Over three thousand of the top U.S. track & field athletes were on hand on Thursday for the second day of the 2002 USA Track & Field Youth Athletics National Championships at Miami-Dade Tropical Park Stadium. The meet is the second stop of the Verizon Youth Series. Thursday’s competition wrapped up with the 4x800m relays, the 5000m race walk and several combined events finals.

2002 USA Junior Nationals RW third-place finisher Maria Michta led the way with the first national record of the meet, winning the intermediate girls 5000m race walk in 26:51.07. The previous best of 27:52.90 was set at the 2001 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in July by Erica Adams in Sacramento, Calif. Also in race walk action, Lauren Olivieri won the young women’s 5000m in 27:28.46 and Joseph Trapani won the young men’s 5000m in 29:52.85. All three athletes compete for Walk USA Track Club.

In the first day of relays, the Gazelle Track Club edged out the Equalizers Track Club with a winning time of 9:57.42 to win the midget boys 4x800m relay title. City of Lauderhill TC won the midget girls 4x800m relay in 10:54.31. Gazelle Track Club won both the youth boys (8:48.75) and youth girls (9:52.58) 4x800m relays. In the intermediate boys 4x800m relay, Quicksilver ‘A' won in 8:27.87, while Track Houston ‘A’ won the intermediate girls 4x800m in 9:43.18. Jenks America TC ‘A’ won the young women’s 4x800m relay (9:35.04), while Twin Cities ‘A’ won the young men’s 4x800m relay (8:06.79).

Combined events wrapped up at this year’s championships for the bantam, midget, intermediate and young men and women’s age groups. Trevor Tatum (Gazelle TC) won the bantam boys triathlon with a score of 651, while Tara Richmond (Long Beach Sprinters) won the bantam girls triathlon with a score of 1176. In the midget boys pentathlon, Curtis Beach (Albuquerque TC) won with an overall score of 2418, while Christi Leverette (Gazelle TC) won the midget girls pentathlon with a score of 2974. Parabola TC’s Adam Fretwell went wire to wire in the intermediate boys decathlon, winning with a final score of 5830 points. Gayle Hunter (West Valley Eagles) won the intermediate girls heptathlon with an overall score of 4630 points. Kalen Schiedt and Lisa Lane won the young men and women’s combined events. Schiedt (unattached) won the decathlon with 5806 points, while Lane (Corn Husker Flyer) won the heptathlon with 4167 points.

In order to be eligible to compete at the 2002 USA Track & Field Youth Athletics National Championships, a competitor must be a U.S. citizen and born after July 29, 1983. Athletes must compete in one of five age groups, determined by birth year. Those age divisions are Bantam (1992 or later), Midget (1990-91), Youth (1988-89), Intermediate (1986-87) and Young Men/Women (1984-85). Athletes born in 1983 are also eligible if they do not turn 19 on or prior to July 29, 2002.

This meet will serve as one of the selection meets for the 2003 World Youth Athletics Championships, July 10-13, 2003, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Athletes can also qualify for Team USA at the 2002 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Omaha, Neb., July 23-28.

For more information on the 2002 USA Track & Field Youth Athletics National Championships and the Verizon Youth Series, including complete results from this year’s event, visit the USATF website at www.usatf.org.