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Junior Nationals
June 19-20, 1999 at Denton TX
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Preview of Entries by USATF
June 16, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World Championships Medalists, NCAA Champions Highlight 28th Annual Meet
USA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR DENTON
DENTON, Texas, June 16, 1999 -- Americas best young track and field
athletes will be in North Texas June 19-20 for the 28th Annual USA Track &
Field Junior National Championships. More than 600 of the nations top
19-and-under runners, walkers, jumpers and throwers will battle for bragging
rights at Fouts Field on the University of North Texas campus, including
World Championships medalists Angela Williams and Nakiya Johnson.
Athletes will also be competing for spots on the U.S. team for the
Pan American Junior Championships, scheduled for next month in Florida. The
top two finishers in each event will select themselves to the Pan Am squad.
We are excited to be in Texas, said USATF junior program manager
Cathy Sellers. The Metroplex is a hotbed for track and field, and this meet
will give local fans a chance to see the best high schoolers and young
collegians go against each other. Fouts Field is a great facility for us, and
the University of North Texas has stepped up and done a wonderful job
preparing for the meet.
UNT head coach Rick Watkins will serve as meet director for the
event, which will also be held here in 2000.
Heres a look at some of the notable entries:
-- Angela Williams, 100 meters. Williams was a silver medalist in the 100 and
a gold medalist in the 4x100 at last summers World Junior Championships, and
her freshman year at Southern Cal has brought even more honors. She won the
NCAA dash title in Boise earlier this month, setting an American Junior
record of 11.04 in the process. The California phenom set a national high
school record of 11.11 at the 98 Junior meet in Edwardsville.
-- Nakiya Johnson, 400 meters. Johnson, who just completed a storied
California prep career, was the silver medalist in the 400 at the World
Junior meet in 98.
-- Eight other 98 World Junior team members are also entered: Texas A&M high
jumper Robyn Burkhardt; California high school 800 champ Lindsay Hyatt;
University of Delaware racewalker Lisa Kutzing; Southern Cal shot putter Van
Mounts; UCLA pole vaulter Tracy OHara; Texas A&M heptathlete Kendra Reimer;
Stanford half-miler Jon Stevens; and Philadelphia intermediate hurdler
Jamillah Wade.
-- Orangefield, Texas, pole vaulter Eric Eshbach, who set a national high
school record with his 18-2.25 clearance at the Texas State Meet last month.
-- Baylor soph Bayano Kamani, who romped to an NCAA gold in the 400-meter
hurdles at Boise, clocking the second-fastest time in U.S. junior history at
48.68.
Competition begins Saturday at 8 a.m. with the mens 10-kilometer
race walk final. The bulk of the running event prelims start at 5:15 p.m.,
with the 100 meter finals at 8:40 p.m. Nine field event finals will be
contested Saturday.
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