NSAF 2015 Girls T&F Athlete of the Year (and top 15): It’s CANDACE HILL!

by Steve Underwood


At the end of 2014, the NSAF presented 10-deep rankings in each boys and girls track and field event for the 2014 season. For 2015, we've expanded our recap of 2015 to include an overall Athlete of the Year for each gender, an overall top 15 athletes (plus honorable mention) and will also follow with the top 10 rankings as we did in 2014. The series continues today with the Girls Athlete of the Year, Candace Hill, plus the rest of the top 15 and honorable mention | Boys AOY Noah Lyles and Top 15



 

NSAF GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Candace Hill, Rockdale County HS, GA, 2017

She came into the mixed zone, at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali, Columbia, thrilled and flushed with excitement and wonder – or as excited as Candace Hill, an impressively even-keel young student-athlete, usually ever gets.  She had just completed her 100/200 double and the numbers on the clock had amazed her.

“When I crossed the line and they said ‘World Record,’ I was like, ‘Oh my God’ ... I thought I could run 22.9, but not 22.4, that’s way beyond what I expected.”

It has been like that a lot for Hill the past few years, as she kept taking chunks off her sprint times as a freshman back in 2014, as her marks started becoming historically great at Great Southwest this spring – 11.15 and 22.76, even if wind- and altitude-aided – and certainly when she clocked the first-ever sub-11 for a prep at the Brooks PR meet.  She has kept exceeding her expectations.

And maybe, in the end, that’s kind of what allowed Hill to finish off her NSAF 2015 Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year campaign the way she did, moving triumphantly through the rounds at the WY Trials and WY Champs.  She could have been obsessed with the clock in Lisle or Cali, the former just over a week after the 10.98 in Seattle, but she was just her same, consistent self – not overwhelmed with high expectations.

“At first, people were like, ‘Oh, let’s see what she'll run next, let’s see if she’ll run another 10.9,” she said after completing the 100/200 sweep at the Trials, “but I just told myself that the 10.9 might have been a once-in-a-lifetime thing and just to run the 100 like I’ve been doing and if I PR, I PR, but if I don’t, I don’t ... I just came out here and ran my best.”

It was basically the same thing at Worlds, taking the best shots from Florida prep Khalifa St. Fort (representing Trinidad&Tobago) in the 100 and teammate Lauren Rain Williams in the 200, winning with room to spare in both with those marks of 11.08 and 22.43.

When the meet (and Hill’s season) had wrapped, she was the World Youth record-holder in both dashes, with the 200 mark 2nd among U.S. preps only to Allyson Felix’s 22.11 from 2003 in the super high altitude of Mexico City – to go with that 100 HSR (which was also an American Junior Mark).  Her PRs also ranked #1 among World Juniors in 2015, and #3 and =#5 all-time, respectively.

Hill’s performances this year, especially that barrier-breaking century, were enough to get media attention from all over the sports world and even beyond – like features on CNN and NewsweekGatorade honored her with their overall Girls High School Athlete of the Year, a rarity for a track performer and a first for a sophomore in any sport.

And, as many pundits imagined, it has been reported that Hill will become the 2nd prep girl in two years to “go pro” after her sophomore year, following in the footsteps, so to speak, of Kaylin Whitney.  After the Brooks meet, Hill told Jeff Hollobaugh at Track and Field News, “I don't want to go pro yet, if they were to ask me.”  But in late October a few sources noted she is now being is represented by professional agency Global Athletics & Marketing and is in negotiations with a trio of shoe companies.

It’s all been an amazing whirlwind for Hill, but it’s not like she came out of nowhere – this year or even in 2014.  No, she wasn’t someone who raced for “years and years” in age-group or Junior Olympic track, but she did run pre-high-school bests of 12.32 and 24.79 in 2012, then 11.81 and 23.95 in 2013 – the latter marks coming during prelims at USATF JOs in Greensboro, where she would win the Youth (13-14) 100 and take 3rd in the 200.

As a Rockdale County, GA freshman in 2014, Hill began to “arrive” nationally as a prep at the Mobile Challenge of Champions in early April, when she sprinted 11.69 in the 100, then followed with a 23.81 200 for an unlooked-for double and Athlete of the Meet honors.  In her 6A state meet a month later, she pushed those marks down to 11.44 and 23.21, for another sweep.  Hence, when she returned to Greensboro several weeks later for her first NBNO, she was certainly one of the favorites – but no one really knew what to expect in her first championship at that level.

