Track & Field and Cross-Country Bulletin for Aug 17, 2015

by Joy Kamani

 

What Did We Do This Summer?

Since our record-breaking New Balance Nationals in mid June, we have been on the road from Cali, Colombia to Edmonton, Canada and several points in between. We've brought you coverage of  our Junior Nationals from Eugene, World Youth Trials in Chicago, World Youth Championships In Colombia and the Pan American Junior Championships in Canada.  If you missed any of our coverage or just would like to revisit please head over to our website and Facebook page for commentary, video interviews and tons of photos.

 

 

Interspersed between these super-meets we hosted two national events.  

In late June we sent 24 athletes who qualified through New Balance Nationals Outdoors to our third Annual Chicagoland Throws- a unique compeition hosted by the NSAF and USATF where our high schoolers competed beside professional elite throwers.  Five athletes on Team NSAF went on to represent the US at the IAAF World Youth Championships and Pan American Games in July (Sophia Rivera, Katelyn Gochenour, Haley Shoowalter Bobby Colantonio, and Adam Kelly). 

Top highlights and links to results, Facebook photo albums and video interviews are all right here.

 

In July we launched our inaugural American JavFest, the NSAF's version of javelin’s most celebrated festival in Finland, the Javelin Carnival. The event was originally started by Project Javelin Gold's Jeff Gorski but was in hiatus for several years. What started as a dream to revitalize the event was nurtured into reality by coaches Gorski, Barry Krammes, Tom Pukstys and others. Open to all ages and levels, JavFest included competition and a javelin school.  Noteable professional throwers who attended included US National Champion and US #2, Sean Furey, US #1 Tim Glover, US #3 Riley Dolezal and US #3 Ariana Ince.

 

 

Coming up Next...

The Great American Cross-Country Festival returns to the WakeMed Soccer Park, in Cary, NC. As was the case for the past few years, the meet will be sponsored by New Balance and held on a single-day (Sat., Oct. 3), with the Race of Champions for each gender, plus seeded and other varsity and junior varsity events for high schools. Through the years, we have witnessed the best teams and individuals in the region – and many of the best in the country – battle on one of the nation’s best and well-seasoned courses. The Festival will again be held in concert with the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Challenge sponsored by Robert Shumake.

 

 

Registration is open for our first  Project Javelin Gold Clinic for the 2015-16 season scheduled for September 24-27 in East Stroudsburg, PA.  The Project has enjoyed tremendous success this year thanks in large measure to our phenomenal coaches, Jeff Gorski and Tom Pukstys.  Two of the Project's seasoned athletes, Sophia Rivera and Katelyn Gochenour, and newcomer, Liam Christensen, represented the US at the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia and Gabby Kearney, a regular at our clinics was fourth at the Pan American Juniors in Canada.  

The NSAF is sponsoring eight high school javelin throwers in this season's Project but the clinic is open to all javelin throwers wishing to learn and improve. A recap of the season and full information on the September clinic are a click away.

 

Project Triple Jump has also reaped great dividends this year and we will be announcing some exciting news shortly about our first 2015-16 clinic scheduled for October 16-18. Project athletes, Chinne Okoronkwo and University of Florida freshman, Ke'Andre Bates both jumped to bronze medals at the Pan American Games in fields loaded with superb competitors. University of Georgia freshman, Keturah Orji, also a Project Triple Jump alum, was third at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene and won the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a leap of 46 feet, 5 ¼ inches  to win by more than two feet. Orji's performance bested her own school and American Junior records and she became the No. 4 all-time collegiate performer with the No. 5 all-time collegiate performance.

 

CSI Alumni Heading to China:  Six former members of Team NSAF will be representing the US at the upcming World Championships in Beijing, China.  Omar Craddock (triple jump), Marquis Dendy (triple jump and long jump), Johnny Dutch (400m hurdles), Joe Kovacs (shot put), Jessica Beard (4x4 Relay) and Shamier Little (400m hurdles) all competed at CSI in Puerto Rico over the past several years.We hope to see this group and more of our alum in Rio next year!

Early Planning for 2016

March 11-13       New Balance Nationals Indoors

June 10-11         Chicagoland Throwers

June 17-19         New Balance Nationals Outdoors

Early June          Caribbean Scholastic Invitational - Cuba

July 29-31          American JavFest, East Stroudsburg, PA

 

Get Your Application In

September 1 is the deadline for applications for the Cedric Walker Development Grant.  All high schools and youth clubs are eligible to apply.  Please read the requirements carefully before submitting your application. Recipients will be notified by September 15th.

 

Final Track & Field Top Lists

Before we head full force into cross-country there's time for reflection on the terrific 2015 track and field season. Super-fantastic post-season performances by Norman Grimes, Jr., Noah & Josephus Lyles, Adam Piperi, Isaiah Lucas, Candace Hill, Lynna Irby, Alexis Duncan, Vashti Cunningham and many, many more are all reflected in Jim Spier's final 2015 high school and Junior Top 5 lists.

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