Favorites prevailed on the track as records continued to fall at the 35th annual USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships in Sacramento on Saturday.

The meet, being webcast live by USATF, in cooperation with i2sports Trackmeets.com, is taking place at California State University, Sacramento, site of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. This is the final meet of the Verizon Youth Series.

Michelle Carter (Roadrunners) won her second competition in as many days on Saturday. Carter, who won the intermediate girls shot put on Friday, won the intermediate girls discus (46.21m/151-07.00) Saturday afternoon. Also, please note that Carter’s record mark on Friday in the shot put was revised to 15.19m/49-10.00, still a national mark.

Donovan Kilmartin (Team Idaho) won his second title of the meet with his winning clearance and personal best in the young men’s pole vault. Kilmartin (5.00m/16-04.75) edged out 2001 World Youth teammate Trey Bell (4.70m/15-05.00), competing for Extreme T&F, in the last competition of the day. Kilmartin set a new youth decathlon record (7405) on Wednesday.

Other national record marks from Saturday included a new mark in the young women’s pole vault. Elizabeth Boyle (SW Cheetahs), a member of Team USA from last week’s World Youth meet in Hungary, bettered a 1996 mark of 3.76 meters set by Alexa Harz. Domenique Manning (Inland Empire) lowered the 1994 mark of Char Foster (14.12) in the preliminaries of the youth girls 100m hurdles with a winning time of 14.07. Also in preliminary action on Saturday, the 4x100 relay team from Track Houston won the bantam boys in a national record time of 52.57. The previous mark of 52.61 was set in 1993 by the Oak Cliff Lions. The 4x800m relay teams from United Stars TC and Whirlaway TC both bettered the previous national records. The United Stars TC (8:53.93), competing in the young women’s division, ran 10 seconds faster than the 1983 record time of 9:03.42. The Whirlaway TC (7:56.11), competing in the intermediate boys relay, outlasted the Houston Heat (7:58.11) to win the race. Both squads lowered the previous mark of 7:59.69, set in 2000 by Self Esteem Thru Athletics.

Yong-Sung Leal, competing for the Reebok Aggie RC, won the young men’s 5k (14:27.14) and bettered the previous national time of 14:39.66, set in 1984 by Scott Fry. In the 800m finals, Cody Harper (Albuquerque TC) and Reginald Warren (Gazelle) both set national records. Harper, competing in the youth boys division, claimed his national title with a time of 1:56.36, bettering Michael Granville’s 1992 record time of 1:57.01. Warren, competing in the midget boys division, lowered the national record time of 2:07.9h, set in 1991 by Obea Moore, who witnessed Warren’s time of 2:07.21 from the stands.

In bantam competition, Stephen Hill (SWG Express) and Angel Watson (Mobile Parks) won the boys and girls 200m finals on Saturday. Hill, with a time of 26.67 and Watson, with a time of 27.69. In the 800m finals, Connor Revord, competing unattached, claimed his title (2:19.98), as Brooks Sharpton (Miami NW Express), captured her title in a time of 2:25.10. From the field, Joshua Harris (AW Brown TC) won the boys long jump (4.67m/15-04.00).

Patrick Blackie (Franklin TC) and Rafael Klein-Cloud (Kenyan Runners), fresh off wins at the 2001 USATF Youth Athletic Championships, won titles in the midget divisions of the boys 200m and 3000m. Blackie’s time of 24.53, edged out Westside Kickers’ Demondre Ward (24.97), while Klein-Cloud (10:02.42) outlasted San Joaquin’s Erick Garcia (10:04.94). Ward had already claimed a title with a win in the long jump (5.49m/18-00.25) earlier in the day. In the girls 200m, Terra Evans (Arizona Cheetahs) claimed her title in 25.66, while in the girls 3000m, Brooke Russell (Valley United) captured the title in 10:32.36. In the girls 800m, Quantikia Stepney (Track FAC) won with a time of 2:16.77. In the long jump, Chia Hudson (NY Novas) captured her title with a final mark of 4.75m/15-07.00.

In the youth division, Keegan Herring claimed the 200m title (22.70), while Judith Onyepunuka captured the 200m title (24.65). Both Herring and Onyepunuka compete for the Arizona Rising Suns. In the girls 800m, Illusions’ Krishna Curry, captured the title with a time of 2:13.51. Off the track, Jenny Svoboda (Cornhuskers) won the shot put with a mark of 13.29m/43-07.25, while Bobby Scott (Fresno Flames) won the boys shot put with a winning mark of 15.98m/52-05.25. Jayci Peters (unattached) claimed the javelin title with a winning mark of 35.43m/116-03.00.

