Track & Field and Cross-Country Bulletin for Mar 11, 2015
New Balance Nationals Indoors - March 13-15
It's NB Nationals Weekend!
The 17th New Balance Nationals Indoor (NBNI), our renowned championships for the country’s best preps, will again be held at the Fort Washington Armory in New York City, Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, 2015. Entries for the meet are tracking to be as many as 4,000 athletes by the time the meet begins, coming from more than 40 states, Canada and Guyana.
U.S.-leading preps in all but one event and scores of other nationally-ranked standouts will be looking to run, hurdle, jump, throw and walk their way to titles in 94 boys’ and girls’ Championship, Emerging Elite, Freshman and even Junior High events. Seventeen athletes which have already represented Team USA in World Junior, World Youth and Youth Olympic championships will be on hand, as will more than two dozen previous New Balance National indoor or outdoor individual champions.
Every event and athlete is special at NBNI, but here are some athletes, events and storylines to pay particularly close attention to this weekend (home state abbrev. in parentheses)! More previews on our website.
- Boys’ pole vault U.S. record-setters Deakin Volz (IN) at 17-10.5 and Paulo Benavides (TX) at 17-11 – along with Texan Brandon Bray, a 17-8.5 performer outdoors last year – battle to see who can become the first prep indoor 18-footer!
- Ryen Frazier (NC), the girls’ ’14 NBNO mile champ, will run the 5k (Friday), 2-Mile and Mile (both Sunday), hoping to match sister Wesley’s 5k/2M/1M triple from 2013 – but she will be tested by ’14 NBNO champs Anna Rohrer (IN) in the 5k and Hannah Debalsi (CT) in the 2M.
- Defending boys’ 1M champ Grant Fisher (MI) – who repped Team USA in both World Youth and Junior meets, and has not lost to another prep since July ’13 – toes the line against fellow Michigan star Logan Wetzel with a great shot at Alex Hatz’s meet record (4:05.50).
- Sydney McLaughlin (NJ) gets a girls’ 60H rematch against Alexis Duncan (TX), who was 3rd last year, but beat her by .01 in the ’14 NBNO 100H. McLaughlin didn’t make the 60H final last year, but is now US#1 and #5 all-time at 55H.
- Clashing and chasing records in the boys’ 60H are unbeatens Chad Zallow (OH) – injured last year but now US#1 and #3 all-time with 7.62 – and Grant Holloway (VA), US#1 at 55H with 7.19.
- NSAF Project Triple Jump and Project Javelin athletes could win up to 4 titles: Sophia Rivera (MO) is US#1 in the girls’ shot, Ja’Mari Ward (IL) US#1 in the boy’s long jump and #2 in the TJ, and Chinne Okoronkwo (WA) is US#1 in the TJ.
- Girls’ 600m U.S.-record-setter Kamryn McIntosh (NY) – just a soph (!) and the first ever under 1:29 – hopes to take the 400 and help Suffern to at least one relay title.
- The girls’ 55m hurdlers of Western Branch (VA) – with 3 who have broken 8.00 seconds – try to reclaim the national 4x55 shuttle hurdle relay record and crown that they host to Hoover (AL) last year.
- The loaded boys’ sprint wars feature 9 athletes who are either past NBN champs, current US#1s or have repped Team USA before. Who will win 1 (or more) crowns between Darryl Haraway (MD), Ryan Clark (GA), Rai Benjamin (NY), Noah and Josephus Lyles (VA), Richard Rose (NY), Jaron Flournoy (MI), William Allen (KY) and Taylor McLaughlin (NJ)?
- Among scores of talented girls’ relay squads, the Anna Jefferson- and Ersula Farrow-led Motor City TC (MI) stands out with a shot to defend its 4x4 title and make it a NBNI triple with sprint medley and 4x8 wins.
- Cheltenham’s boys (PA) lead the nation in the sprint medley and 4x400 relays, with a great chance to win both behind US#1 800 runner (1:50.57) John Lewis.
- U.S. 55m/60m dash nat’l leader Teahna Daniels (FL), a World Jr 4x100 gold medalist last year, in the 60 battles local fave and 55 co-leader Brenessa Thompson (NY) and LaurenRain Williams (CA) – the soph 1-lap record-setter who is shooting for her own 60/200 double!
