National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Event-by-event previews for the women's field events at the 2014 USATF Juniors in Eugene (men's track HERE, women's track HERE, men's field HERE).  Top two in each event qualify for the World Junior Champs later this month on the same track (provided they meet the performance standard) – though a host country rule actually allows one entrant in each event for the U.S., regardless of whether they’ve met the standard.

Shot Put

No one else in prep track and field has had a season like Raven Saunders has in 2014.  The Burke, SC senior first stunned the throwers’ world with her 53-8 put back in December – improving 11 feet over her previous lifetime best and revealing that she had begun to learn the spin technique the previous summer after a somewhat unsuccessful junior year.  By March, she was ready to take on the nation’s best and, with a national record 56-7.5 on her first round throw, she beat the likes of Ashlie Blake (Liberty, NV senior) and Stamatia Scarvelis (Dos Pueblos, CA senior) to win the New Balance Nationals Indoor crown and take Michelle Carter off the indoor national and meet record book.

It’s been more of the same this spring, with Saunders surpassing Carter’s outdoor HSR at Taco Bell with 56-8.25, then her NBNO meet record three weeks ago in Greensboro with another 56-7.5.  In between, she was consistent between 50-55 feet and it was all enough to earn the Southern Illinois-bound senior the Gatorade National T&F Athlete of the Year award.  She’s here and hopes this weekend to begin to take it to the next level and work toward the medal stand here again at Hayward in three weeks (she’s currently #3 in the world).

It won’t be easy, though, as Saunders will face Blake and Scarvelis for the first time since NBNI.  Blake hit a PR 53-10.25 that day in New York, with a foul around 55 feet, and has a best of 51-7.25 this spring outdoors – though hasn’t competed since May.  She won bronze for Team USA at World Youths last summer.  Scarvelis is the defending champ here and US#2 outdoors at 53-9.25.  She won gold at the Pan Am Juniors in 2013, as well.  And as if that wasn’t enough, the field will include Aaliyah Pete, the Colorado State frosh who stunned at the end of her senior year (Elkhorn South, NE) with a huge 52-3 PR at Chicagoland Throws and has reached 54-8.25 this year.  Three other collegians have thrown 50-6 or better, but the battle should be among the “Big Four” with Saunders again leading the way.

Discus

The discus features some of the same major players as the shot, but there’s definitely a different favorite to win it all.  Raven Saunders, a 159-footer, is not in this event.  But Valarie Allman is.  Allman wowed fans during the early outdoor season in 2013 when as a Silver Creek, CO senior she had three meets between 180 and 184 feet during March – including a Texas Relays win.  She was less successful later in the year, ultimately taking 5th at Juniors with 165-2.  This year at Stanford, she also PR’d in March with 187-7, but also hit 184-4 at the NCAA West Prelims before being off form at NCAAs.  No junior has thrown further this year than her globally, though, so if she’s on – look out.

There are several others between 165-180.  Kentucky frosh Madison Jacobs was mostly a 150s thrower (with a 163-11 breakout) last year for Arroyo Grande, CA, but now has hit 178-6, which got her threw the NCAA East to the finals.  And Aaliyah Pete is also stellar with this implement, with a best of 176-5.  The prep contenders?  Scarvelis and Blake, again, with US#2 172-7 and #5 166-1 bests to their credit.

Javelin

This event kind of falls under the “anything can happen” category with a combination of current and former NSAF Project Javelin throwers, plus other preps and collegians in the mix.  If you go by lifetime bests, the fave would be Project Jav grad and rising college soph Megan Glasmann, whose meteoric career arc at Park City, UT peaked last summer with her Pan Am Juniors title at 176-8 (#2 prep all-time).  She’s the defending champ here.  At Stanford this spring, however, her best was 164-8 and she has now left the school.  Still, she could certainly win here.  Dani Plank and Rebekah Wales are is another top collegians: Plank threw 161-1 at Gardner Edgerton, KS last year and now is at 167-4 as a Kansas State frosh, while Wales has hit 166-10 at LSU after a 158-3 prep best at West Monroe, LA.  Another Project Jav grad, Duke’s Christine Streisel at 164-6, is a serious contender.

The prep contenders include three trying to get back to their 160-foot-plus form of March.  Current Project Jav thrower Katelyn Gochenour (Marian Catholic, NE soph) is US#1 at 167-0 and has been over 150 twice more – including a runner-up 154-11 at NBNO – but has been struggling with injury issues since.  Megan’s sister, Park City, UT junior Chrissy Glasmann, hit 160-6 and is hoping to get back in at least the 150s again.  Same with Payton Montgomery (Barbe, LA junior) with a 161-2 PR.  With the best form recently, however, is US#2 Gabrielle Kearney (Roseburg, OR junior), who reached 166-0 in late May and was 3rd at NBNO.  Another who could make things interesting if she can hit the next level?  NSAF Project Jav’s Sophia Rivera (Brentwood, MO soph), who just PR’d at 148-0 last week at USATF Youth.

