USATF - Junior Olympics

Day Five - Hot 200s and 800s Rule the Day ... But April Williams Comes Up With Best Mark

Intermediate Boys 800 record-setter Howard Shepard TX (right). Photo by RoJo, insidetexastrack.com

By Steve Underwood (more pix, stories to come)

One could have reasonably expected to see a few US#1s among preps in the highly-anticipated 200s and 800s that took place in the older age groups at the USATF JOs Saturday. As exciting and fine as those races were, the day’s best mark came in a prelim for another event.

In a prelim for Sunday’s Young Women’s 100 hurdles, NON champ April Williams TX blazed to a legal 13.35 (1.1w) that took the US lead from Shalina Clarke IL. Clarke, who beat Williams for the 2nd World Junior spot but lost to her at NON, won the previous heat in 13.53, just missing her own PR. The “rubber match” between them Sunday should be a classic.

Tough Half-Lappers

But Saturday was full of classics, too. The Young Women’s 200 featured USATF champ (and NON 100 champ) Gabby Mayo, the US leader in both short sprints, against clearly the best prep field in the meet. Five of her foes entered the race in the US top ten, including top prelim qualifier Porscha Lucas TX, Shayla Mahan MI, Elizabeth Olear CA, Sa’de Williams CA, and Kenyanna Wilson AZ, as well as Breehana Jacobs PA and Joanna Atkins GA.

Full of inspiration, Lucas and Mahan gave Mayo quite a battle, but in the final 50 meters Mayo pulled away to a 23.27 (0.9w), her second best time of the year. Lucas wound up 2nd in 23.50 and Mahan 3rd in a PR 23.56.

“It’s so hot and I felt so slow,” Mayo said, noting she was competing for the first time since USATF Juniors a month earlier. “But I’m getting back into the groove. My training’s been pretty much the same, just working those arms and legs.

“For some reason, I was really nervous today,” she continued. “And sometimes that by itself makes you feel tired.”

The other prep 200s were exciting in their own right. The Intermediate Girls race saw a battle between Texas stars – and another tough loss for Dallas Gold club runners. Erica Alexander TX narrowly held off top qualifier Victoria Jordan TX, 23.93-23.98 (0.4w), with Brianna Atkins CA 23.96 in-between.

“I didn’t run the time I wanted,” said Alexander, who has run through injuries all year. “(But) I’m glad I won. I was in this meet two years ago and I was planning to win, but I got third.”

The Intermediate Boys 200 saw an impressive 21.34 (2.0w) win by Jacques Caldwell TX, with Kenneth Brooks Jr. 2nd in 21.60. “Usually I don’t get out that good, but yesterday I came out here to practice and worked on coming out of the blocks,” he said. “The time wasn’t that great, but it got me the win.”

One of the most excited winners was definitely Antonio Sales NC in the Young Men’s 200. When he crossed the line, he was pretty sure he’d won, but when the scoreboard first showed the top finishers, he wasn’t listed. It was an unpleasant case of déjà vu, as in last year’s race where the scoreboard was blank at first. “I was like, Did I get it?” he said. “And the officials were like, You won, you won.”

Quickly the scoreboard changed to show Sales the winner in 21.07, uplifting a season that saw him have to miss his state meet after injuring his back in an auto accident. “When I came off the turn, I wanted to be even. Then I just did what my coach told me to do – drive and lift. I’m excited and glad to win.”

Impressive Two-Lappers

Chanelle Price delivered the high-caliber performance that many looked forward to in the Intermediate Girls 800, but the winners of the same in the Intermediate Boys and Young Men’s divisions were the ones that truly opened eyes.

Howard Shepard TX was a 1:55 runner coming into the meet and hadn’t even run a high school season, due to having to sit out what would have been his freshman campaign after transferring to Dallas Skyline. But he knew how to impress in summer meets (he ran a near-record 1:56 as a Youth last year) and had gained confidence with that 1:55, which was in his USATF region meet where he beat Texas 5A runner-up Blake Shaw in the Intermediate Boys.

This time he beat Shaw again, but the result was much more spectacular – a record 1:52.25, which he will carry into next spring’s soph season. “I wasn’t even really thinking about a record,” he said. “I’m just happy I won the race.” He followed a hard pace, going out in 54 himself, then taking the lead on the final backstretch.

In the Young Men’s 800, Nectaly Barbosa WA made a bold move past 400 (52.5) that looked for sure that it would be the winning one. But he couldn’t expand it after 600, got passed, and had to step off the track at 700 due to an unspecified ailment. Lamar Davis NC, who had been close to the lead all the way, took advantage and held on for a torrid 1:50.58, jumping him up to US#3. Curtis Bilbrew AL was 2nd with a fine 1:51.48.

Davis was the winner of the second-fastest heat at NON, with a 1:51.17, but this propelled the junior into new territory. “I was going into the race thinking I could win,” he said when he finally got his breath. “I just followed the lead guys. Whatever the pace was, I was going to go with it. It’s got to be the hardest race I’ve ever run.”

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated Intermediate Young Women’s 800 lived up to hopes, too, even if Price couldn’t quite meet her goal of an impressive new PR. The runners bunched together through a fast first lap, with Blaire Dinsdale IA taking the lead from Shaniel Chambers just before passing in 61.3.

But then Price made her move before Dinsdale’s could really have any impact. She powered around the curve and continued at an unmatchable pace. Blaire and her sister, Brooke, gave chase all the way around, but nothing changed and the suspense would be where Price stopped the clock. It was at 2:06.64, 0.41 seconds off her US#1 time from USATFs. Blaire D. was 2nd in 2:08.75 and Brooke 3rd in 2:10.51.

“I thought I was on 2:04-2:05 pace,” said the winner afterward, a bit ruefully. “I definitely followed my game plan, to go out in 60-61 and take off, but I guess my 600 and 700 were a little off. I was hoping to do a little better, but it was hard pushing myself out there.”

Said Blaire Dinsdale, “I wanted to be patient, and just get in a good place and not kill myself on the first lap. I wanted a 2:06. When Price went, I thought she would come back, but she didn’t.”

In the Young Women’s 800, Leigh Ganzar CO followed her coach’s plan, went through in about 62 (leader 60.7), then dominated the final 250 to win decisively in 2:10.81. “I just did exactly what my coach told me to do,” she said. “I knew someone would take it out hard and I just had to stay back and trust my training.”