But once again, she came through with flying colors: A photo-finish 11.34w triumph over New Yorker Brenessa Thompson, then a more decisive 23.14 victory.  She was close to freshman-class records at both distances.

As spring of 2015 dawned, Hill was consistently a little faster than the previous year, hitting a PR 11.30 and 23.57 at Mobile, then 11.34 and a PR 23.05 at her state meet – of course, sweeping both.  Three weeks later, she made her first trip West for the Prefontaine Classic, winning the prep 200 there in 23.65.  To that point, May 29, she’d had another great year – but there wasn’t really an indication of the truly historic performances to follow.

Great Southwest, then, was a big step forward, beating two more great fields with the aforementioned wind-aided times.  Then she got collective jaws to drop even further the next week in New York, when in the Adidas 100, she scorched an 11.21, into a 1.7 headwind and winning by a massive .29 over Teahna Daniels and the best field she’d faced yet.

THAT may have been when the possibility of Hill’s being able to break Whitney’s record – which was less than a year old – started coming into focus.  But who knew it would come the following week, on another trip to the West Coast, and with an unfathomable sub-11?

Which brings us back to the even-keel demeanor, humility and modesty that defines this 16-year-old.  She celebrated the 10.98, but didn’t let it define her as she prepared for the World Championships.  That eased some of the potential pressure and allowed her to run the way and for the reasons she always does.  No doubt at least some of that positive mental makeup comes from her family and her team of coaches – Venson Elder and Sayon Cooper at Rockdale County, and her “summer track” coach Dannette Young-Stone, a former world-class sprinter herself and leader of the Dynamics Speed Elite TC club with her husband Curtis Stone.

“My whole community is behind me ... they encourage me and that's what motivates me to do my best,” Hill says.  “If I keep on going the way I'm going, I can make it far.”

2. Vashti Cunningham, Bishop Gorman HS, NV, 2017, High Jump

There are not enough superlatives to describe Cunningham’s season, which became historic when she leapt her first HSR with 6-4.25 at Mt SAC, then legendary when she won Pan Am Juniors at 6-5, breaking the American Junior record and tying the World Youth mark.  While some hoped she would make the WY Champs her 1st international meet, the Edmonton result could hardly have been better.  It was her 4th meet of the season at 6-4 or better and 9th over at least 6-2.  Incredibly, Cunningham was the #1 female leaper in the U.S. – period – soaring 1.5" better than any American elite in ’15, and ranked =#11 globally (=#1 Junior).
 

3. Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic HS, NJ, 2017, Hurdles/Sprints

Ever since McLaughlin was “too young” for the ’14 World Juniors – after her runner-up 400H finish at USA Jrs – 2015 was anticipated for World Youth title and HS/WY record shots.  The former was achieved with a 55.94 in Cali.  Record-wise, McLaughlin’s US#1 (and World Jr leading) 55.28 best at the WY Trials came within .08 of those marks (she’ll try again in ’16).  She had a 3rd sub-56 with 55.87 at NBNO, and 2015 also included an NBNI 60H title (US#1 8.17, #3 all-time), US#1 53.72 and #3 52.59 in/out flat 400 bests, and multiple 51-point 4x400 legs for UC, the last one anchoring a 3:35.90 at NBNO for #4 a-t.
 

4. Kate Hall, Lake Region HS, ME, 2015, Long Jump/Sprints

There are several good candidates for a 2015 “performance of the year” for girls’ track and field, but perhaps the best was Hall’s mind-bending long jump on the final attempt of the competition at NBNO.  It looked really, really far and when 22-5 came up on the board, jaws dropped and heads snapped back in shock as Kathy McMillan’s HSR and American Junior record 22-3 from 1976 was finally surpassed.  She led all Juniors globally and is #10 all-time (#3 since 1988).  Hall – now an Iowa State frosh – was unbeaten indoors and out, also claiming NBNI, both New England titles, and had 8 meets at 20 feet or better. 
 

