National T&F Highlights (thru 12/7): Rose out of the blocks fast

by Steve Underwood

EARLY SEASON STARS: Rose, Frazier, Shell, Kirkland and more!

Track and field highlights from around the nation for the week ending 12/7 (including November action), with major headlines and then more highlights by event category.

Swift 600, then 300 for Richard Rose

Boys & Girls NY senior Richard Rose, already with three years of great long-sprint credentials, has already gotten the 2014-15 season off to a swift start.  At the 11/30 PSAL Pilgrim Games at the NYC Armory, he rolled three laps in 1:20.98 – a mark that would have been just outside last year’s top 10 and within shouting distance of his own 2013-14 national leader of 1:18.61 (#4 all-time).  Rose got some solid competition as Clara Barton NY’s super soph Ronaldo Griffiths and junior Kemarni Mighty ran 1:22.56 and 1:22.88.
A week later over 300 meters at the Jim McKay Games on the same track, Rose ripped a 34.59, within a half-second of his best from last year and beating Mighty’s 35.92.  Both times are early national leaders.  Rose, a Texas A&M signee, is the defending NBNI 400 champ and, at 600, set the national class records as a frosh in 2012 and a soph in 2013.

Ryen Frazier sizzles in distance track tuneups

The serious roll Ravenscroft NC senior Ryen Frazier has been on in XC lately – following a Great American runner-up finish, she ran a #2 all-time WakeMed 16:44 and then won Foot Locker South – has also included two fast track efforts.  At the Dash for Doobie 3,200 Tune-up in Winston-Salem on 11/15, the NC State signee clocked 10:12.26 – worth about 9-10 seconds better than her 10:25 2M PR.  Then a week later at an all-comers meet at the JDL Fast Track, also in Winston-Salem, she motored to a 4:44.20 mile PR, two seconds faster than she won the NBNO mile with this past June.  She won both races by nearly 30 seconds.  Frazier hopes to win the Foot Locker national title this week in San Diego.

Mackenzie Shell soars over state record 13-3 PV

It wasn’t quite a PR, but Port Huron Northern MI senior Mackenzie Shell is way ahead of where she was last year.  At the Gazelle Sports MITS Holiday Classic at GVSU in Allendale on 12/6, she vaulted 13-3, becoming the season’s first female 13-footer.  A year ago at this time, she wasn’t yet a 12-footer, but she eventually won a state indoor title at 12-7 – then took 6th at NBNI and went 12-10.5 in a late undercover affair.  Outdoors, she got up to 13-6 and took 4th at NBNO.  Shell’s effort Saturday was the Oklahoma signee’s 2nd best meet of her career.  Stephanie Lambeth was 2nd at 11-9.

Smoking 7.51 60 for soph Jayla Kirkland

One of the top young sprinters in the country, Jayla Kirkland won the NBNI freshman 60 last winter in 7.49, then was 3rd in the 200 (23.60) and 5th in the 100 (11.52w) at NBNO – that’s the championship events in Greensboro.  And that was all on top of winning three indoor and outdoor 6A state titles in Alabama.  Now the Woodlawn AL soph appears to be picking up about where she left off, winning the Magic City Invite 60 last weekend in 7.51 – by far the best in this early season.

Bradley Jones matches 6-10 HJ PR

Virginia has had more than its share of 7-foot high jumpers in recent years and Bradley Jones could be poised to join that elite club.  The Oscar Smith HS senior in his first meet of season tied his 6-10 PR in winning the first Southeastern District meet of the winter at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.  The equaled what he did last February when he was 2nd in the 6A state meet behind Grant Holloway.  Jones has done well in NBN meets, taking 5th last winter and then 3rd this past spring he hit his outdoor PR of 6-9.

Emma Gallagher under 3:00 in return to 1k

If it seems like Emma Gallagher has been around forever, it’s because as far back as 2010 she ran 2nd in the NBNO Emerging Elite 800 and then as an 8th-grader the following winter ran 2:53.19 for 1,000 – just outside the U.S. top 10.  The Garden City NY senior’s impressive range includes sub-40 times last winter at 300 and, of course, her performances at 400H – where she was US#4 last year and 2nd at NBNO.  But last weekend at the Jim McKay Games, she returned to the 2.5-lap race for the first time since 2011 and cranked out one of the earliest sub-3:00 clockings ever: a 2:59.24.

