National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Track & Field and Cross-Country Bulletin for Jul 29, 2021

Jul 29, 2021 by Steve Underwood

Thanks for filling our 30th NSAF Outdoor Nationals with #haywardmagic

When it was announced that the NSAF would host The Outdoor Nationals, Presented by Nike at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, the Hayward Magic group immediately introduced the hashtags #makeittohayward and #haywardmagic to the high school track & field community as it inquired about and registered for the meet.

Sometimes hashtags attract little interest or slip into irrelevance. Not these ones. Indeed, the thousands of athletes, coaches, families and fans who were able to “make it to Hayward” were almost to a person visibly dazzled by the splendor of the reimagined facility. And in so very many instances over the four days (June 30-July 3), they either experienced that “Hayward Magic” vibe – or powerfully produced such “Magic” on their own.

The latter was never more in dramatic evidence than in the final moments of the entire meet Saturday, when Nathan Green reached deep inside for a grinding kick to win the boys’ mile, then held his Outdoor Nationals finish banner aloft while proclaiming to the world what everyone could clearly see: “Who would have thought; not me … #haywardmagic, that’s about it, that’s #haywardmagic!”

After 29 consecutive years of hosting NSAF outdoor national meets in multiple venues with multiple partners, 2020 happened and most of the world of high school and youth sports came to a temporary halt. When the possibility of hosting The Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field arose, a process ensued that engulfed many weeks and months of planning and adapting to changing circumstances, especially those involving COVID-19. But when the first athletes took to the track and the field event venues on Wednesday morning, June 30, a dream had come true and a mission accomplished. We hope you all enjoyed The Outdoor Nationals as much as we did!

Photos by Ross Dettman for the NSAF and Becky Holbrook for DyeStat.com/RunnerSpace.com

 

RELIVING THE MEET: Key Links

MEET HOME Page | FULL RESULTS |  Event-by-Event Results

PHOTOS | NEWS Stories & Press Releases

VIDEOS: Epic Highlight Video | Archived WEBCAST | Interviews | All Videos

MEET PROGRAM (awesome flipbook format) | Post Meet SURVEY (please complete if you have not already!)
 

OFFERING THANKS: Gratitude for our Partners

  

Our partners at Nike, TrackTown USA and Hayward Magic were invaluable in making the dream of The Outdoor Nationals, Presented by Nike at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon a spectacular reality.  Nearly 2,000 student athletes from 48 states were able to #makeittohayward and experience #haywardmagic as part of the first-ever high school meet at the reimagined track & field palace.

We were blessed by TrackTown USA having reached out to us to share an idea and a dream and invite us to make it a reality with them. We were thankful for the great Nike apparel and backpacks we could offer these athletes as they enjoyed four days of competition at this world-class venue. And we were inspired by the creative vision of Hayward Magic, telling athlete stories and using the magic of Hayward Field to captivate the hearts everyone connected with our meet.

    

Thanks to our partners at RunnerSpace.com and AthleticNET, we were able to have outstanding registration support, a fantastic new meet website, a stellar live webcast (with archived daily highlights, event videos and interviews), the best in live results and so much more. We have been blessed to have a partnership with these two organizations, who are so committed to the sport, which continues to grow.

A little resistance goes a long way. We are excited to welcome our new Official Training Sponsor, AGOGIE, creator of innovative fitness pants with eight resistance bands embedded into the fabric. Say goodbye to weighted vests and hello to resistance with your natural movements. Wearing AGOGIE adds constant tension to every step and intensity to any workout, on or off the track. Used by professional athletes to improve speed, power and performance, get the resistance edge at AGOGIE.com.

   

We are grateful, as always, to have the support of the Sanford Sports Science Institute from Sioux Falls, our Exclusive National Sports Medicine Research Partner. The SSSI conducts research in conjunction with the NSAF to help with the development of future Olympic and World Championship hopefuls. We’re looking forward to bringing our Project Javelin Gold and Project Triple Jump athletes to the Sanford Sports Complex for our annual August clinics! You can join us; click HERE to learn more.