*5. Alexa Efraimson, Camas HS, WA, 2015, Distances

Some don’t include Efraimson in their prep rankings; we do so with an asterisk:  She did turn pro, but was still a prep senior in ’15.  Her results rivaled Mary Cain’s ’13 and ’14 seasons – the most impressive being her 4:03.39 1,500 at the Pre Classic (7th overall), surpassing Cain’s prep best and American Junior record – ranking #4 on the seasonal WJ list and among U.S. women overall.  She also ran 2:01-point for 800 (#3 WJ) three different times; just 3 preps have run faster.  Finally, she also clocked the best prep 5k in ’15 at 16:09.44.  The one disappointment was failing to advance to the USATF (Senior) 1,500 final.
 

5. Sophia Rivera, Brentwood HS, MO, 2016, Throws

NSAF Project Javelinist Rivera claims the jav as her favorite event, but the shot was where she had her greatest success – unbeaten vs. preps with US#1 throws both indoors (50-6.25) and out (53-5.75, #8 all-time), plus both NBN titles (49-1, 53-1).  She was superb in the jav, too, with a US#2 175-10 (#6 all-time) and major wins at NBNO, Penn Relays (over eventual nat’l record-setter Madison Wiltrout) and others.  She made Team USAs for both World Youth (JT/SP with US Youth record 59-4.25) and Pan Am Jrs (SP only), and in Cali famously contested both finals simultaneously (SP silver, JT 7th).  Finally, she finished off ’15 with Pan Am SP silver.
 

6. Lexi Weeks, Cabot HS, AR, 2015, Pole Vault

If you combined what both Lexi and twin Tori did in the PV, you’d have a great AOY candidate; as it is, both are top 10, with Lexi a bit higher.  With a 14-0 PR entering ’15, she hit that or better 3 times indoors including a HSR 14-3.25 (beaten by Tori in June (!)) in splitting 6 meets with her twin.  Outdoors, Lexi was 2nd to Tori at Great Southwest and NBNO, but won 7 of 10 matchups and broke the HSR with 14-7.5 (#4 WJ) at the 4th of July Freedom Vault.  She was also outstanding at a state level in the sprints, hurdles and LJ – unusual for an elite vaulter.
 

7. Jasmyne Graham, Eleanor Roosevelt HS, CA, 2015, Hurdles

Graham didn’t contest either NBNO or USA Juniors, but what she did in the tough state of California and in one meet beyond was enough to rank her high on this list.  She topped the U.S. lists at both 100H and 300H, with her 13.17 (#5 all-time) and 40.73 (#9 a-t) good for a pair of state titles (the former by just .01 over Mecca McGlaston).  Her triumphs included a 100H/300H double at Mt. SAC and an Arcadia 100H triumph (13.21).  Graham’s lone post-season outing was a good one, too – a 13.36 victory in the Brooks PR meet.  Finally, she won the Simplot 60H in a US#7 8.41.
 

8. Tori Weeks, Cabot HS, AR, 2015, Pole Vault

Tori had trailed her twin Lexi in the PV nearly all of ’14, but with a mighty 14-0.5 to start ’15 indoors in January, her confidence was boosted.  Tori wasn’t quite as successful during the rest of indoor and early outdoor, but found her groove again in June, winning the two biggest meets – Great Southwest (US#2 14-1) and NBNO (13-7.25).  In-between, when their Arkansas Vault Club went to their indoor facility for a meet on June 14, she broke her sister’s indoor HSR with a 14-4.  And like Lexi, Tori was stellar in state competition in other events: the 300H, long jump, triple jump and even 800.
 

9. Sammy Watson, Rush-Henrietta HS, NY, 2017, Long Sprints/Middle Distances

As great as Watson was individually this past season, especially over 800, it might be relay carries she’s remembered for most.  During an epic downpour at NBNO, she threw down a 2:03.08 anchor – mostly alone – as her Rush-Henrietta squad crushed the sprint medley HSR at 3:47.65.  They did the same at NBNI (sans rainstorm) at 3:52.68.  Without the stick, she “merely” showed strategic savvy beyond her years in sweeping the NBN 800s, then claiming the World Youth title in US#2 2:03.54 (trailing only Efraimson).  Then there’s her incredible range: From a US#4 52.69 400, to US#1 2:47.27 over 1k (indoors) and US#9 4:25.25 at 1,500.
 