Greg Bracy (Silver Springs Spartans) and Sonya Richards (Young Achievers) both captured titles in the boys and girls intermediate dash 200m. Bracy (21.85) edged out New Horizon’s Michael Grant (21.95), while Richards (23.58) outlasted Stephanie Smith (23.58), competing unattached. In the 800m, Russell Brown (Whirlaway TC) won with a time of 1:54.51, while Treani Smith (Los Angeles) won with a time of 2:09.88. Taylor Lucero (Kern Co. Fire) claimed the boys 3000m title (8:51.29). On the field, Dallas Griffin (Five Ring TC), won the boys discus throw (49.30m/161-09.00), while Ryan Scott (unattached) captured the javelin title with a mark of 52.63m/172-08.00.

In the young women/men division, Willie Hordge (Track Houston) and Angel Perkins (Team of Purpose) both captured titles in the 200m. Hordge (21.23) and Perkins (23.33) were both members of Team USA that competed in Debrecen, Hungary last week as a part of the IAAF World Youth Championships. Abby Emsick (Cornhuskers) captured her second title of the meet with a win in the young women’s shot put (13.23m/43-05.00). Emsick also won the young women’s discus throw (45.91m/150-07.00) on Thursday. William Fitts (Dallas Allstars) won the 800m (1:50.08), while Briene Simmons (Jaguar) won the young women’s 800m (2:08.98). On the field, Rachel Walker (unattached) won the javelin title (44.34m/145-06.00) for the young women, while Ben Francis (Eagle Express) won the young men’s title (57.93m/190-01.00).

In order to be eligible to compete at the 2001 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships, athletes had to advance through association and regional competitions. USA Track & Field is comprised of 57 local Associations across the country, advancers then moved on to one of the 16 Regional competitions.

Athletes here in Sacramento compete in one of five age divisions, determined by birth year. Those age divisions are Bantam (1991 or later), Midget (1989-90), Youth (1987-88), Intermediate (1985-86) and Young Men/Women (1983-84).

For more information on the 2001 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships, all USATF Youth programs and the Verizon Youth Series, including complete results, visit the USATF web site at www.usatf.org.

NOTES FROM JO’S

Numbers from the I2Sports Trackmeets.com webcast have well exceeded the expectations of USA Track & Field. I2Sports reports that over 29,000 unique visitors have clicked into the webcast over the first five days of the competition. Dr. Kamal Jabbour, chief engineer for I2Sports Trackmeets.com, said, “This has been our largest event so far. The viewership for the first five days of competition exceeds the New York State Indoor Scholastic, National Scholastic Indoor and the Big East meets combined.” Jabbour noted that I2Sports Trackmeets.com will have webcast some 70 hours of track and field at this week’s Junior Olympics. To date, they have webcast approximately 160 events. The USATF Junior Olympic National Championships coverage will be archived on their site for one year.

Former 100m world record holder Leroy Burrell, head coach of the University of Houston, is also in attendance this week. “The Junior Olympics is my chance to make an appearance and meet up with other coaches in the sport,” said Burrell. “It also allows me to see what’s coming on the horizon, because I’m here to lay the groundwork for the future of the UH program. This meet will help to comprise our Olympic Team in 2012, and we continue to put together a quality program that wins a lot of medals at the highest level of the sport.”

Track & field stars from the past and present are in attendance at this week’s Junior Olympic Championships. 2000 Olympic bronze medalist decathlete Chris Huffins, an assistant track & field coach for Georgia Tech, is on hand presenting awards to many of the Junior Olympic champions. William Obea Moore, a five-time junior Olympic record holder, is here working with the LA Jets Track Club. Michael Carter, silver medalist in the 1984 Olympics in the shot put, is on hand supporting his daughter Michelle, who won titles in the intermediate girls shot put and discus this weekend.

Next year’s Junior Olympic National Championships will be held in Omaha, NE, from July 23-28. Omaha was also the site of the 1999 JO Championships.

The Verizon Male and Female Athletes of the Meet will be awarded at the conclusion of the meet on Sunday. Winners, to date, in the Verizon Youth Series are Justin Gatlin and Amy Linnen at the Junior National Championships and Willie Hordge and Michelle Carter at the Youth Athletics National Championships.