- A deepest-ever boys’ 800 features 9 who have broken 1:53, including Terrell Jackson (TN) (1:50.63, US#2 all-tracks), 2014 NBNO champ Donavan Brazier (MI) and two very fast Canadians.
- A fine battle in the boys’ 2M features ’14 NBNO champs in the 5k Alex Ostberg (CT) and in the 2M Mikey Brannigan (NY), plus ’14 Great American XC champ Andrew Hunter (VA) – who was also 2nd behind Brannigan in the NBNO deuce.La Salle Academy (RI) hopes to become the first school to win the 4x1 Mile boys’ and girls’ relays in the same year.
Backpacks- Every athlete who competes in the Championship and Emerging Elite divisions will receive a souvenir backpack- the most coveted backpack in track and field!
Web Streaming- Yes, events from the meet will be streamed again this year. You can also watch it live on NBNationals.com and usatf.tv. This year, our field events will get special attention!
CSI Cuba Press Conference- The NSAF will hold a press conference Sunday morning regarding our 2015 Caribbean Scholastic Invitational, a historic event coming up in June where we'll select 28 American preps to compete in Havana, Cuba! The press conference will take place in the theater room at The Armory at 11 a.m. All media are invited and, if we have room, interested coaches and families may come in, too! Read more about it HERE! Interested athletes can REGISTER NOW!
More Cool Stuff- Personalize your backpack, get a cool temporary tattoo, check out our social media vending machings provided by our Presenting Sponsor Eastbay, get your groove on with our DJ and top off your Saturday night with a live concert featuring a world-renowned hip hop artist right there in the Armory.
Start Lists will be updated every evening. Start Lists are here.
General Meet Information- Have questions about seeding, hotels, directions, relay cards, schedule and more -- head to our Meet Information page for all the answers.
Register for your chance to win a scholarship to the Northeast Kingdom Running Camp, a week-long running camp for middle and high school cross country athletes. Campers get to run on some of the best terrain in the country, choose their own learning sessions, and hear from renowned coaches and athletes. When you’re not running, you'll still be active and entertained with talent competitions, comedy nights, capture the flag, color wars, and other group challenges. Stop by their table at the meet this weekend.
Special thanks to the absolute best partner we could wish for -- our friends at New Balance for working with us to make this the most fantastic weekend of high school track and field ever! And to Eastbay who comes on board as our new Presenting Sponsor. Make sure you get your Eastbay catalog -- required reading for every high school athlete- and your 20% Eastbay coupon.
Heading to College - many of our athletes this weekend will be moving on to college in the fall. Make sure you're in compliance with all NCAA Eligibility Center's rules. For more information on getting recruited our partner the Nationals Collegiate Scouting Association can help.
Like our FaceBook page and follow us on Twitter to stay in touch with more news and updates for this huge NBNI weekend!
2015 NSAF Select Meets
The NSAF supports several national calibre meets around the country by providing travel grants to athletes generally selected by the meet directors who may, for example, want to highlight a particular event such as the mile or hurdles.
Select Meets slated for the 2015 outdoor season are the Chandler Rotary Invitational in Phoeniz, AZ, March 21-22, Mobile Challenge of Champions, April 4-5, Arcadia Invitational, Arcadia, CA, April 10-12, Taco Bell Classic, Columbia, SC, April 11-12, New York Relays, NY, NY, and the Great Southwest Classic, Albuquerque, NM, June 5-7. The NSAF will also provide meet previews, full coverage, interviews, photo galleries and more on our website and social media.
NSAF Performance Clinics
The Third Annual Cedric Walker Performance Clinic returns to Rochester, New York on March 22nd for a full packed learn-by-doing two-session agenda. We'll cover efficient warm-up techniques, high jump, triple jump, hurdles and the throws. And, we've lined up a cast of expert clinicians who understand coaching high school athletes. Our special guest presenter will be Omar Craddock, the 2015 USATF National Indoor triple jump champion. Get full information and register!
Support our New Balance Nationals Indoors Partners, Sponsors & Exhibitors
Don't Miss Out. Stay in Touch with the NSAF on our Website, FaceBook and Twitter. Don't miss our interviews with Steve Underwood on Facebook and the NSAF Youtube Channel.