10. Ryen Frazier, Ravenscroft HS, NC, 2015, Distances

Frazier didn’t always win the big ones, but the combination of quality and quantity of her performances was something to behold – no more so than in Greensboro, where she matched older sister Wesley’s feat of tripling the NBNO 5k (US#2 16:20.72), 2M (US#6 10:07.16) and mile (4:45.23).  She was nearly as good at NBNI, winning girls’ Athlete of the Meet with a US#2 (#2 all-time) 16:12.81 5k (2nd), a devastating US#1 10:02.86 2M (#5 a-t) and a 4:44.48 1M (2nd) – where she ranked #1 for the season at 4:41.56.  She also traded 1M wins with Christina Aragon, winning Adidas (4:39.84) and taking 2nd at Brooks (US#2 4:38.59).
 

11. Christina Aragon, Billings HS, MT, 2016, Distances

The latest of a great family of distance runners in Big Sky country, Aragon had a big breakthrough with a 4:16.36 1,500 at Stanford’s Payton Jordan meet – US#2 behind only Efraimson and #5 all-time.  After taking 3rd in the Pre Classic HS mile, she came back and won the big Adidas race with a US#1 4:37.91 (#7 a-t).  At 800, she won Great Southwest and Brooks PR, the latter in a US#3 2:04.00.  Aragon’s fine range was evident in her Class AA state meet, where she swept the 400, 800 and 1,600 and was 2nd in the 3,200.
 

12. Madison Wiltrout, Connellsville HS, PA, 2017, Javelin

Few prep T&F athletes have ever had a greater regular-season sequence of marks than Madison Wiltrout did during a 16-day stretch of May, the soph improving her javelin PR from a US#2 168-5 to a HSR 185-8 at her section qualifier – then following it up with 181-0 and 182-8 in her district and AAA state meets.  It was heartbreaking, then, that she injured her elbow at state and was done for the year – unable to face out-of-state elites (These rankings are weighted to head-to-head competition and honors won) and to try to avenge her only loss, to Sophia Rivera at the Penn Relays.  Here’s hoping for a full recovery for her junior year.
 

*13. Kaylin Whitney, East Ridge HS, FL, 2017, Sprints

Like Efraimson, new pro Whitney is included here with an asterisk.  Interestingly, she seemed to compete almost “under-the-radar” in compared to ’14, when she set a 11.10 100m HSR and also ran 22.49.  But she improved her 200 best to 22.47 (4th in USA Seniors) – ranking #2 globally behind Hill among both Youth and Juniors – and was under 23 an impressive 8 times during the year, including a 22.65 victory in the Pan Am (Senior) Games in Toronto.  In the 100, she didn’t improve her legal PR, but did clock an 11.01w(+5.4).  She also raced several 4x1s with Team USA, including their then-world leading 41.96 at Monaco.
 

13. Courtney Corrin, Harvard-Westlake HS, CA, 2016, Long Jump

It was an exemplary year for the girls’ long jump, with three different athletes combining for a national record and two international championships.  Corrin did none of those things, yet ranks high with consistency and a plethora of great performances.  She was 2nd behind Hall at both NBNI (US#2 20-7, #10 all-time) and NBNO (21-5.25w), then notched a huge win at USA Juniors with 21-6.25w (#7 a-t, all-conditions).  She was then 2nd to Junior runner-up Samiyah Samuels at Pan-Am Juniors.  A great season with 8 meets at 20-8 or better also included an unbeaten California slate, with 3 wins over World Youth champ-to-be Tara Davis, and a CSI Cuba triumph.
 

14. Anna Cockrell, Providence Day HS, NC, 2016, Hurdles

Like a few others on this list, Cockrell wasn’t #1 in her event(s) – but still became one of the best ever.  Her year-long improvement curve caught fire at NBNI, where she lowered her 60H time from 8.43 to 8.21 (#5 all-time), taking 2nd behind McLaughlin.  Three months later, her outdoor peak began with a 13.21 100H in NC (#8 a-t), then continued with a 400H win at CSI.  She was 3rd in both events at NBNO (then-PR 57.70 at 400H), but then with no McLaughlin at USA Juniors, she reached a new level with a 56.67 triumph (#5 a-t).  Cockrell completed her wondrous campaign with a 57.10 win at Pan Am Juniors.

