SACRAMENTO, California — The sixth day of the USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships was the most exciting yet, with two more meet records and 55 event finishers becoming USATF national champions. The very first race of the day was one of the most exciting, with Ava Padilla (Unattached/USATF Pacific) holding off Charlene Evangelista (Unattached/USATF Pacific) in the last few steps of the girls 11-12 3000 to win the title. Padilla finished in 10:25.28 to Evangelista’s 10:25.79, with the two girls over 100m ahead of third. The boys 11-12 3000m followed immediately after and continued the hot start to the day, with Quenton Lanese (Barron Park Striders/USATF Pacific Northwest) running 9:31.17 to shatter the previous meet record of 9:38.52. The silver medalist, Elias Thronson (Delta Hawks/USATF Pacific), also ran well under the record with his 9:35.74 finishing time. Beaux Hudson (Track Houston Youth Track/USATF Gulf) ran an impressive time of 26.08 to win the boys 9-10 200m by well over a second. In the girls 11-12 200m, Sa’Niyah Williams (ATL Zoom Athletics/USATF Georgia) blasted out of the turn to take the title decisively in 25.66 seconds - almost a second ahead of the field. In one of the most memorable races of the entire week, LeRoy Horton (Team Blackout Elite Track/USATF Pacific Northwest) ran 22.25 to emerge victorious in the boys 15-16 200m where the top seven finishers were separated by only half of a second. With nearly the entire field entering the home stretch shoulder-to-shoulder, the crowd was left staring at the jumbotron to see where each athlete finished. When the dust settled, Harlow Tong (Minnesota Sprint Factory/USATF Minnesota) had finished second in 22.28 and Trarell Beckford (Speed Academy/USATF Florida) was third in 22.35. Makenna Herbst (Unattached/USATF San Diego-Imperial) held off Taylor Brown (North Texas Jackrabbits/USATF Southwestern) to win the girls 15-16 800m title by a lean, finishing in 2:15.00 to Brown’s 2:15.22. Herbst ran near the lead throughout and used a well-timed kick to surge into the lead and sprint her way to a national title. In the boys 15-16 800m, Xai Ricks (Unattached/USATF Southern California) ran a masterful last lap to put almost three seconds on the field, winning dominantly in 1:54.78. The evening of 4x100m relays started with a bang, with the boys 8 and under division race seeing gold and silver separated by only one hundredth of a second. New Era Elite Track’s anchor Dailan Maples (New Era Elite Track/USATF Southern California) held off a valiant challenge from Track Houston’s Elijah Griffin Jr (Track Houston Youth Track/USATF Gulf), finishing in 58.30 to Track Houston’s 58.31. The field action featured another meet record, this time in the women's 17-18 pole vault. Tessa Mudd (Mt. Pleasant Track Club/USATF South Carolina) soared to a clearance of 4.27m/14-00 on her first attempt, besting the previous record of 4.24m and winning the competition by two feet.
Ava Padilla - Unattached - 10:25.28
Quenton Lanese - Barron Park Striders - 9:31.17
Adria Favero - Wolfpack Running Club Utah - 10:03.32
Kevin Steinman - Cal Coast Track - 9:25.27
Alexis Leone - Unattached - 10:05.55
McKenna Kozeluh - North Idaho Blaze - 10:16.27
Mila Woolforde - Black Lightning - 30.17
Christopher Flowers - Arizona Rising Suns - 28.64
Shawn Lawrence - Fresno Flyers Track Club - 27.61
Beaux Hudson - Track Houston Youth Track
Sa’Niyah Williams - ATL Zoom Athletics - 25.66
Brandon LaFell Jr. - Dave Bethany Track Club
Somto Igwilo - Major Impact Track - 24.63
Jalen Aguilar-Carnes - Lane 5 - 22.14
Brooke Jackson - Track Houston Youth Track - 24.64
LeRoy Horton - Team Blackout Elite Track - 22.25
Aniyah Bigam - North Texas Jackrabbits - 23.90
Carter Cukerstein - Legion TC-NY - 21.21
Meilani Tickey - NX Level Athletx - 2:43.91
Idris Cooper - Afterburners Track - 2:31.83
Kunusasha Medas-king - Midas Touch - 2:28.85
Abram Velazquez - Do Right Educational Sports - 2:24.20
Ava Padilla - Unattached - 2:16.39
Wade Swain - Full Stride - 2:10.89
Katelyn Kliesch - Ocean Breeze Wave Runners - 2:13.59
Jerryn Witter - Velocity Kids Club - 2:03.13
Makenna Herbst - Unattached - 2:15.00
Xai Ricks - Unattached - 1:54.78
Sasha Crawford - North Texas Cheetahs Track - 2:08.56
Andrew Specht - LV SPEED - 1:53.01
Valley United Track Club - Beth Nwachukwu, Kennedy Terrell, Tahari Skinner, Nyla Hurston - 1:02.57
New Era Elite Track - Kayden Wilson, Ishmael Kirkland, Jordan McClain, Dalian Maples - 58.30
Las Vegas Heat - Miley Crowley, Anylah Gooden, Audriyonna Jones, Lullianna Lilly - 54.97
Track Houston Youth Track - Jeremy Foreman II, Beaux Hudson, Aston Brazier, Josiah Young - 53.55
San Diego Elite Youth Track - Livia Allison, Lilah Black, Daylani Daniels, Aniya Scott - 50.69
Dave Bethany T.C. - Kallen Brigham, Ryan McFarland, Caiden Lawrence, Tramon Williams Jr - 48.63
Black Lightning - Marley Scoggins, Justine Wilson, Alaya Graves-Hogains, DeAuna Louis - 46.75
Track Houston Youth Track - Chase Stayman, Marrel Davis III, Bryderick Robins, Dilyn Smith - 44.00
Track Houston Youth Track - Nita Koom-Dadzie, Avia Jones, Mackenzie Collins, Laila Payne - 46.38
Track Houston Youth Track - Jaden Jenkins, Oluwatobiloba Tobi Hasstrup, Benjamin Haywood, LeAnderay Collins II - 42.43
Windy City Hammers - Sydney Weaver, Jayden Eickhoff-Brown, Asia Thomas, Madison Saunders - 45.93
Athletic Performance R - Dariante Hall, Tsegaya Fazarro, Will Quintana, Emmanuel Ekong - 40.60
Ian Millage - Unattached - 3.63m
Olivia Scott - The Inner Circle Track Club - 4.79m
Tramon Williams Jr - Dave Bethany T.C - 5.12m
Rhoan Kaulder II - Maximum Velocity Track & Field - 6.68m
Mary Taylor - Dave Bethany T.C. - 1.60m
Kyra Bakke - The Inner Circle Track Club - 1.60m
Sofia Wydra - TNT Track and Field Academy - 41.03m
Troy Cocco - Mt. Pleasant Track Club - 62.39m
Arisa Bisofa - Boas Throwing Club - 33.63m
Brielle Lawson - Afterburners Track - 36.19m
Del’Qwan Morrow II - 3M Track Club - 8.94m
Benjamin Hiestand - Unattached - 14.44m
Tessa Mudd - Mt. Pleasant Track Club - 4.27m A full list of results can be found here. Watch all the action live on USATF.TV+. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATFFutureStars.