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This is the sixth in a series of DyeStat year-end awards for 2006-07. The DyeStat Most Outstanding Performers series will include boys and girls distance, sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws, and multi-events. These will be followed by the DyeStat Athlete of the Year award. Selections are made by DyeStat editors and are based a combination of multiple major victories/honors won and performances on all-time and yearly lists. Performances from outdoor track, indoor track, and cross-country are taken into account.

Text by Dave Devine - Photos by Kirby Lee, John Dye and Vic Sailer


  Spencer McCorkel
 
 
There were multiple 17-footers this year, including California German exchange student Nico Weiler (17-06.25) and indoor list-leader Maston Wallace of Texas (17-05.00), but Bryant, Arkansas, product Spencer McCorkel was the only elite vaulter to string together consistent improvement and excellence indoors and out.

At the Nike Indoor Nationals in March, McCorkel waged a battle in the rafters with Wallace, each clearing 17 feet before Wallace prevailed 17-5 to 17-1. From there, McCorkel moved outdoors for a series of impressive performances in lower key meets, including his then-PR 17-07.00 at the Arkansas Vault Club Spring Break meet. An injury kept him out of the Arkansas state meet, but he bounced back at the "School’s Out Open" at the Arkansas Vault Club to record a PR 17-09.00 which placed him #8 all-time in the event. He followed that effort with several attempts at 18 feet, but was unable to clear the seldom-crossed barrier.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, a clearly disappointed McCorkel settled for a 16-07.50 winner on a breezy day against rival and fellow 17-footer Casey Roche. From there, it was on to the USATF Junior Nationals, but the well of 17-foot jumps was dry again, as McCorkel came up with a 16-04.75 effort to claim 3rd place as the top prep in the field.







Defining Performances

1st Simplot Games PV – 16-09.00
2nd NIN PV – 17-01.00
1st Spring Break AVC PV – 17-07.00
1st School’s Out AVC PV – 17-09.00
1st NON PV – 16-07.50
3rd USATF Jrs. PV – 16-04.75



 
  Philip Feinberg
 
 
Corona del Sol AZ senior leaper Phil Feinberg made the strongest impression with his interior exploits, claiming a US#2 7-01.00 with his victorious performance at Nike Indoor Nationals in March. The only jumper to scale higher indoors was fellow MOP Randal Carter, who reached 7-03.00 at an invitational in South Dakota.

Feinberg was still a seven-footer after hitting the outdoor apron (clearing 7-00.00 at the Arizona Meet of Champions), but it was his ability to win at big multi-state meets like Arcadia (6-09.00) and Great Southwest (6-11.00) that cemented his status as a 2006-07 Most Outstanding Performer. He bypassed what might have been a showdown with Carter and Texas leaper Grant Lindsay at Nike Outdoors, but then reemerged at the USATF Junior Nationals to tie for 5th as the third best prep in the field at 6-08.75. Finally, Feinberg capped off his fine senior campaign with a victory in the USATF Junior Olympics Young Men’s division with a 6-09.75 clearance.

Defining Performances

1st NSIC – 7-01.00
1st Arcadia – 6-09.00
1st Arizona MOC – 7-00.00
1st Great Southwest – 6-11.00
5th USATF Jrs. – 6-08.75
1st USATF JOs – 6-09.75










 
  Marquise Goodwin
 
 
On a crowded list of long jump marks which varied from legal to windy to no wind info available, one impressive underclassman from Rowlett TX cleared away the clutter with a single sterling series at the Texas 5A state meet. Texas super soph Marquise Goodwin came away from that Austin runway with 3 of the top-5 legal jumps of the season. Reaching 24-10.50 and 24-11.50 were great efforts, but it was the 25-00.00 mark that sealed the state win, as well as Goodwin’s status as the top prep male jumper of 2007. Certainly others went longer, notably Derrick Locke of Hugo OK, but none managed to do so in wind-legal conditions.

Goodwin then took on a tough field at Nike Outdoor Nationals, including New Iberia LA’s Zedric Thomas, owner of a windy 25-01.50 mark. Goodwin snatched the lead on his very first jump, then rode a 2.1 mps wind to improve to 24-08.50 on his fourth try, en route to the national title. Given his youth, many hoped to see Goodwin perform in post-season events like the World Youth Championships or Junior Olympics competitions, but instead he was selected to compete on the NSSF team at the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational in Puerto Rico, where he easily sealed up his final win of the season with a 23-04.50 effort.


Defining Performances

1st TX State Meet LJ – 25-00.00
2nd TX State Meet TJ – 49-06.75
1st NON LJ – 24-08.50
1st Caribbean Invite LJ – 23-04.50


 
  Troy Doris
 
 
The boys’ triple jump in 2007 largely failed to capture the imagination of national track fans, until a mid-summer collection of performances suddenly left the question of yearly list-leader steeped in drama. Bolingbrook IL senior Troy Doris had been superb indoors and out, but had mainly earned his reputation in smaller, in-state or regional competitions.

