EUGENE, Oregon — Living up to the pre-meet hype, the men's 110 hurdles Friday on the final day of the USATF U20 Championships at Hayward Field produced an American U20 record in the heats and then a high school national record in the final as Zacchaeus Brocks of Detroit's Central Catholic HS upset collegians Le-Ezra Brown of Georgia and Ja'Shaun Lloyd of Texas State to take the title in 12.98, knocking .02 off the prep mark he set in the heats.
Brown was also clocked at 12.98, but was .002 behind Brocks on the lean, with Lloyd earning bronze in 13.01. Joshua Kai-Smith, a Virginia high schooler, ended up fourth in 13.06, becoming history's No. 2 prep performer.
In the prelims Lloyd took down the American U20 record of 13.05 by Ja'Kobe Tharp with a 13.04 to win heat one, and then Brown dazzled in the second heat with a 12.95 to again break the U20 record, with Brocks second in 13.00, smashing the national prep record of 13.08 that was set by Wayne Davis in 2009.
Nine meet records fell in the two-day Championships that enjoyed near-perfect weather and a noisy crowd. Texans figured large in the sprints, with San Antonio high schooler Tate Taylor sweeping the men's 100 and 200, setting a meet record and another national prep record in the latter with a 19.94 that made him the No. 4 all-time world U20 performer. Right behind him in the deuce was fellow Texan Blake Hamilton of Katy Tompkins HS, who grabbed silver in 20.02 to move to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list.
The Houston area dynamic duo of Mia Maxwell and twin sister Mariah went 1-2 in the women's 100 and 200, with Mia taking the meet record in the short dash with an 11.08 and adding a 22.49 to dominate the half-lapper. Her 200 time missed the meet record by only .01 seconds.
Keenen Davis of Washington DC's Archbishop Carroll HS took ownership of the men's high school 400 hurdles record with a spirited run in over the final barrier, clocking 49.20 to break Kenneth Ferguson's mark of 49.38 that was set in 2002. That time also bettered the meet record of 49.28 by Jeshua Anderson in 2008. Behind Davis, Miller Warme of Kamiak HS in Washington state also broke the previous prep record with his 49.28, while Texas high school champion Andrew Jones lowered his PB to 49.46. Warme's club teammate, Kenyon Andrews, also cracked 50 seconds with a 49.92 for fourth.
Facing 2024 Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Quincy Wilson in the final of the men's 400, Oakland Mills HS grad Jayden Deleon ran past his rival and stopped the clock at 44.52, smashing the meet record of 44.93 that was set by Steven McElroy in 2022 and moving to No. 6 on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list. Wilson earned silver in 44.84.
Florida freshman Claire Stegall, who was the SEC bronze medalist and a semifinalist at the NCAA Championships here last week, obliterated the meet record in the women's 1500, using a 61.96 final lap to break the tape in 4:04.59, the No. 2 all-time U.S. U20 performance. Ellery Lincoln, daughter of 2004 steeplechase Olympian Daniel Lincoln, also finished well under the old record of 4:14.74 with a 4:07.99 that earned her the No. 7 spot on the all-time U20 list.
The only field event meet record to go down went to Hannah Grace of Tennessee, who was sixth at the NCAA Championships for the Lady Vols. Grace cleared 4.45/14-7.25 to add three centimeters to the previous record set by Rachel Baxter in 2018.
Thursday's first race on the track saw Mia Sirois of Barrington (Illinois) HS claim the meet record in the women's 5000 with a 15:46.74 that put her in front of a pair of collegians, Emily Wisniewski of NC State, who also bettered the previous record with a 15:54.39 in second, and Rylee Blade of Florida State. Blade set an American U20 record in the 10,000 to finish seventh at the NCAA Championships. The old meet record of 15:56.84 was set by future marathon Olympian Fiona O'Keeffe in 2016.
The other meet record went to Sierra Wall of the Colorado School of Mines, who knocked more than six seconds off the previous record in the women's 3000 steeplechase, winning in 10:08.30 to better the 10:14.67 by Sarah Edwards in 2017.
Californian Jaslene Massey was a double winner in the women's throws, narrowly missing the U20 and prep record in the discus with a 60.27/197-9 on Thursday and adding shot put gold Friday with a lifetime best of 16.88/55-4.75. Massey's discus mark moved her to third on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list.
The top two finishers who achieve the qualifying standard will be selected for Team USATF for the World Athletics U20 Championships that are slated for August 5-9 in Eugene. It is the second time the U.S. has hosted the world U20 meet on the storied Oregon campus, coming after the 2014 edition that drew rave reviews in the old Hayward Field.