Golden Performances take center stage in the Golden State on day two of USATF National Junior Olympic Championships

SACRAMENTO, California — Five individuals and eight 4x800m teams were crowned national champions on day two of the USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championship, highlighted by record breaking performances in the race walk and 4x800m relay.
 
The women’s race walks were highlighted by Heather Durrant (Elgin Sharks Track Club/USATF Illinois), who flew to a time of 13:49.08 to win by a sizable margin and best the previous meet record of 14:20.80 by over 30 seconds. On top of her own record-breaking performance, Durrant led a sweep by her club and was joined on the podium by her teammates Angelica Harris (Elgin Sharks Track Club/USATF Illinois) and Hannah Durrant (Elgin Sharks Track Club/USATF Illinois) in second and third. 
 
The afternoon of 4x800m relays started with a bang when Texas Storm Track’s relay team used a phenomenal anchor leg to pull away and win the girls 11-12 division in style. The race was a back-and-forth affair with Texas Storm and Black Lightning Track Club trading the lead throughout before the Storm’s anchor Dominique Turner (Texas Storm Track Club/USATF Gulf) unleashed a blistering final 200 meters to put the race away for her team. The 13-14 girls 4x800m was also equally exciting, highlighted by the Pacific Coast Shock Waves edging Track Houston Youth Track just before the line to win in 9:26.32. Track Houston would finish in a well-earned second place in 9:27.82, almost 35 seconds ahead of third. 
 
On the boys side, Compton Electric Speed ran 8:22.15 to not only win the boys 13-14 division but also run under the previous meet record of 8:23.70. The squad entered the home straight of the final leg in second place behind Track Houston Youth Track, but anchor Jaelen Hunter (Compton Electric Speed/USATF Southern California) was not to be denied, storming into the lead with 60 meters to go and never looking back. 
 
In the only field final of the day, Gage Pedro (Yelm Tornado Track Club/USATF Pacific Northwest) threw 50.30m to set a five meter personal best on his sixth and final throw to stand atop the podium in the 17-man field. 

Day Two Winners

3000m Race Walk: Boys 15-16 Division

Rowan McDonald - Unattached - 14:50.65

3000m Race Walk: Mens 17-18 Division

Clayton Stoil - Unattached - 14:08.03

3000m Race Walk: Girls 15-16 Division

Talia Green - Major Impact TX - 14:01.39

3000m Race Walk: Womens 17-18 Division

Heather Durrant - Elgin Sharks Track - 13:49.08

4x800m: Girls 11-12 Division

Texas Storm Track Club - Aaliyah Ejiasi, Emmalee Spriggins, Essence Walker, Dominique Turner - 10:14.91

4x800m: Boys 11-12 Division

Pacific Coast Shock Waves - Luca Matarese, Blake Granillo, Victor Jaimes-Solorio Jr., Ethan Pettus - 9:52.10

4x800m: Girls 13-14 Division

Pacific Coast Shock Waves - Race Nunez, Becky Osorio, Xiomara Lewis, Brooke Blue - 9:26.32

4x800m: Boys 13-14 Division 

Compton Electric Speed - Darieon Shufford, Jae’ron Harris, Kaedyn Burroughs, Jaelen Hunter - 8:22.15

4x800m: Girls 15-16 Division 

Track Houston Youth Track - Sarah Pantophlet, Madison Krueger, Grace Kowalski, Illona Gabaut-Diziere - 9:29.00

4x800m: Boys 15-16 Division 

LV SPEED - Logan Scott, Chase McCallum Myles Oliver, Donovan Love - 8:10.95

4x800m: Women 17-18 Division

Kansas Flyers Track Team - Bethany Druse, Elle Williams, Hayley Trotter, Chesney Peterson - 9:06.14

4x800m: Men 17-18 Division

Menlo iGreyhounds TC - Saaketh Nandakumar, Aidan Deffner, Daniel Voyles, Justin Pretre - 7:53.68

Hammer Throw: Boys 15-16 Division

Gage Pedro - Yelm Tornado Track Club - 50.30m 
 
A full list of results can be found here. 
 
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