AAU Junior Olympic Games Day 2 Recap

08/06/2020


Check out the Day 2 recap of the AAU Junior Olympic Games for track and field.

Article originally posted on MileSplit.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - The second day of the AAU Junior Olympic Games kicked off at Satellite Beach High School, and action began to heat up -- both figuratively and literally. There were finals in the 4x800m and preliminaries of the 80mH, 100mH, 110mH, 100m, and 400m. In the field events, there were a handful of long jump, discus, and shot put competitors between the ages of 12 and 16. 

The 400m captured the highlights of the day. Nine-year-old Victor Jaimez-Solorio continued his domination on the track and ran the fastest time of the day for his age group with a 1:05.73. Mekenzie Rogers of Florissant, Missouri ran a 57.60 in the 12-year-old age group after running the fastest time in the 100m of 12.86.
After making the 800m final on Wednesday, Michaela Rose returned to the track ran the fastest time in the women's 17-18 division preliminaries, clocking a time of 55.60.
Meanwhile, spectators -- in masks -- were able to see Auhmad Robinson cruise to the ninth fastest time this outdoor season in the 400m. The Stephen F. Austin signee goes into the final on Saturday with the fastest time of 47.75. Bryce McCray, the national champion in the men's 17-18 division of the 400mH yesterday, goes into the final with the third-fastest time of 48.20.

Lucheyona Weaver also made it into the finals of the 100mH with a leading time of 14.31. Makeriah Harris ran the fastest time in the 100mH in the 14-year-old division with a 14.27. Harris is also made the 400m final with the second-fastest time in her age group with a 56.34 -- and on Wednesday, she also made the final of the 200m, which will take place on Friday. Christin Facey leads the 14-year-olds in the 400m with a 55.85.
 
THURSDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RECAPS:
Girls 12yo 4x800: In this two team race, Rocky Mount Parks and Rec (NC) won with a time of 11:46.49 and Central Florida Flyers (FL) earned the silver medal with a 12:14.95
Girls 14yo 4x800: Five Star General Athletics was the only team to compete for the national title. The winning time was 10:27.02.
Girls 15-16yo 4x800: It was a race between Impact Speed Athletics Track (FL) and Fast Lane TC (FL). Impact Speed Athletics took the gold medal with a winning time of 10:33.64 and Fast Lane TC earned the silver medal with a 10:47.26.
Boys 15-16yo 4x800: The Fast Lane TC stopped the clock at 8:59.72 to become the national champions in this event.
Women 17-18yo 4x800: Track Dynamite (TX) won the title in 9:54.67. 
Men 17-18yo 4x800: Madeira Distance Project, Txs Texas Select XC Track Club and Central Florida Flyers were the three teams to go after the title. Madeira Distance Project won in 8:04.42. It was a close place for second place, but Txs Texas Select XC Track Club crossed the finish line in 8:48.52 and Central Florida Flyers finished in 8:49.63. 
Girls 12yo Long Jump: Delaware's Arianna Montgomery won the long jump title with a personal best jump of 16-05.35. D'Asia Duncan finished in second with a leap of 16-03.25 and Hattie Anderson earned the bronze with a 15-11.00.
Boys 12yo Long Jump: Taylor Royster won the competition with a jump of 16-10.75. Griffin Schlenbecker earned the silver with a leap of 15-07.75, just a few inches over the bronze medalist Quran Clayton of Oak Hills, California. 
Girls 13yo Long Jump: Aryanna Haynes of Warner Robins, Georgia earned the bronze medal in this event. Amare Garrett placed second with a long jump effort of 15-07.75. The national champion in this event, Anyeh Bronson of Fayetteville, North Carolina won with a 16-09.75. 
Boys 13yo Long Jump: O'Kece Battle from Cocoa, Florida won the competition by nearly an inch over Omarion Seymour of Mount Vernon, New York. Battle won with a mark of 16-08.50 and Seymour came in second with a 16-07.75. Jaeden McMillan came in third with a jump of 16-5.
Girls 11yo Discus: Three athletes contested for the national title. Milan Moriniere had the best throw of 70-09. Olivia Persson of Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the second-best throw of 42-08 and Lily Coble of Takoma Park, Maryland threw 26-02.
Boys 11yo Discus: Like the girls 11-year-old competition, there were three athletes competing for the boys' title. Jordan Carraway won the gold medal by four inches over Harrison Hickox. Carraway threw 71-06. The bronze medal went to Joshua Bergkamp with a throw of 61-10. 
Girls 15-16yo Discus: The winning throw of 146-07 was thrown by Giddings, Texas' Carlie Weiser (above). Mckynzie Mauney earned the silver with a throw of 139-07 and Lauren Thomas earned the bronze with a throw of 123-02.
Girls 9yo Shot Put: Magdalena Kandt had a great day in the ring. She won the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 26-03. Zoe Ghanbari threw the second furthest throw of 21-2.50 and Ralieah Donaldson was third with a 19-06 throw. 
Boys 9yo Shot Put: Charlie Williams of Cocoa, Florida won the event with a 22-09.25 and Amaury Mitchell was second with 19-11.50. 
Girls 14yo Shot Put: In a close competition, Katharine Beachler won a gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 42-09. Madeleine Fey came in second with a throw of 41-09.75 and Evelyn Musonda was third with a 37-06.75.
Boys 14yo Shot Put: Three Floridians swept the podium. 48-01.75 was the winning throw for Jayden Milfort of Miami. Affeon Rivers of Vero Beach earned the silver with a throw of 45-01. Josiah Allen earned the bronze with a 43-08.50. 
The fastest 100m time of the day came in the 11th heat of the boys' 15-16 age group. Erriyon Knighton put on the jets and ran a blazing time of 10.45 into a -1.0 wind. The rising junior from Tampa Hillsborough (FL) has a personal best of 10.40, which he ran at the RSS CO-19 2020 Summer Series #2 in mid-July. The national record in this event is 10.27 that was set back in 1996 by Ryan Berard of Houston, TX. But Knighton has the opportunity to win his first gold medal in the 100m at the AAU Junior Olympics. Last year, he earned the silver medal in the 200m and bronze in the 400m. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Day 3 action on Friday will feature only one timed championship final in the 1500m run across all divisions. Fans can catch the finals in the 80mH, 100mh, 110mH, and 200m sprints. There will be a semifinal for the 4x400m relay. In the field events, there will be multiple heats of jumps and throws at Satellite Beach High School.