AAU Junior Nationals were held over the last week with several Kentucky athletes doing extremely well.

North Broward Prep sprinter Jerimy Strainge expressed some anxiety on Friday before his two finals races on Saturday, but the nerves sure did not show on track.  The rising sophomore took gold in both of his events running into some fairly steep wind to easily gap his opponents with times of 10.86 and 21.65.  In the 100 meters, his blocks slipped causing him to trail the entire field early.  Strainge kept a cool head and managed to close quickly, moving up from last place to first with a couple of meets padding.

A stellar week of performances and efficiently run meet (220+ heats of 200 dash in 2 1/2 hours) concluded today at Norfolk State University with the final day of competition at the AAU Junior Olympics. Over 30 AAU national records were set among the various age groups ranging from six and seven year olds in the primary age group to high school upperclassmen in the young men and women division. The host state of Virginia had its share of champions and All-Americans this week including the Five Star Track Club young women's 4x400 meter relay (pictured above by John Herzog) which included an "A" list of the state's top quarter milers in Monica Williams of Green Run, Shakeela Saunders of Great Bridge, Erin Edmond of Riverbend, and Kiara Porter of Tabb to win the AAU national title on Saturday in 3:43.

Bethel's William Brown was on pace to win a second AAU national title this week and run a big personal best in the 3000 meter run leading the race all the way through the last lap, but had to settle for second as he was outkicked for the win despite running a huge PR of 8:47. Brown earlier in the week won the intermediate boys 1500 in another all-time best performance of 4:03.

Full meet summary to come on the performances by Virginians at the 2010 AAU Junior Olympic Games.

MileStat.com was on-hand for events starting on Monday and has already uploaded plenty of photos and race videos from the meet. More is still being added! Check back over the next two days as almost all coverage should be posted by later Sunday.

Meet Page w/ Full Coverage

Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly - 12,500 photos from Monday thru Wednesday events.

Photo Gallery by John Herzog - 8,777 photos currently posted from Thursday & Friday events. 400 trials and Saturday event

Race Videos by Brandon Miles - 100s of race videos posted. Monday through Wednesday events are uploaded. Still adding Thursday thru Saturday event race videos.

Kendall Baisden, MI, and Kamaria Brown, LA, set AAU National Records in the 400's.  (Photos by John Herzog, MileStat.com)

Fort Dorchester's Keri Emanuel won the triple jump at AAU Nationals in Norfolk, Va.

Winning AAU national titles on Thursday at Norfolk State's Dick Price Stadium were William Brown of Bethel in the intermediate boys 1500 meter run and Breana Norman of Landstown in the young women 100 meter hurdles as the top performances by high school athletes from the homestate so far in the week-long meet.

Photo by John Herzog

Leading wire to wire, Brown successfuly defending his national title from a year ago with a strong time of 4:03. The rising junior at Bethel High School in Hampton, Va doubles back as one of the top seeds in the 3000 meter run tomorrow.

Photo by John Herzog

After a great start and virtually clean race through the first eight hurdles to put herself solidly in the lead, Landstown's Breana Norman clipped one of the last hurdles but showed strength to regain enough of her form to hold to win the young women's 100 meter hurdles title.

More to come including in-depth meet story highlighting performances of Virginians while extensive photo gallery and race footage is contuining to be add throughout the week.

Meet Page

Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly - 12,500 photos from Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday events.

Photo Gallery by John Herzog - 3,200 photos + still being added from Thursday events thru Saturday.

Race Videos by Brandon Miles - Videos being added throughout the week capturing over 90% of race footage from Monday thru Saturday's running events.

Even though she's just 11, Daesha Rogers has been at it for years already.  In past years she has etched her name on the national youth record book four times.  This year she added another with a stunning 4:45.65 1500m, 8 seconds better than the previous record.  She also added another victory in the 800m and a silver in the 400m to national leader Lauren Williams of California.

VA 3A state outdoor 800 meter champion Brandon Burton of Woodside appears to be picking up his new event of the 400 meter hurdles fairly well as he won his preliminary heat on Monday to advance onto the finals. (Photo by Ryan Kelly)

The big three of Virginian girls in the young women's 800 prelims all put together solid races to advance onto the finals. Shannon Morton of Indian River won her heat, while Lizzie Cornell of Princess Anne advanced on time placing second in her heat as did Grassfield's Amanda Smith (pictued above by Ryan Kelly) who posted the fastest time among the three finalists from the homestate in 2:14.