Indoors, Doris was US#1 with a 50-09.00 at a local meet, and backed it up with his US#2 50-02.75 effort at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet, but he skipped Nike Indoor Nationals where Durham NC’s Austin Davis took the laurels. Hitting the outdoor runway, Doris took the tape measure all the way out to 52-03.00 in an April dual meet, but the lack of wind information relegated the mark to conditional status. Once again, he wasn’t present at the Nike National competition, and seemed destined to be an athlete with big marks but no big meet wins.

That all changed with a summer surge that witnessed Doris taking 2nd at USATF Junior Nationals (51-10.50), leaping 51-10.00 for first at USATF Youth Nationals and reclaiming a US#1 he’d lost to Christian Taylor earlier in the summer with his 52-05.50 triumph over Taylor and NON champ Tyron Stewart in the USATF Junior Olympics.

Defining Performances

1st Bolingbrook Invite TJ – 50-09.00 (US#1 Indoors)
1st IL State 2A TJ – 50-09.00
2nd USATF Jrs. TJ – 51-10.50
1st USATF Youth Natl TJ – 51-10.00
1st USATF JO TJ – 52-05.50



 
 Randal Carter
 
 
Although high jumper Randal Carter was largely absent from big-meet competitions, and was then plagued by injury at his one shot on the big stage (Nike Outdoors Nationals), he nonetheless put up the sort of numbers that make it difficult to argue with his inclusion on a yearly Most Outstanding Performer list.

Leaping for Papillion-LaVista HS in Papillion, NE, far from the glare of national media attention, Carter made one major appearance indoors, but made it count with a 7-3.00 clearance at the Norm Herren meet in South Dakota that left him atop not only the all-time Nebrasksa list, but the yearly US indoor list as well. Just below Carter on that list was fellow MOP Phil Feinberg with his NSIC winning mark, but Carter never faced Feinberg, or any of the other top indoor jumpers, at a season-ending meet.

Outdoors, Carter again scaled the heights, but mainly did so within the boundaries of Nebraska. His crowning moment as a prep leaper came at the Nebraska A state meet, where he cleared 6-4, 6-7, 6-9, 6-11, 7-1.25, 7-3 and 7-4 on his first attempt, before missing three times at a National Federation record of 7-05.50. A few weeks later, Carter journeyed east for the Nike Outdoor Nationals. Hobbled by injury, he missed his first attempt at 6-7 and then withdrew from the competition, ending in a tie for 13th with a clearance of 6-5.

Defining Performances

1st Norm Herren Indoor HJ– 7-03.00 (US#1)
1st Papillion-LaVista Invite HJ – 7-03.25
1st NE District A2 HJ – 7-03.00
1st NE A State Meet – 7-04.00 (US#1)



 
  Honorable Mention 
 

Grant Lindsay TX – In the midst of a NON boys mile that had the crowd going crazy, Mansfield TX senior Lindsay was attempting to keep his focus on a high jump bar set at a US#1 7-04.50. He made three solid attempts, but couldn’t get over and had to settle for a 7-3 national title. His runner-up to Feinberg at NSIC makes him a two-season star and one to watch as he moves on to the University of Kentucky.

Christian Taylor GA – Throughout the winter and spring, the junior from Sandy Creek GA was a solid, if not spectacular, jumper. But given the opportunity to shine at the World Youth Games in July, Taylor seized his chance and ran with it, scoring a monster PR 52-05.25 for gold in the triple jump and a personal best 23-11 for bronze in the long jump.

Maston Wallace TX – If the Clearbrook TX senior had maintained the fantastic momentum he’d shown indoors, he would have been a mortal lock for MOP. With the two highest vaults of the indoor season and the NIN title, Wallace entered the spring looking strong, but his open air jumping topped out at 17-01.00 and was mainly restricted to Texas competitions.

Nico Weiler CA (Germany) – The best pole vaulter in California this year was actually from Germany. Exchange student Nico Weiler, competing for Los Gatos CA, reached a PR 17-06.25 at his CA sectional, and won the state meet, but may have had his greatest triumph back in Europe at the World Youth Games, where he won with a 17-03.00 clearance.

Casey Roche CA – The St. Francis senior, US#2 in 2006, had an up and down outdoor campaign this year, winning Arcadia with a 17-00.00 clearance, then failing to qualify for the CA state meet and finishing as runner-up to Spencer McCorkel at NON. He charged back into the national picture with his 17-02.75 victory at the USATF Junior Olympics.

Tyron Stewart TX – Before the flurry of summer triple jumping marks, the Cedar Hill TX senior had owned the year’s best legal jump at 50-09.50. He passed Chrys Jones PA and Zedric Thomas LA on his final attempt at NON for a dramatic come-from-behind 50-07.25 win. His best legal mark came a few weeks later, with a 51-06.50 runner-up finish at the USATF Junior Olympics.



 

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