Track & Field and Cross-Country Bulletin for Aug 12, 2018
Super Sanford Late-Summer Clinic in Sioux Falls!
This NSAF this weekend has been enjoying another super, summer-ending clinic with our Project Triple Jump and Project Javelin Gold athletes, and our partners from Sanford Sports Science Institute, in sunny Sioux Falls, S.D.!
Seventeen Project athletes – including six newcomers – plus lots of additional registrants from around the country have spent the past four days reaping the bounty of great coaching by our NSAF staff and the tremendous resources available to us at Sanford. Our mentors have included not only Project head coaches Peter Pratt (triple jump) and Tom Pukstys (javelin), and TJ Project Coordinator Macka Jones, but also 1996 Olympic Triple Jump Gold Medalist Kenny Harrison and veteran javelin coaches Rob Woosley and Kim Hamilton.
The result has been four days of enlightening testing and beneficial training for all at the Sanford Sports Complex’s spacious Fieldhouse and Pentagon, as well as nearby Howard Wood Field.
You can read the story we published about the clinic this weekend HERE, as well as profiles on our Project Triple Jump newcomers HERE and our Project Javelin Gold newcomers HERE.
For training clips, photos, interviews and more, check out our NSAF Facebook page, Twitter feed and Instagram feed.
New college races added to Great American XC Festival
The Great American Cross Country Festival and Cedric Walker HBCU Challenge – set for Saturday, October 6, 2018 – are less than two months away, and we are excited not only about the usual outstanding competition, but also the revival of open collegiate/university races to the Festival.
Once again, the GAXC will serve as an the Official NXN Southeast Pre-Regional Meet. Last year marked our second GAXC with new presenting sponsor Nike.
College/university men’s 8,000-meter and women’s 5,000-meter competition is now part of the Festival again for the first time since 2012. These will be run together with the HBCU Challenge 8k and 5k races, but scored separately.
You can REGISTER HERE and check out the home pages for the GAXC Festival and HBCU Challenge. The Schedule of Events is HERE.
2017 at the GAXC Festival and HBCU Challenge was awesome. Here are a few of the reasons why:
- The presence of world-class athletes, like Nike's World Championship silver medalist and Olympian Courtney Frerichs and sub-4:00 miler Craig Engels signing autographs, and 2-time World Champs gold medalist Quanera Hayes as a guest starter for the HBCU races.
- A near-course-record effort by US#1 Loudoun Valley HS (VA) in the boys' ROC -- averaging 15:29, just :05 off CBA's 2012 mark and a 3rd straight title by the Blacksburg HS (VA) girls.
- Individual ROC titles by Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga HS, NY) at 16:50.3, #2 in meet history and 4th-fastest ever on WakeMed, and Dalton Hengst (McDonogh School, MD) at 14:57.1.
- North Carolina A&T State edging Morehouse College for their 4th straight HBCU men's crown and Hampton U. sweeping the top 3 spots to defend their HBCU women's title (5th overall). Trey Simons of Morehouse at 25:48.1 and Hampton's Eusila Chepkemei in a meet record 17:27.3 were the individual winners.