Hammer

Brooke Anderson was just a 159-9 thrower at Rancho Buena Vista, CA last year, where the event was not contested at the state level.  As a Northern Arizona frosh, however, she’s exploded to 194-9 which has elevated her to the favorite’s role here.  A trio of preps, though, should give her plenty of competition.  That starts with US#1 Haley Showalter (Valor Christian, CO junior), who was unbeaten this year until Sabrina Gaitan topped her at NBNO.  Showalter’s 193-4 from Great Southwest still leads the U.S. and she has a great chance to win here. 

Lena Giger (Highland, IL senior) has gotten serious about the event again this year, having topped out at 50 feet in the shot at NBNI, and has three 180-foot meets – led by a 185-9 two weeks ago.  She was 4th at NBNO, however, so she’ll hope to place higher.  From the Throw 1 Deep contingent comes Nyla Woods (Grady, GA senior), who has a 185-8 best this year.  She was 5th at NBNO.  A few others to watch include Wake Forest frosh Casidy Callahan, who threw 184-7 with T1D last year, and Kelli Thomas – a Luella, GA junior who hit 182-1 in 2013.

Long Jump

The greatest prep girls’ long jump battle ever, in terms of top-end depth?  That could arguably be what we’ll see this weekend at Juniors, as four girls who’ve done 20-9 or better (all-conditions) face off.  Or you could also call it a World Youth Trials rematch, since they all met there last June.  They are just a little better and more experienced now, you see!

• Keturah Orji, the Mt. Olive, NJ senior in our Project TJ group, has not lost a horizontal jump, in or out, since the WYT last June.  She followed that with a silver medal at the WY Champs, beating Corrin for the first time.  Three weeks ago, her victory over Corrin at NBNO avenged her 2013 defeat in Greensboro and tied her PR at US#1 20-11.75.  She has to be the favorite.
• Courtney Corrin, the Harvard-Westlake, CA soph, was unbeaten during her frosh campaign in 2013, with a 21-0 legal best and NBNO and WYT wins, before losing in the WYC final to Orji.  She hasn’t been quite as long and consistent this year, but still has a legal 20-8.25 best.
• Margaux Jones, you could argue, has taken over Corrin’s top spot in the deep Golden State.  She won Arcadia and the state title, though Corrin beat her a few times, too.  The Redlands senior is competing out of state for the first time this year.  She was 4th in that 2013 WYT.
• Chyna Ries, the Denver East, CO senior, has gone furthest of all, a wind-aided 21-4.5 in her recent USATF Colorado meet.  She was 3rd at the WYT in ’13, but is unbeaten this year – but hasn’t faced any of the other “big four” yet (Orji only triple jumped at Great Southwest).

Between those four, they’ve produced more than three dozen meets over 20 feet the past two years.  But none of them can ignore the collegians competing with them.  Alabama frosh Quanesha Burks, who prepped at Hartselle, AL, had a 20-8 leap at NCAA East that got her to the Finals.  And Tierra Williams, in her first year at Nebraska, has gone 20-7 – with a 20-5.75 later earning her NCAA Finals ticket.  A handful of other collegians over 20 will make this event very deep and competitive.  Also, don’t forget about NSAF Project Triple Jump’s Chinne Okoronkwo – Orji’s teammate – from Mountlake Terrace, WA.  The soph was 2nd behind Ries at GSW with a massive 19-11.75w that elevated her to the elites.

Triple Jump

NSAF Project Triple Jump’s Keturah Orji (Mt. Olive, NJ senior) has owned this event at the high school and Youth level the past two years.  Is it safe to say she owns it at the Junior level, too?  Well, let’s just say she’s the favorite, but could get pushed.  There’s some collegiate freshmen who have done pretty well this year, especially Marshay Ryan.  The NBNO runner-up to Carla Forbes in 2012 as a Chambersburg, PA junior – at a legal 42-2.75 – Ryan was then a 41-footer as a senior.  But at Auburn this March, she exploded to 44-0.5 at NCAA Indoors to take 2nd.  While she didn’t go as far or make NCAA Finals outdoors, she’s at least in Orji’s orbit.  Collegiate 43-footers Kaitlyn Beans of South Alabama and Simone Charley of Vanderbilt are also to be heeded.  Beans really didn’t TJ in high school at Brew Tech, AL and has improved tremendously.  Charley, on the other hand, was the NBNO runner-up to Orji in 2013 and had a 42-3.5 legal prep best.

