced herself to the prep word with a stunning 4:43.23 win in the mile--worth 4:41.59 for 1,600 meters. She also anchored her 4 x 800 relay team to a second place finish with a 2:07.60 carry. Junior Aiden Tooker of Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) was sixth in the two-mile at 8:56.18 after passing 3,000 at 8:21.34--a team that would have placed him in sixth place in the 2013 World Youth championships. Conor Lundy of Fordham Prep (Bronx, N.Y.) was fifth in the mile at 4:14.01. Armand Duplantis of Lafayette (La.) continues to break the national freshman pole vault with records of 16-8, 16-8 ¾ and 16-9½ indoors before moving outdoors where he cleared 16-10. Darius Carbin of Mt. Pleasant (San Jose) also improved on his indoor pole vault best of 6-10 with an outdoor clearance of 6-11 at the K-Bell Invitational in San Jose.

U.S. Trials Qualifying Information (a must-read)

The United States is the seven-time defending World Youth team champion. The U.S. Trials are scheduled in just under four months at Benedictine University in Lisle (Il.). The first two finishers in each event, provided they have met the IAAF World Youth championships standard, will be placed in a pool and the U.S. team will be selected from that pool. Since 2001 there have been between 40 and 55 athletes selected, although in recent years the number has been between 40 and 43 athletes.

The 2013 U.S. World Youth team was made up of 43 athletes. The USATF has fixed the size of recent teams at around 40, twenty of which are paid for by the IAAF. The general guideline that has been used in selecting the U.S. team has been a demonstrated ability to advance to the finals of the World Youth Championships. Those standards are much higher than the entry standards set by the IAAF. However, the tougher standards have resulted in between five and ten athletes, who have shown that ability to reach the World Youth Championship finals, not being selected. With the success of U. S. Youth-age athletes (born in 1998 or 1999) at last year at the IAAF World Junior championship in Eugene, there is a high likelihood that additional well deserving athletes might not be selected. An example of the success selection method, 2013 World Youth Championships saw 19 of 20 girls selected for the U.S. team made WYC finals. Unless the size of the 2015 team is increased, there is a high likelihood that U.S. will again deny deserving athletes the invaluable experiences that can only be gained in competitions such as the WYC.

Perhaps the most important thing that athletes can do is to be sure to have a U.S. passport valid through 2015. You must have a passport with you when you participate in the U.S. World Youth trials. You will not be able to get a passport at the U.S. trials. Be sure to allow at least six weeks from the time that you apply for a passport until it is sent to you. You can apply for a passport through the Post Office. Getting a passport is a long-term investment. It is good for 10 years and there is every reason to believe that athletes with the talent to qualify for the World Youth Championships will have need of a passport multiple in the next 10 years.

A special note concerning the following events: 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters 2,000-meter steeplechase and 400-meter hurdles. All athletes must have a qualifying mark in these specific events to that meet the IAAF standards for entry into the World Youth Championships. You can not substitute 1,600, mile, 3,200, two-mile or 300-meter hurdles times to meet the IAAF standards. Because the distance standards are very tough, athletes are advised to compete in 1,500 and 3,000 races against college-open athletes. You can use times in those events to qualify. In the 100, 200, 100-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles plus the long jump and the triple jump, qualifying marks must be accompanied by wind readings of 2.0 meters per second or less. It should be noted that the hurdle heights at the U.S. Trials will be the heights at the WYC. The hurdle heights will be three inches shorter in the boys 110 and 400 hurdles and the girls 100 hurdles.

Although the World Youth Championships is an outdoor event, indoor marks may be used to qualify. However, the running events must take place on flat-floor tracks of 400 meters or less.

Here is the U.S.A. Track and Field website link for the U.S. Trials for the 2015 World Youth Championships.

http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2015/World-Youth-Track---Field-Trials.aspx

Here is a link to the 2013 U.S. Trials for the WYC that will give you an idea of what to expect in 2015. This includes results from the U.S. Trials in 2013.

http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2013/World-Youth-Track---Field-Trials.aspx

Here is the IAAF website for the 2015 World Youth Championships. That also includes the results from the 2013 World Youth Championships. When take comes up click on History for 2013 results.

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-youth-championships