Look for thousands and thousands of photos as well as hundreds and hundreds of video to be posted throughout the week from MileStat.com at this year's AAU Junior Olympic Games being held at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va.

Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly - Over 4,000 to be added from Monday's events.

Race Videos by Brandon Miles - Footage to be added from all of Monday's running events.

The two governing bodies of youth track & field bump heads this weekend in their respective "Junior Olympics" events, with the AAU version taking place in Norfolk, VA and the USATF going off in Sacramento, CA.  Florida had a pair of national titles... one at each event.

Aleiza Higgins, a rising senior at Jamestown High School in Williamsburg, became the AAU national champion in the 3000 meter racewalk on Sunday at Norfolk State University. Competing in the young women's division, Higgins posted a personal best time and 1 minute and 19 second improvement for qualifying performance with a final time of 17:39.58. Higgins won by a considerable margin of two minutes. More to come on Higgins and others performances by Virginians at the AAU Junior Olympics this week.

Interview with racewalk national champ Aleiza Higgins

A group of kids and teenagers from the Broward County area headed to AAU Junior Olympic Games in Norfolk, Virginia had a brush with disaster when their bus caught fire close to Titusville along I-95.  Though there were no injuries, just about everything was lost.  This disaster turns into a heartwarming story of a community rallying to help. 

Salem's Walter Mitchell has consistently been one of the state's fastest sprinters in his class for years dating back to middle school years including an AAU national title in the youth boys 400 back in 2007.  He inherited good genes with both parents having a track background.

However, racing in an especially competitive Beach District this past year with the likes of Darrell Wesh and Justin Burke made it easy for Mitchell to be overlooked with their success and state titles. Mitchell had a state title temporarily in the 4x400 meter relay, but a disqualification from an exchange zone violation quickly took it away from the Salem boys. With Wesh graduated, a talented pack of returnees will be back in 2011 to vie for bragging rights at the state's top sprinter and Mitchell is looking to step up into that spotlight. A nice springboard into his senior year could be next week's AAU Junior Olympic Games in Norfolk as the 2009 AAU intermediate boys 200 national champion will be vying for a third AAU title competing in the young men's 200 meter dash.

Photo by Ryan Kelly, MileStat.com

At first glance seeing a girl from Indian River High School staying up with the state's best middle distance runners through the first lap of an 800 meter race based off school history would imagine she would be making a foolish move and end up struggling to finish the second lap. However, Shannon Morton (pictured right by John Herzog) is an abnormality and rare talent from a school, which has not seen a middle distance runner of her capable ever in school history.  After a solid freshmen year which she just missed qualify for the outdoor state meet with a seventh place finish in the 800 meter run, Morton was determined to not only qualify for the state meet in her sophomore year but become competitive at the highest level.  Morton has dropped seven seconds at 800 meters, which produced an All-State sixth place finish at the AAA State Outdoor Championships and heads into next week's AAU Junior Olympic Games with hopes of making the finals of the 800 meter run and earn All-American honors.

Some of the top seeded high school entrants from Virginia at next week's AAU Junior Olympic Games. Competing in front of the home crowd, many in-state athletes have shots at national titles and All-American titles next week at Norfolk State University's William Price Stadium. MileStat.com will be on-site with video and photo coverage. List of top entrants from VA...

Boys Performance List

Girls Performance List

The Suffolk Stars Track Club opens its season in March with its sights set on the AAU Junior Olympic Games every year. It’s just a coincidence, but a special one, that with this summer’s AAU Junior Olympic Games being hosted by Hampton Roads, with the track and field competition hosted at Norfolk State University’s Dick Price Stadium, the Stars and head coach Greg Rountree are sending their largest team ever, 25 kids, to the Junior Olympic Games.(via www.suffolknewsherald.com)

As more than 45,000 players, coaches and spectators prepare to attend the 44th annual Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games, local businesses look forward to the event, which is sure to bring in revenue for the host region. From July 29 through Aug. 7, young athletes will compete in venues throughout Hampton Roads. One sports market researcher says the region should expect an economic impact of $20 million to $30 million for the event. By Danielle Walker (via www.insidebiz.com)