NSAF on-site at Arkansas Invite: 3 US#1s, a dozen more top 5s!

by Steve Underwood

The NSAF was on-site Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 at the Arkansas Invitational indoor track meet at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.  Terrell Jackson (800), Tonea Marshall (60H) and Danyel White (200) all ripped national leaders and we saw another dozen national top 5s, a bunch of meet records, great doubles by Ja'Mari Ward (LJ/TJ) and Norman Grimes (60H/200) and much more!
 

EVENT BY EVENT RESULTS (Flashresults.com) | MEET INFO | HEAT SHEETS | MEET VIDEOS 
 

US#1s for Jackson, Marshall, White!

  • US#1 and meet record 1:51.80 boys’ 800m run by Terrell Jackson (Memphis Mustangs/Memphis U. HS, TN junior), winning over a huge field where five others ran 1:58 or faster.  Jackson also anchored the Mustangs’ winning 4x4 with a mid-48 leg, coming from behind in the final 100.  He ran at NBNI last year and in the summer was the AAU JO(15-16) 800 champ.  William Mayhew (Unatt./Cheyanne Mountain, CO senior) was a fast 2nd in the 800, running a US#4 1:53.44, and Danny Leland (Unatt./Highland Park, TX senior) was 3rd with US#7 1:54.92.
  • US#1 and meet record 8.50 girls’ 60m hurdles by Tonea Marshall (North Texas AC/Arlington Sequin, TX junior), defending her 2014 title and improving on the nation-leading 8.53 she had run at Texas A&M the previous week.  Marshall, who also ran 8.50 in the prelims, won by a decisive third-of-a-second over club teammate Samantha Gonzalez (Creekview Carrollton, TX senior) at 8.84.  Ivy Walker (Performance TC/Mansfield Summit, TX junior), who ran 8.82 in the prelims, was 3rd with 8.86.  Marshall came back minutes after the final for a razor close 2nd in the 60m dash final with a US#4 7.58.
  • US#1 24.17 girls’ 200m dash by Danyel White (Cedar Hill Blaze TC/Cedar Hill, TX senior), winning by a big .70 margin over middle school star JaEra Griffin (NTC Elite) at 24.87.  White – who ran NBNI and was the TX 5A outdoor champ last spring – led qualifying with 24.54, while Daja Gordon (MadFrogs/Dallas Hampton Prep, TX soph) was next at 24.61.  Gordon was 3rd in the final.  Only Olympian Bianca Knight (twice) ran faster in this meet at 200 than White.
A dozen more US top 5 performances and some great doubles!
  • Meet record 13-8 girls’ pole vault by co-national leader Lexi Weeks (Arkansas Vault Club/Cabot, AR senior).  She made the height on her 3rd attempt, topping Desiree Freier’s 2014 mark here, then missed thrice at Freier’s national record 14-3.5 (from last year’s NBNI).  Twin sister and teammate Tori, tied with Lexi at US#1 (and #4 all-time) with 14-0.5, was 2nd with 12-10 and Bailee McCorkle (Unatt./Greenwood, AR soph) was 3rd at 12-6.  Although Lexi Weeks was four inches off her best, her 13-8 is still higher than any other prep besides Tori has vaulted this year.
  • US#2 23-5 long jump and meet record US#3 49-9.5 triple jump boys’ double by NSAF Project Triple Jumper Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia, IL junior).  In the TJ, he overcame four fouls to defend his title, while in the LJ he improved from 2nd in 2014.  In the LJ, Ward was followed by Ethan Toy (Wagner Sport/Guyer, TX junior) with 23-1 and Jared Belardo (Trackboyx TC/Leavenworth, KS senior) at 22-10.25.  In the TJ, Michael Madu (Unatt./Plano East, TX senior) was 2nd at 46-8.75 and Jacob Peister (Purple Dragons/Blue Springs, MO senior) 3rd at 46-5.5.