Nathanial Huggins rips fast 60, 400, 4x2 leg

There were lots of impressive performances at the Magic City Invite last weekend, the first major prep meet of the season on Birmingham AL’s fast CrossPlex oval.  But perhaps the best was the triple authored by Opelika AL junior Nathaniel Huggins.  He blasted a PR 6.89 over 60-meters, winning by .14 over Joshua Burks (James Clemens AL); crafted the season’s first sub-50 400, a 49.88 that beat Trevian James (Hewitt-Trussville AL senior) at 50.31; and ran a leg on the winning 1:29.38 4x200 – the campaign’s first sub-1:30.  Huggins is defending state outdoor champ off his 48.13 PR last year.

Nice 55/300 double for Marcus Taylor

Marcus Taylor’s 2013-14 indoor season, which eventually produced 5A titles over 55 and 300, got off to a fast start last year at the Real Deal Classic at Hampton VA’s Boo Williams Sportsplex as he ran 6.45 and 35.21 for those distances.  Last weekend brought extremely similar results for the Highland Springs VA senior as he seeks to move further up the national ranks.  He duplicated his 55 – a US#1 6.45 – and was within .03 in the 300 with a US#2 35.24, a solid time on a flat track.  Taylor won the 55 narrowly over Dartez Thompson (Phoebus senior) and Chris Walker (Churchland senior), both at 6.47, accounting for the year’s first sub-6.50s.  Last winter, Taylor got down to 34.64 and a US#4 6.31 – and was 8th in the NBNI 60.