Also greatly appreciated is the support of another of our newest partners, also based in South Dakota. The Build Your Base with Beef program offers nutritional education information athletes can use as part of that balanced approach. High quality protein is essential for student-athletes and available from many sources. It’s valuable for them to learn how beef can be integrated into a nutritional profile to provide that.

The NSAF is thankful for its partnership of many years with Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), our Official Recruiting Partner. With more than 35,000 verified college coaches and a 4.9-star Google Rating (2,250+ reviews), NCSA is the world’s largest and most successful college athletic recruiting network. Build your free NCSA profile to boost your exposure and get discovered by coaches.

  

The temperatures rose to about 90 during the four days of TON, so we were particularly grateful for the opportunity to provide Gatorade to all of the athletes following their events. Gatorade, our Official Sports Fuel Provider, has had a strong presence at our events for some years now, whether it be national championships, our major cross-country meets or our Project clinics

NSAF National Championships and Baron Rings have been synonymous for many years, and we are proud that 100s of athletes and coaches from coast to coast are wearing these high-quality rings that honor their tremendous performances. They will always serve as reminders of the sacrifices made to reach the top of the podium!

And thanks so much to our long-time partners at Relaybatons.com, whose custom batons provide everlasting memories for so many championship quartets.

THE BEST OF THE BEST: Remembering TON’s greatest performances

Kinetic/Saratoga Springs HS sets tone with monumental HSR

• All year long, it's been clear that Kinetic RC/Saratoga Springs HS (NY) had the talent to break the national record in the girls 4x1 Mile relay. Friday morning, that came to fruition as the quartet of Ella Kurto (4:52.83), Alycia Hart (4:57.75), MacKenzie Hart (4:55.85) and Emily Bush (4:54.27) smashed the old standard by more than 16 seconds with their 19:40.67. They were pushed all the way by Real Training/Niwot HS (CO), which also crushed the previous mark with their 19:45.37.

Nathan Green creates climactic #haywardmagic with tremendous kick to win 1M

• As mentioned above, the 2021 TON could not have ended more dramatically, as Nathan Green (Borah HS, ID) dug down deep for a 55.49 final 440 to pass 5 runners and win the mile in 4:03.30. That completed an amazing 2-day, multi-state double as he had won a fast mile in Seattle the day before in 4:01.76. To top it all off, he raised the finish banner to the sky after crossing the line and gave it up for #haywardmagic!

Real Training/Niwot HS puts on an historic show

• No club/school has ever had a national championship meet like Real Training/Niwot HS (CO) did at TON 2021. Led by Taylor James and Madison Shults, their girls rolled to US#1 victories in the 4x400 (3:42.72), 4x800 (8:52.48) and DMR (11:33.51), in addition to the epic 4x1M performance and two other runner-up finishes (4x200, 800 SMR).

• Meanwhile, their boys captured the 4x1 Mile (US#1 17:19.70) and were 4th in the 4x8. And if that wasn't enough, Real Training/Niwot had individual triumphs from Lucca Fulkerson (10:19.95 girls' 2M) and Simon Saia (14:30.66 5k), plus a monumental PR runner-up effort from Zane Bergen in the mile (4:03.90).

Michigan athletes show up huge

• Did any other state do better across the board at TON than Michigan? It started on Day 1 in the throws, with a boys' shot/discus double by Zane Forist and a girls shot triumph by Sarah Marvin. Then relay powers TrackLife University/Detroit Renaissance and Motor City TC/Oak Park claimed two titles each, 4x1/4x2 and 1600 SMR/4x100 SHR, respectively -- with Nonah Waldron of MCTC adding the individual 100H crown as well.

• Finally, Terrence Muex (US#1 46.13 400) and Brandon Miller (20.49w 200) captured victories on Sprint Day. That's ten gold medals, which was complimented by several other podium finishes.

Waldron, Butler score relay/individual triples

• As implied above, Nonah Waldron, the 100H champ, also starred in both of Motor City TC's winning relays. She was one of two athletes to win three golds in an individual/relay combo.