  • US#2 21.46 200m dash, US#7 8.06 60m hurdles boys’ double for Norman Grimes (Unatt./Canyon, TX junior).  Grimes first won the hurdles, matching his prelim time and followed by Maliek Kendall (Kansas City/Grandview, MO junior) at 8.15 and Elijah McNairy (St. Louis Warriors/Parkway North, MO senior) at 8.16.  Then, having been the 200 prelims leader at 21.56, he improved in the final to win decisively over Trevin Chambers (X-Factor Performance Training/DeSoto, TX junior) at 21.79 and Reginald Garner (Lancaster Lightning/Lancaster, TX senior) at 21.86.  In the prelims, Chambers was faster at 21.76 and 60m dash champ Chris Ntreh (X-Factor Performance Training/Plano East, TX senior) was 3rd overall at 21.79 (but he did not run the final).
  • US#2 6.81 boys’ 60m dash by Chris Ntreh (X-Factor Performance Training/Plano East, TX senior), just .04 off the meet record and forging a solid margin over Reginald Garner (Lancaster Lightning/Lancaster, TX senior) and London Dunn (DeSoto Nitro/DeSoto, TX soph) – both at 6.91 (Garner prevailed in the photo for 2nd, 6.911 to 6.916).  Ntreh, who ran NBNI last year and was 3rd in the TX 5A state 100 outdoors, had finished 2nd in the Arkansas 60 last year with 6.84 –his PR before Saturday.
  • US#2 48.41 boys’ 400m dash from Carlton Orange (Memphis Mustangs/Memphis U. HS senior), winning by more than a second over D’Undre Mitchell (Unatt./A Running Start) at 49.54.  He also ran the 2nd leg on the Mustangs’ winning 4x4.  In the prelims, Orange led qualifying with 48.86, while Rhayko Schwartz (Unatt./McKinney Boyd, TX senior) ran what wound up the 2nd fastest of the day with 48.88 – but Schwartz didn’t run the final.  Tanner Green (KC Flyers TC/Olathe South, KS senior) finished ahead of Mitchell in qualifying with 49.18, but trailed him in the final.
  • US#3 7.57 girls’ 60m dash by Kira White (Lancaster Lightning/DeSoto, TX junior), barely nipping 60H champ Tonea Marshall (North Texas/Arlington Seguin, TX junior) at US#4 7.58 and I’Shunique Hamilton (DeSoto Nitro/Cedar Hill, TX junior) at US#5 7.59.  Daja Gordon (MadFrogs/Dallas Hampton Prep, TX soph), who co-led prelims along with White at 7.65, was 5th in the final.  White, who was 2nd in the 400 here last year, is the defending 5A Texas state 100 champ outdoors.
  • US#3 55.53 girls’ 400m dash by Samantha Gonzalez (Carrollton Creekview, TX senior) in qualifying.  Gonzalez qualified for both the 60H and 400 finals, but then after taking 2nd in the 60H final (8.84) did not contest the 400.  Paris Perkins (Hughes, AR soph), who had qualified 2nd overall at US#8 56.50, then won the 400 final at 56.58.  Gonzalez made the World Youth team in the 400H in 2013 and ranked in the US#5 at both 300H and 400H last year.
  • US#5 6-9 boys’ high jump by Jacob Heitkamp (Tachyon Athletik/Syracuse, NE soph), defeating Brendon Rivera (Unatt./Vela, TX senior) at 6-7.  In improving his PR by more than two inches, Heitkamp’s record was flawless through 6-7, then he cleared 6-9 on his 3rd attempt and then missed thrice at 6-11.  Rivera was the national outdoor leader last year at 7-3.
More outstanding winners
  • 5:05.73 mile, 10:21.13 3,000m run girls’ distance double by Gabrielle Jennings (1st Baptist Christian, LA junior).  Jennings, who last week had won the LSU Classic 1,600, was followed by Grace Klausen (Blue Springs South, MO senior) in both races as Klausen ran 5:08.90 and 10:28.12.
