Sprints and relays dominated the final day of action at the 35th annual USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships in Sacramento on Sunday.

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.

At the conclusion of the meet, Donovan Kilmartin (Team Idaho) and Angel Perkins (T.E.A.M. of Purpose) were recognized as the Verizon Outstanding Male and Female Athletes of the Meet.

Kilmartin recorded an impressive double during the six-day competition, winning the young men’s decathlon and pole vault. In the decathlon, taking place during days one and two, Kilmartin dominated to win with 7,405 points, which was also a new national record. From there, Kilmartin returned on Saturday and cleared a personal best height of 5.00m/16-04.75 to claim the pole vault title.

Perkins was equally impressive in her Junior Olympic appearance, winning the 100m (11.56) and 200m (23.33) on Saturday and Sunday. Perkins’ 200m time of 23.33 was just one-hundredth of a second off the national record of 23.32, set by Monique Henderson at year’s JO’s in Buffalo. She also ran the third leg of the young women’s second place 4x400m relay team on Sunday, taking the bantam in seventh and moving all the way up to second place before handing off to the anchor. Perkins was also honored as the Female Athlete of the Meet at the World Youth Championships last week, capping an impressive run by Team USA.

Members of the USA World Youth Team that competed in Hungary last week, Kilmartin and Perkins have racked up the frequent flyer miles during the month of July. Both athletes were in Decatur, Ill., for the USA Youth Athletics Championships early in July before heading to Hungary and then to Sacramento.

National records also fell in the young women’s 400m hurdles (Tiffany Ross – 57.94), the intermediate girls 400m (Stephanie Smith – 52.11), intermediate girls 400m hurdles (Talia Stewart – 58.84), bantam boys 1500m (Connor Revord – 4:48.04) and young women’s 100m hurdles (Virginia Powell – 13.39). Ross, competing for Miami NW Express, lowered her own national record time (58.20) that she set on Friday in the preliminaries. Smith bettered Suziann Reid’s time of 53.63 from 1993, while Stewart bettered Darien Ross’ time of 4:48.09 from 1988. Both Smith and Stewart are competing unattached. Stewart (3M TC) lowered the time of Raasin McIntosh of 1:00.10, from 1998. Powell (Southcentral AA) bettered Dominque Calloway’s time of 13.56 from 1996.

In the bantam division, Stephen Hill (SWG Express) claimed both the 100m and 200m titles. Hill won the 100m in 13.02 and the 200m title in 26.67. Taphapenes Outlaw (Boys & Girls) won the girls 100m title in 13.62 and Brittany McCord (Miami NW Express) won the girls 400m in 1:00.23. In the girls 1500 meters, Victoria Castaneda (Elgin Sharks TC) captured the title in 5:03.06.

Ebony Collins (Quiet Fire) won the midget girls 400m with a time of 56.02, after clocking a new national record time of 55.54 in the preliminaries on Friday. Patrick Blackie (Franklin TC) captured his second title of the meet with a win in the 400m (53.49). Blackie also won the midget boys 200m (24.53) on Saturday. Keiland Lester (Mesquite Elite) and Erica Alexander (Rising Stars) both claimed titles in the boys and girls 100m dash. Lester with a time of 12.20 and Alexander with a time of 12.89. In the 1500m, Reginald Warren (Gazelle) and Devon Williams (Track FAC) captured the boys and girls titles in 4:32.59 and 4:53.46 respectively. In the 80m hurdles, Karen Lacour (Track Houston) and Ashtyn Lamb (Arizona Cheetahs) won the girls and boys titles in 12.48 and 12.44.

In the youth division, Judith Onyepunuka (Arizona Rising Suns) won her second title meet with a winning time of 11.99 in the 100m, after captured the 200m title (24.65) on Saturday. Domenique Manning (Inland Empire) won titles in the 100m hurdles (14.21) and 200m hurdles (26.80) on Sunday. Manning also lowered the national record time in the 100m hurdles with her preliminary time of 14.07 on Saturday. Eddie Rush (Quicksilver) won the 100m in 11.29, while Dennis Martin captured the title in the 100m hurdles (13.70). In the 200m hurdles, Trey Fletcher (Carrollton) edged out Mobile Parks’ Mark Holmes with a winning time of 25.58. Leotist Gordon, Jr. (Eastside Steppers) and Brandi Cross (Visions TC) won titles in the 400m race. Gordon, Jr. won in 50.68, while Cross won in 53.75. Daniel Lacava (Grapevine Ga) won the boys 1500m in 4:17.33, while Mackenzie Edwards (Elpaso Youth) won the girls 1500m in 4:40.79. Off the track, Derek Hardwick (Fresno Flames) won the javelin with a mark of 47.97m/157-04.00, edging out his teammate Bobby Scott for the title.