Still, Orji getting beaten would be a stunning upset.  Other than her World Youth bronze, she hasn’t lost in the event since the 2013 Penn Relays, with two sets of NBN in/out doubles to her credit, among other things.  She’s still less than an inch from the 2004 Brittney Daniels national record, a mark she’s been chasing all year.  She barely missed it at GSW, then settled for a 43 at NBNO, but then the big LJ win over Corrin has shown she’s fit, ready and the record could come at any time.  This – the Junior Trials – is what she’s been waiting for all year.

The preps in the event include five 41-footers, including the above-mentioned Okoronkwo, with a 41-6.5w best in winning the Youth Olympic Trials and who was 4th at NBNO.  Javonne Antoine, a Elizabeth Seton, MD senior and NSAF CSI alum, was 2nd to Orji at Penn and is here, too.  Unbeaten California state champ Ashley Anderson (Carson senior) has a 41-3 PR and fellow Golden Stater Marisa Kwiatkowski (Wilcox senior) is also to be reckoned with.  And there’s Mia Barron (Minnetonka senior), who was 3rd to Orji at NBNI, has 40-41 footers outdoors and is competing outside of Minnesota for the first time this year outdoors.

Pole Vault

Desiree Freier (Justin Northwest, TX senior) has basically had two-thirds of a dream year in 2014.  Indoors, she was unstoppable, finishing with a 14-2.75 national record.  Outdoors, she set another HSR with her 14-3.25 at the Texas Relays and then, in an state area meet where the PV was forced inside, she went 14-6.  Her state meet and NBNO didn’t go as smoothly, though; victories, but at 13-6 and 13-3.5 well below her capacity.  Freier has stated 14-9 is the goal this year and, given that she was a World Youth finalist in 2013, making another Team USA is a big goal, too.  Her 14-3.25 is tied for the outdoor WJ lead, so if she can get back to form and make the team, she’ll definitely be a gold medal contender.

There’s no shortage of good competition, though.  Her old Texas prep rivals, Annie Rhodes (2013 NBNI champ) and Lakan Taylor – now at Baylor and Alabama – have gone 14-0 and 13-9.25 this year.  Among preps, the big story is that Kaitlyn Merritt (Santa Margarita, CA junior) is finally competing in a major post-season meet.  The US#2 at 13-9, she has been over 14 in an unofficial meet, but she’ll have to come back from a bad outing at state last month. 

After that, Bonnie Draxler (Wrightstown, WI senior) has come back late this spring to vault 13-9 in the post-season and exceed her 13-7.25 form of 2013 when she was a surprise 2nd at Juniors.  Freier’s current Texas rival Kally Long (Wimberley senior) was 2nd at both NBNI and NBNO and has a 13-6 best.  Also at that height is Mackenzie Shell (Port Huron Northern junior), who was 6th at NBNI and 4th at NBNO.

High Jump

With super soph Vashti Cunningham (Bishop Gorman, NV) scratching, the potential for something really big and getting a medal contender to Worlds has lessened considerably.  Now there is a big group of jumpers in the 5-10 to 6-0 range and any of several could win.  There is, however, a local leaper who can bring an experience level unmatched by anyone else.  Rachel Proteau, while at West Albany, OR, twice made Team USA for the Pan Am Juniors, taking 2nd in 2011 and 1st in 2013 in this meet.  She led the nation last year at 6-1 and is now at the HJ powerhouse that is Kansas State.  That said, she has a best of only 5-11.25 this year – her only meet over 5-10 – and did not make NCAA Finals.  Can she return to form here?

If not, the title could go to Bailey Weiland (Marist, GA senior) the newly crowned NBNO champ at 5-11.5.  This is her first Junior champs meet, but she did compete in the WYT last June.  At 5-11 and competing in her first national-level meet is Taylor Wiebke, a Kasson-Mantorville, MN junior.  California state runner-up Alexandria Florent, a Harvard-Westlake teammate of Courtney Corrin, has gone 5-10.  And don’t forget about Cyre Virgo (Fleetwood, PA junior), who has been in the 5-8 to 5-10 range this year but went 6-1 last year and won NBNI as a soph.

Among collegians, the 2013 California state champ, Rachel McCoy, is another contender.  She did 6-0.75 last year, then went to Long Island U. to play basketball, leaving her off the radar for awhile.  Illinois frosh Kandie Bloch-Jones leapt 5-11.5 indoors, but hasn’t reached that level outdoors.

Photos (from top right):
* Raven Saunders winning the NBNO shot (photo by Andrew McClanahan)
* Megan Glasmann after winning 2013 PAJ javelin (photo by Joy Kamani)
* Courtney Corrin during 2nd place LJ effort at NBNO (photo by Walter Pinion)
* Desiree Freier winning the NBNO PV (photo by Walter Pinion)