  • 3:20.04 boys’ 4x400m relay by the Memphis Mustangs, with anchor Terrell Jackson (Memphis U. HS, TN junior) coming from behind in the final 100 with a 48.58 leg.  The “mixed” team included Jackson’s teammate Carlton Orange on the 2nd leg (50.59), plux Lorenzen Burton (Olive Branch, MS senior) at 50.60 on the first leg and Naaman Norment (Houston, TN senior) at 50.32 on the third.  Cahokia TC (all Cahokia, IL HS) and A Running Start TC (mixed) followed in US#4 3:21.77 and 3:22.21.
  • US#8 38-9.75 girls’ triple jump by Ivy Walker (Performance TC/Mansfield Summit, TX junior), dominating by more than two feet over Jernaya Sharp (Texas Express TC/Greenhill, TX junior), at 37-3.75, and the rest of the field.
  • 8:04.04 boys’ 4x800m relay by the Edmond Greys (all Edmond Memorial HS, OK) team of senior Lawson Meredith (2:01.88), soph Zach Mauck (2:01.25), senior Chris Ebert (2:01.98) and senior Harrison Pierce (1:58.95).  They held off the Heartland Youth (mixed) at 8:06.29 and Cahokia, IL at 8:10.67.
  • Meet record 9:44.29 girls’ 4x800m relay by the Memphis Jaguars team of Kendall Long (White Station, TN soph) at 2:28.81, Savannah Jordan (White Station, TN senior) at 2:24.57, Emily Churchwell (Arlington, TN junior) at 2:31.85 and Celine Rone (Arlington, TN senior) at 2:19.78.  They came from behind and prevailed over Bentonville AR at 9:52.03 and Canyon Track at 9:56.39.  The old meet record was 9:47.63 by Dallas Skyline in 2008.
  • 3:59.57 girls’ 4x400 relay by the North Texas Cheetahs Elite team of middle school stars JaEra Griffin (1st leg 58.05), Cierra Wash (2nd leg 1:02.17) and Destini Jeter (anchor 59.52), plus DeSoto, TX junior Zaria Whittaker (3rd leg 59.84).  Team Xtreme followed at 4:00.15.
  • 61-9 boys’ shot put by national leader (66-4) Willie Morrison (Trackboyx TC/Leavenworth, KS senior), winning by nearly 13 feet.  Though he was more than three feet off the meet record, he became just the 2nd 60-footer in Arkansas Invite history.
  • 15-8 boys’ pole vault from Michael Carr (Bell Athletics/Westside, AR senior), defeating Nick Johnson (Arkansas Vault Club/Lake Hamilton, AR junior) at 15-4.
  • 4:19.28 boys’ 1-mile run by Jose Viegara (Winners Edge/Hendrickson, TX senior), outkicking Stephen Mugeche (Purple Dragons/Blue Springs, MO senior) at 4:20.66.  Jose’s sophomore brother Daniel won the 2nd section as well with 4:24.75 (4th overall).
  • 2:16.25 girls’ 800m run for Cassie Mundekis (Midwest Central, IL senior), pulling away to win by more than six seconds over Maddie Fulmer (South Walton, FL junior) at 2:22.80.
  • 18-5 girls’ long jump by Kaylee Hinton (Texas Express TC/Rockwall, TX senior), defending her 2014 title and edging an 18-3 by Briana Hardiman (NCA Elite/Magnolia, AR junior) and 18-2.5 by Jernaya Sharp (Texas Express TC/Greenhill, TX junior).
  • 5-6 girls’ high jump by Carlie Queen (Unatt./Summit Christian Academy, MO soph), followed by  Bailey Cowling (Tachyon Athletik/Syracuse, NE junior) and Lilli Williamson (Texas Express TC/Trinity Valley, TX junior) at 5-5.  Queen’s mark is 2nd best-ever in this event and she missed three times at a meet-record-tying 5-7.
  • 38-0 girls’ shot put for Jasmine Swanigan (Trackboyx TC/Leavenworth, KS senior), winning by nearly two feet.
  • 9:06.32 boys’ 3,000m run by Cody Berry (Purple Dragons/Blue Springs, MO junior), prevailing by three seconds.

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