National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

The combined efforts of the NSAF, Dunamis Sports Group, LakePoint Sports, Runnerspace.com and 1000s of athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans this past weekend (Feb. 8-11, 2018) resulted in four days of indoor track and field in Georgia such as has never been seen before.

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Yes, back in the days of the Georgia Dome, more than 20 years ago, USATF and high school championships were held for several years. But the Dunamis Super Meet in Emerson, GA (north of Atlanta) was a celebration of the sport at all levels: Youth, High School, Collegiate, Open and Masters. More than 2,500 athletes competed during the weekend and the level of the performances was truly elite -- especially in the high school division, which saw a slew of national class performances highlighted by a trio of 9th-grade national records by freshman sensation Tamari Davis of Florida.

“We were very happy to be able to help host a meet with so many outstanding athletes of all ages and bring indoor track back to Georgia, said NSAF executive director Jim Spier. “The 200 meter Dunamis track proved to be very fast and Lakepoint provided an outstanding host facility. I think the athletes, from the youth club runners all the way up to the masters, proved that this state loves and will support indoor track and field. And thanks to Runnerspace, fans across the country were able to watch these great efforts.”

Another memorable highlight of the entire weekend came Saturday evening when during a rare break in the action, there was an on-track introduction of more than a dozen legends of Georgia track and field -- acknowledging the great tradition in the sport in the host state. Fans were thrilled to see in person Olympic medalists and record-holders like Kevin Young, Mel Pender, Terrance Trammell, Reese Hoffa and many others.

Those great performances

Gainesville, Fla. sprint prodigy Tamari Davis picked up right where she left off last year, when she had stunned the track world with her victories and marks as an 8th-grader. This weekend at Dunamis, the freshman dashed 23.54 in the girls’ HS 200m prelims to beat the 2007 record by Ashton Purvis. Then in the final she lowered the record to 23.42 – also an overall US#1 for the season. Finally, in the 60-meter dash, Davis blasted a 7.30 in the prelims, besting Thelma Davies’ 2016 9th-grade mark, but passed on the finals.

The best event of the meet, depth-wise, was the girls’ 60m hurdles. Tia Jones, already a 2-time NBNO 100m hurdle champ, smoked a PR 8.15 seconds – an 11th-grade national record, US#1 for the season and #6 all-time U.S. The Walton (Ga.) HS junior was pushed to that spectacular mark by Emily Sloan 8.21, Shadajah Ballard 8.39 and Darci Khan 8.40 – all athletes who could be in next month’s NBNI 60H final.

Some of the meet’s other top performers:

• Tyson Jones, who came from Arizona to take the boys’ shot put with a US#1 69-7.5. Josh Sobota from Tennessee was a strong runner-up at 66-7.25.
• Okheme Moore, who repped Alabama with a nation-leading 6.73 60m dash, beating Eric Allen Jr. 6.78 and Gatlin Lawson 6.83.
• Anna Hall, the standout heptathlete from Colorado, who soared over 5-10 for the high jump title
• Tre’Bien Gilbert, the Texan who nipped another superstar multi-eventer, Kyle Garland, in the boys’ 60H, 7.84 to 7.86.
• Melvin Briley, the Floridian who spanned 49-0.25 in the triple jump to lead a great set of horizontal jump champs: Alonie Sutton (AL) 42-0 TJ, D.J. Henderson (TX) 23-9 LJ and Jasmine Moore (TX) 19-5.25 LJ.
• Kimberly Harris, the soph sensation from nearby Buford, GA, who claimed the girls’ 400 in 54.82.
• James Flournoy, the Michigan standout who took the boys’ 200 in 21.66.