In the 100m race in the intermediate divison, Richard Crawford (Texas Express) and Sonya Richards (Young Achievers) won the boys and girls titles in 10.87 and 11.58 respectively. Jeffrey Porter (Franklin TC) won the boys 110m hurdles in 14.48, while Ashley Lodree (Alameda TC) won the girls 100m hurdles in 14.41. Teammates from New Horizon dominated in the 400m race, Reginald Witherspoon (New Horizon) and Aries Merritt both captured titles in 47.12 and 54.10. David Ryan (Havasu Harriers) and Mallory Champa (unattached) both claimed titles in the 1500m, Ryan in 4:01.87 and Champa in 4:44.12. Off the track, David Sampson and Ashleigh Keats both captured titles on Sunday. Sampson in the boys shot put (16.09m/52-09.50) and Keats in the girls javelin (39.96m/131-01.00), both athletes are competing unattached.

Willie Hordge (Track Houston) captured his second title of the meet with a win the in the young men’s 100m (10.64), after claiming the 200m (21.23) title on Saturday. Kelly Willie (Wings) won the men’s 400m title (46.42), while Jerrika Chapple (Lancaster LI) won the young women’s 400m title (52.95). Jerod Void (New Wave TRA) and Bershawn Jackson (Miami NW Express) won titles in the men’s 110m and 400m hurdles, in 13.88 and 50.86 respectively. In the 1500m, Mark Walter (Gulf Coast) and Jennifer McPherson (Team Idaho) won their titles in 3:59.65 and 4:39.42.

Relays ended the final day at the 35th annual Junior Olympic championships with much excitement, including three new national records. Track Houston dominated the relays, winning four relay titles – bantam, youth and midget boys 4x100m, along with youth boys 4x400m. Two track clubs won two relay events each – New Horizon (intermediate boys 4x100m and 4x400m) and United Stars TC (young women 4x100m and 4x400m), both teams establishing a new record. The 4x400m team from New Horizon lowered the LA Jets 1997 record time of 3:13.48 to 3:13.40, while the 4x400m team from United Stars bettered the 1988 record time of 3:39.58 (Southside Sundevils) to 3:35.51.

Also in record fashion, the intermediate girls 4x400m relay team from the Young Achievers (3:39.43) lead three record-breaking performances in the race. The previous time of 3:42.83 was set in 1996 by Visions T&F. Teams from Quiet Fire (3:40.38) and Metro Eagles (3:42.67) also ran better than the national time. Quiet Fire won the 4x100 intermediate girls (46.08), Arizona Cheetahs won the midget girls (49.95), Lancaster Lightning (55.33) won the bantam girls, Afterburns TC (40.67) won the young men’s and Valley United (47.42) won the youth girls. In the 4x400, Boys & Girls Club (3:59.67) won the midget girls, Acorn/Oscar Bailey won the midget boys (3:55.52), 3M TC won the youth girls (3:48.92), LA Jets won bantam girls (4:28.22), Speed City won bantam boys (4:22.21) and in the final race of the day, City of Atlanta won the young men’s in 3:09.16.

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 competed 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

As of mid-day on day 6 of the Junior Olympic National Championships, I2Sports Trackmeets.com reports that some 34,322 visitors have viewed the webcast. The USATF Junior Olympic National Championships coverage will be archived on their site for one year.

Twin girls Terra and Taylor Evans of the Arizona Cheetah continued to impress at this week’s JO Championships. Terra won the Midget Girls 200 meters, and placed second in the 100. Taylor placed sixth in the 100 and both girls were on the Cheetahs gold-medal-winning 4x100m team. You may have heard of their father – 1976 Summer Games bronze-medalist in the 200, Duane Evans.

Another young athlete offered an intriguing view of the future with her first trip to the JO Championships. Bianca Knight of the Jackson Jaguars made her JO debut a memorable one with a bronze medal in the 100, and a pair of silvers in the 200 and 400 meters. Her coach, Edmond Donald of the Jaguars, reported that he first saw Bianca run earlier this year at the Jackson, Mississippi Rodeo! She had never ran track before. Youngsters were invited out on the arena floor to race a Shetland pony, and Bianca was the only one who could outlast the “steed.” Her goal for next year? To qualify for the 2003 World Youth Athletics Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, with an outstanding performance at the 2002 Youth Athletics (Miami) or Junior Olympics (Omaha) National Championships. If things go as expected for Bianca, it may well be an international field ponying-up to her in the future!

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 Outstanding Male and Female Athletes of the Meet were awarded to Team Idaho’s Donovan Kilmartin and T.E.A.M. of Purpose’s Angel Perkins at the conclusion of Sunday’s events. 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.