 

  • Honorable Mention briefs:  In the throws, Haley Showalter led the hammer again at 194-1 (#7 all-time), then swept post-season honors with triumphs at Great Southwest, NBNO, USA Juniors and Pan Am Juniors … Gabrielle Kearney (Roseburg, OR sr) was 3rd at NBNO, then had a monster win at USA Juniors, beating an even more stellar field.  She improved further to US#3 167-6 for 4th at Pan Am Jrs … Elena Bruckner (San Jose Valley, CA jr) had the year’s best discus throw at 182-8 and was within ¼ inch of the best shot with US#2 53-5.25.  She swept Arcadia titles and won her state shot … In the shot, Nickolette Dunbar (Whippany Park, NJ jr) won Penn, then was 2nd at both NBN and the WY Trials behind Rivera, then finally took 6th in the WY Finals … Kiana Phelps (Kingsley-Pearson, IA jr) was the US#2 discus thrower at 172-9 and took CSI and Chicagoland titles sandwiched around a mild upset 2nd at NBNO.
  • The national 100/200 scene was hot (4 under 11.30) and very high quality behind Hill … Teahna Daniels (1st Acad., FL sr) started the year with an NBNI US#1 7.33 60 dash win and went on to the USA Jr title at US#3 11.24 and Pan Am Jr bronze.  She was also 2nd behind Hill at Adidas and had an 11.15w to her credit … Khalifa St. Fort (St. Thomas Aquinas, FL jr) was beaten by Daniels at Texas Relays and Adidas, but improved in the summer for 2nd behind Hill at WY Champs in US#2 11.19 – then avenged losses to Daniels with Pan Am Jr gold … In California, Zaria Francis (Rio Mesa, CA jr) had a great state meet double triumph (11.31/US#4 23.09), then was 2nd at Brooks behind Hill’s HSR 100 (US#4 11.26).  Lauren Rain Williams (Oaks Christian, CA soph) was 2nd behind Francis in both dashes at state, but went on to make Team USA for World Youths and captured 200 silver behind Hill with US#3 22.90 … In the 400, Sharrika Barnett (Oak Ridge, FL sr) was unbeaten, blazing to the NBNO title at US#2 52.25, and also winning Golden South and Great Southwest … Lynna Irby (Pike, IN soph) got her 1st sub-54 at the WY Trials, then improved all the way to US#1 51.79 in Cali to take the silver.
  • The scene in the 100H was crazy, with 8th-grader Tia Jones (Dickerson MS, GA) pulling a shocker at NBNO, her 13.08w beating Texans Tonea Marshall (Arlington Seguin, TX jr) at 13.12w, with Alexis Duncan (DeSoto, sr) in 4th.  Jones didn’t have a lot of other creds, but TX 6A and CSI champ Duncan beat 5A and Texas Relays champ Marshall at WY Trials, then went to Cali and set a US Youth record (#2 WY all-time) at 12.95 (30” hurdles) in the semis.  In the WY final, however, Duncan was 5th behind Brittley Humphrey’s (Hoover, AL jr) stunning silver medal run … Four went under 58 in the 400H, led by McLaughlin and Cockrell.  Super soph Reonna Collier (Vacaville, CA) hit US#3 57.27 for 2nd behind Cockrell at USA Jrs, while Brandee’ Johnson took WY bronze at US#4 57.47 trailing McLaughlin.
  • In the distances, Destiny Collins (Great Oak, CA jr) clocked a stunning US#1 9:53.79 3,200 to win her state title (#7 all-time, combined 3200/2M), then was 2nd at Brooks behind Anna Rohrer’s US#2 9:59.96.  Rohrer (Mishawaka, IN sr) had earlier set the indoor 5,000m HSR at NBNO with 16:10.79 … Allie Ostrander (Kenai Central, sr) ran four 3,200s in Alaska between 9:58 and 10:03 … Kate Murphy (Lake Braddock, VA soph) was a 4:46 1,600 runner before USA Juniors, where she ripped a shocking US#3 4:16.98 for the win.  She followed that with a decisive Pan Am Jrs victory … In racewalking, Ashleigh Resch (Beavercreek, OH sr) captured both the NBNI and NBNO 1M titles, the former in national record time (7:00.33).  She was also the top prep over 5,000m and #2 over 3,000m.
  • Nicole Greene (Ponte Vedra, FL sr) had a wonderful year in the HJ, taking both NBN titles (US#1 6-0.5, #2 6-1.5) and taking CSI.  She also hit 20-5 and 40-2.5 in the horizontals during an incredible state meet triple … Chinne Okoronkwo (Mountlake Terrace, WA jr) had a fine string of finishes in the TJ, winning Arcadia, taking 2nd’s at NBNO and USA Jrs, and bronzes at NBNI and Pan Am Juniors.

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