More top performances
BOYS SPRINTS/HURDLES
  • 6.50 B-55 by Jamik Alexander (Heritage VA senior) at the Liberty Christmas Invite VA (12/6), beating Isaiah Garland (Rustburg VA junior) at 6.54
  • 6.97 B-60 by Carnell Noble (Greece Olympia NY senior), winning a New York Section 5 meet
  • 35.32 B-300 for Everett Elliott (Bayside NY) at the Jim McKay Team Challenge, beating Christophe Williams (Bronx Regional NY) at 35.82
  • 35.90 B-300 and 1:25.56 B-600 for Rai Benjamin (Mt. Vernon NY senior) at the Section 1 Kickoff in NY
  • 1:06.71 B-500 for Jayon Woodard (Southeast Raleigh NC junior), taking the early national lead at the Liberty meet
  • 1:23.38 B-600 by Mergaren Poleon (Paul Robeson NY junior), leading 3 under 1:25 at the Jim McKay Games
GIRLS SPRINTS/HURDLES
  • 7.17 G-55 from Tori Ray (Hampton, VA senior) at the Real Deal meet, nipping Morgan Towe (Kempsville VA junior) at 7.18.  Ray was 6th in the NBNI Emerging Elite 60 last winter
  • 7.68 G-60 from Sydnei Murphy (Apex NC senior) at the JDL College Kick-off Classic on 12/6.  Running unattached, she was 2nd in her heat of the 60 prelims (7th overall), then passed up the final.  Murphy is coming off a fantastic junior year of sprinting and jumping, including taking 2nd and 3rd in the NBNO triple and long jumps
  • 7.72 G-60 by Sekayi Bracey (East Kentwood MI junior), dominating the MITS GVSU meet.  She’s scored in multiple NBN meets and won Freshman and Emerging Elite titles in 2013
  • 8.06 G-55H by Milan Parks (Western Branch, VA senior) at the Real Deal.  She was part of the 4x100H shuttle hurdle relay NBNO champions
  • 8.83 G-60H by Ariel Davis (Platinum Sports) at the JDL College Kick-Off.  She ran the time in the prelims, qualifying 4th, then was 4th in the final at 8.86 (vs. college/open runner).  She was the NBNI EE 60H runnerup last March.
  • 39.59 G-300 by Charla Ward (Lucy Ragsdale NC soph), a strong flat track time to win the Mighty Explorer’s Challenge #2 at the JDL Fast Track in NC
  • 39.94 G-300 by Destiny Ward (Oscar Smith VA soph) to take the Real Deal meet.  Ward was the NBNI freshman 400 champ last winter and ran well at other distances
  • 40.04 G-300 by Amanda Crawford (Paul Robeson NY junior) to beat a strong Jim McKay Games field.  The fastest time of the meet was actually 40.02 by Ariel Strunkey (Taft NY senior) in the prelims (Crawford qualified 3rd at 40.81), but she didn’t run the final
  • 56.56 G-400 by Tamani Wilson (Maclay FL junior), taking 2nd while running unattached at the BSC Icebreaker at the Birmingham AL CrossPlex on 12/5
  • 1:15.89 G-500 for Martha Sam (Blake MD senior) at the Real Deal meet, winning by more than two seconds.  She was the NBNI Emerging Elite 200 champ last winter
  • 1:35.32 G-600 by Amanda Crawford (Paul Robeson NY junior), winning a close battle with Benjamin Cardozo’s Shaniqua Kirkpatrick (1:36.06) at the Pilgrim Games
DISTANCES
  • 2:30.3h B-1000 by James Burke (Port Jefferson NY senior) at the Nassau County Coaches Invite (12/5), edging Mike Grady at 2:30.8h
  • 2:34.41 B-1000 for Jacob McCoy (Blacksburg VA senior) at the Liberty VA meet, winning by more than nine seconds.  McCoy was a key cog on the Blacksburg 4x800 and DMR squads that took 2nd (7:37.31) and 3rd (10:03.77) at NBNO.
  • 4:14.79 B-Mile by Sam Ritz (Germantown, PA senior), finishing 2nd at the Jack Pyrah Invite open/college meet.  Ritz, whose 4:11 PR dates back to his soph outdoor season, ran in both NBN miles as a junior.
  • 4:21.67 B-1,600 by Tyler Cox-Philyaw (Millbrook VA junior) at the Liberty VA meet, beating the above-mentioned McCoy, who ran 4:25.87
  • 11:05.79 G-2 Mile by Caroline Yarbrough (Page NC senior) at the Mighty Explorer’s #2 meet
JUMPS
  • 5-6 G-HJ by Shayla Broughton (Medgar Evers NY junior), winning the Jim McKay Games.  She was 6th in the NBNI HJ last March
  • 12-6 G-PV from Kathryn Tomczak (Lafayette, VA senior), winning the Real Deal meet, improving her PR by six inches
  • 16-0 B-PV by Sean Collins (McGill-Toole, AL senior) at the Magic City meet, defeating Anthony Del Vescovo (St. Patrick MS) at 15-6
  • 18-10.25 G-LJ and 38-5 TJ double for Kiara Williams (Homewood, AL senior) at Magic City.  She also won the 60H at 9.05
  • 23-0.5 B-LJ and 47-3 B-TJ for Devontay Doyle (Kempsville, VA senior) at the Real Deal meet.  He’s the first 23-footer of the year and one of two over 47 in the TJ
  • 47-3.75 B-TJ by Rayon Grey (Beacon NY junior) at the Section 1 Kickoff in NY.  He was the runner-up in both outdoor horizontals at last spring’s NY state meet.
THROWS
  • 46-5 G-SP for Kristina Insingo (Holy Trinity, NY senior) at the St. Anthony’s NY Developmental meet on 12/6, improving more than five feet from her 2014 outdoor best
  • 50-1 G-WT by Olivia Seifert (St. Anthony’s NY junior) at St. Anthony’s, becoming the year’s first 50-footer
  • 62-10 B-WT from John Putnam (Massapequa, NY senior), also at St. Anthony’s.  Putnam was 3rd in last summer’s NBNO javelin and is part of the NSAF Project Javelin Gold
RELAYS
  • 1:44.88 G-4x200 by Parkland NC, which won the event at the 2014 NBNO after finishing 2nd at NBNI
  • 3:56.20 G-4x400 by Benjamin Cardozo NY, taking the Jim McKay Games with the year’s first sub-4:00
  • 9:42.48 G-4x800 by E.C. Glass VA at the Liberty meet, winning by more than 11 seconds.  The team included Great American CC ROC winner Libby Davidson, tuning up for Foot Locker Finals

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