National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

GREAT SOUTHWEST HOME PAGE

The multis will own the oval and the field event venues during most of the first two days of the Great Southwest Classic and – as has been the case every year – fans can count on both witnessing some of the nation’s very best decathletes and heptathletes – as well as seeing stars in the events developing before their eyes.  In past years, records and all-time list spots were chased (and often achieved) by the likes of local hero Curtis Beach, the uber-talented Gunnar Nixon and the redoubtable Ryann Krais and Kendell Williams.  This year’s girls’ hept will feature a battle of established stars, while the boys’ 10-eventer – with one very notable exception – should develop talent for the future.  There’s also a field of six entrants in the girls’ decathlon; GSW is one of the only meets in the country that offers this event.

Girls Heptathlon

In this enormous 31-girl field, a pair of battle-tested desert stars really stand out.

Ashlee Moore (Hamilton, AZ senior) has scored 5,000 points in the heptathlon; done it twice, in fact.  Tiana Bonds (Centennial, NV senior) has come oh-so-close.  They have already faced off once this year, at the Arcadia Invitational, with Moore prevailing, 5,048 to 4,999.  Bonds, on the other hand, is the top returnee from last year’s GSW 7-eventer, when she scored 4,734.  It has all the makings of a great showdown.

Moore also tallied 5,082 points last year, setting her PR while taking 4th at USATF Juniors, which made her the #2 returnee in the country for 2014.  She has lots of strengths and really no glaring weaknesses.  She is most outstanding in hurdling and jumping, with PRs of 13.89(+1.8w), 5-10 and 19-3/19-9.5w in the 100H, high jump and long jump, respectively.  She doesn’t lose a lot in the shot with a 33-4 best and her improved javelin at 129-11 gives her a boost over most others.  Her 200 and 800 marks of 25.05 and 2:29.78 are pretty good, too.

Admittedly, some of Moore’s hurdles and jumping PRs date back to 2013 or 2012, but she’s hit 13.98, 5-8 and 18-9 recently this spring, portending good things.  At Arcadia, she hit the 5,048 despite LJ’ing only 17-3.25 and HJ’ing 5-1.75 – thanks to some PRs in other events.  Moore seems in very good position to break out to 5,100 points or better.

Bonds, meanwhile, is extraordinary in the hurdles – one of the nation’s top five with a 13.50(+0.2w) PR and also 41.29 for the 300H.  She’s a good 200 runner at 24.65 and better than average in the 800 with 2:23.37.  Her long jump is pretty good at 18-3.75 and high jump OK at 5-3.75.  Her weaknesses are her throws, with PRs of 28-2.5 in the shot and 105-7 in the jav.

In their Arcadia battle, Bonds won fairly close battles in the 100H and 200, and gained some late ground in the 800.  Moore captured both throws and the high jump, while the long jump – where neither of them did that well – was about even.  The LJ, in fact, could be the swing event in this matchup.

Lest anyone think this is destined to be a two-girl battle, watch out for Maya Neal (Neuqua Valley, IL junior), who was a strong 4th at Arcadia with a PR 4,904.  Neal’s biggest strength there was the long jump, where she won there with 18-7.25 and gained a lot of ground on the leaders (who admittedly underperformed).  She also did well in the 200 and shot put, and was solid in the other three events.  Somewhat like Moore, she has no real weaknesses.

The top returnee nationally this season was actually 2013 GSW hept champ Alexa Harmon-Thomas, who scored 5,158, then made the World Youth team.  Unfortunately, injuries will keep her from competing here and defending her title.

Boys Decathlon

An Oaks Christian, CA senior who we unwittingly witnessed in the Pan American Juniors last summer looks to be an overwhelming favorite in the decathlon.

Zack Bornstein has Canadian citizenship and competed for them last August in Medellin, Columbia, where he was 5th with a stunning Junior national record of 7,097.  That topped what he had done as a prep earlier in the year with a 6,967 runner-up finish at Arcadia.  At this year’s Arcadia, unfortunately, he had to withdraw due to injury. 

Bornstein really doesn’t have a weakness.  He’s a very good thrower, with a 181-0 in the discus this season and a 51-9.5 shot, and yet can still finish with a good 1,500 under 4:40.  His sprints (11.47/11.30w 100, 50.30 400) and hurdles (14.99, +1.3w) are good and while his jumps (6-0 HJ, 13-6 PV, 21-5 LJ) aren’t spectacular, they’re more than adequate.  He’s reportedly a UCLA recruit, being a 3-star tight end, as well.

Among the other 16 entrants in the decathlon, there may not be any who can challenge Bornstein.  Luke Littlefield (First Baptist, TX soph) recently scored just over 6,000 points in Texas and is a strong vaulter and jumper.  Trevor Bursach (Lehi, UT senior) appears to be a newcomer to the event, but is coming off a great triple at the Utah 5A state meet where he ran 38.21 300H and jumped 6-8.25 in the HJ and 23-1.5 in the LJ.  Jerrick Powell (Christian Bros, MO junior) scored 3,386 in an indoor pentathlon in Illinois.