• The other was Aaliyah Butler, who anchored the winning 800 SMR and 1k Swedish Medley triumphs for the MNW LadyBulls TC, then also claimed the individual 400 in 53.48.

18 new US#1s set in Eugene

• In addition to Muex's 46.13 400 mentioned above, there were five new individual national leaders established at TON, including Ryan Allen (14:28.87 3kRW), John Fay (236-10 HT), Max Stakun-Pickering (7,344 deca), Madison Morgan (14:12.66 3kRW) and Kayla Pinkard (42-6 TJ).

• There were 12 new US#1s in the relays, including the Kinetic HSR and the four Real Training marks listed above. The others were set by Motor City TC girls 3:57.43 1600 SMR and 57.17 4x100 SHR, Valley Project TC (Ridge HS, NJ) boys 7:39.06 4x800, MNW LadyBulls TC girls 1:42.93 800 SMR and 2:10.15 Swedish Medley, St. Peter's Prep NJ boys 3:24.40 1600 SMR and Ridgefield CT boys 10:01.72 DMR.

• In eight other instances, athletes who were national leaders coming into TON did not improve their marks, but still came away with impressive victories.

3 National Class records

• A trio of National Class marks were set at TON; one freshman and two middle school. 9th-grader Ellie Shea of Belmont MA not only broke her class 5,000m standard but was the national champion at 16:10.42. Similarly, 8th-grader Madison Morgan (Houston) walked faster over 3k than any middle-school athlete has done before at 14:12.66 and claimed the national title to boot. Finally, in the middle school mile, Josiah Tostenson, from nearby Central Point, OR, took down the national standard for 6th-8th graders with his 4:23.98.

24 Hayward Field records

• The six individual track records came in events rarely (if ever) contested at Hayward: The girls 5000m (Ellie Shea 16:10.42) and 2-Mile (Lucca Fulkerson 10:19.95), boys and girls 2k steeplechases (Matthew Bogdan 5:49.94 and Sydney Masciarelli 6:36.24), and boys and girls 3k racewalks (Ryan Allen 14:28.87 and Madison Morgan 14:12.66).

• 17 of the new standards came in relays, beating in most cases marks set at the Oregon Relays or various Oregon state meets since 2000. In the case of Real Training/Niwot HS's boys 4x1M record, however, the previous mark was set by South Eugene HS back in 1973. Some events, such as the 800 sprint medley and Swedish medley, had never been contested at Hayward before.

• The single individual field record was 236-10 by John Fay in the boys' hammer, topping Greg Skipper's 226-6 in 2011.

3 NSAF Outdoor Nationals Meet Records

• The Outdoor Nationals meet records, set over the past 30 years, are some of the most formidible in the sport. Only three were beaten in 2021: The above-mentioned girls 3000m racewalk (Morgan) and boys middle school mile (Tostenson), plus the boys freshman mile (Marcus Reilly 4:16.77). 

Meet of Champs/TON doublers

• Four individuals and two relay squads scored a unique double -- winning the NSAF USA Meet of Champions at Myrtle Beach (late March) and The Outdoor Nationals in the same event. Individually, the doublers were Addison Wiley in the girls mile (4:42.78 at TON), Ryan Allen in the boys 3k walk (14:28.87), Cheyla Scott in the girls high jump (5-8.5) and Max Stakun-Pickering in the decathlon (7,344 pts.).

• Meanwhile, the national-record-setting Kinetic NY 4x1 Mile girls had also won in Myrtle Beach, as had the Valley Project 4x800 boys (Ridge HS, NJ).

• Similarly noteworthy: At Myrtle Beach, Tamaal Myers won the 400H in 54.03, with Dillon Leacock 2nd at 54.52 (they were also 1-2 in the flat 400). But at TON, Leacock nipped his Michigan rival by 6/1000 of a second, 52.284-52.290.

• And at Myrtle Beach, Collin Burkhart was 2nd in the javelin at 193-3 (Matthew Prebola 199-8), but won the hammer at 221-6. Then at TON, Burkhart was 5th in the hammer at 222-10, but won the javelin with 209-4.