US news

2002
Nike Athletes of the Year

presented by DyeStat

the dominant high school track and field athletes of 2001-2002

the AOY winners | Selection criteria and selection factors


by John Dye

BALTIMORE 9/4/02 - Nike Athletes of the Year, a new award that is truly special. The award is not just for being number one; in any season, someone has to be number one. The award is not just for winning a national championship; in any meet, someone has to win. So what is it? It is a combination of things that mean dominance. The Nike Athletes of the Year are a special class of athletes -- the best of the best, the creme de la creme, the elite of the elite. They are the US boys and girls who dominated in the United States during the 2001-2002 school year.

Sprinters and Hurdlers Move into the Spotlight

After a couple of years where distance runners grabbed the biggest headlines, the year 2002 saw sprinters and hurdlers emerge as the top stars. Especially, the boys 400 meter hurdlers. Until this year, only one high school boy had ever run a 50 second 400m hurdle race (49.8, Bob Bornkessel of Mission KS, 1968, at Lake Tahoe CA -- the oldest record of events commonly run today). In an 8-day span in July, three runners hit or broke 50 seconds: Michigan senior Kenneth Ferguson 49.38, Texas junior Kerron Clement 49.77, and Florida senior Bershawn Jackson 50.00. They are arguably the three best ever, since Bornkessel's record was at altitude and hand timed. Each of this trio won a championship against one or both of the others.

The Nike AOY sprinters include three boys from Texas (sr Brendan Christian, sr Kelly Willie, and jr Willie Hordge) plus FL sr Sanya Richards and CA jr Allyson Felix, one of the strongest sprint corps ever. Richards was the most dominant of all, with five national championships, US#1 ranking in four events, and new US records in three events (outdoor 400, indoor 200, and indoor 400). In the only event she was not US#1, the outdoor 200 meters, Richards beat US#1 Allyson Felix in the USA Junior Nationals at Stanford when Felix pulled a hamstring in the closing strides. Felix has another year to set records as she was just a junior.

Skywalker Andra Manson

Despite the sprint and hurdle heroics, the most breathtaking individual performance of the year was by high jumper Andra Manson at the World Junior Championships in Jamaica. Manson leaped 7-7 to become the best under-20 high jumper in the world and the best high schooler ever in the US. The HS record he broke was another one that had been around a while (7-6 by Dothel Edwards of Athens GA in 1983).

It was not just the record by Manson, but the way he did it that staggered everyone. In the finals at Jamaica, Manson made 10 straight heights without a miss, from his opening height of 6-8.75 all the way to the new record. Combined with his four clean attempts in the qualifying round, that made 14 consecutive successful jumps before he finally missed at 7-7.75, an Olympian height.

Nike Athletes of the Year - 2002

Here they are, from Bailey to Zeigle, from Massachusetts to Florida to Texas to California to Washington and points in between.

Category
Boys
Girls
Sprints
Brendan Christian TX, Kelly Willie TX, Willie Hordge TX Sanya Richards FL, Allyson Felix CA
Hurdles
Kenneth Ferguson MI, Bershawn Jackson FL, Kerron Clement TX Ashlee Williams TX
Jumps
Andra Manson TX, Jesse Williams NC, Tommy Skipper OR Chelsea Johnson CA, Julene Bailey ID, Samantha Shepard MA, Chaunte Howard CA
Throws
Kevin Bookout OK, Glenn DiGiorgio NJ Michelle Carter TX, Kelli Burton UT, Billie Jo Grant CA, Rachel Walker LA
Distance
Chris Lukezic WA, Chris Solinsky WI, Bobby Lockhart VA, Richard Smith VA, Tim Moore MI, Bobby Curtis KY Amber Trotter CA, Molly Huddle NY, Megan Kaltenbach CO, Erika Odlaug IL, Laura Zeigle UT

Click on athletes' names above or photos below for action photos and detailed performance lists for each athlete.

BOYS

alphabetical

Kevin Bookout
Brendan Christian
Kerron Clement
Bobby Curtis
Glenn DiGiorgio
Kenneth Ferguson
Willie Hordge
Bershawn Jackson
Bobby Lockhart
Chris Lukezic
Andra Manson
Tim Moore
Tommy Skipper
Richard Smith
Chris Solinsky
Jesse Williams
Kelly Willie
photos by DyeStat, Victah Sailor, and Brian Myers PhotoRun

GIRLS

alphabetical

Julene Bailey

Kelli Burton

Michelle Carter

Allyson Felix
Billie Jo Grant
Chaunte Howard
Molly Huddle
Chelsea Johnson
Megan Kaltenbach
Erika Odlaug
Sanya Richards
Samantha Shepard
Amber Trotter
Rachel Walker
Ashlee Williams
Laura Zeigle

 

 


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