The St. Louis area was well represented at last week’s Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.
Area athletes from the various summer track and field clubs from St. Louis came home from Michigan with several national championships and some national records as well.
Young middle distance phenom Brandon Miller of the Ultimate Speed Academy turned in another sparkling performance by winning three gold medals and setting two new national records. Running in the boys 15-16 age group, Miller won the 800-meter run in a winning time of 1 minute 49.87 seconds, which was a new national record for the age group and also a new national freshman record.
A sophomore at John Burroughs, Miller also won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:02.59 and ran a leg on the USA’s championship 4×800-meter relay in a time of 7:59.79. Miller was joined on the relay team by Hasani Barr (Cardinal Ritter), Jameson Williams (Cardinal Ritter) and Lazarus Williams (SLUH). Miller, Williams, Barr and Williams also set a national record in the 4×400-meter relay prelims with a time of 3:12.18. They finished with a silver medal in the finals.
Hasani Barr won an individual championship of his own when he won the 400-meter dash in a winning time of 48.91. Former Rockwood Summit standout Rayvon Allen (Blues Track Club) won the long jump in the 17-18 division with a leap of 49 feet 5 inches.
Former Hazelwood Central standout Shauniece O’Neal won national titles in the girls’ 17-18 shot put and discus. O’Neal won the shot put with a heave of 44 feet 4 inches and the discus with a throw of 145 feet 10 inches. She will be a freshman at Southern Illinois. Webster Groves standout Nia Lyles (Blues Track Club) won the girls’ shot put in the 15-16 division with an effort of 43-5 ¾.
Young sprinting star Alicia Burnett (Fort Zumwalt South) of the Ultimate Speed Academy was a double national champion in the 100 and 200 in the girls’ 15-16 division. Burnett won the 100 in a time of 11.86 and the 200 with a winning time of 24.16. Another double winner in the sprints was Aniyah Brown of the Blues Track Club, who won the 100 and 200 in the girls 11-year old division. Brown posted winning times of 12.55 in the 199 and 25.10 in the 200.
In the girls’ 15-16 4×800-meter relay, the Blues Track Club team of Reina McMillan, Taylor Dent, Dayla Walker and Kylie Goldfarb won the gold medal in a winning time of 10:12.65.
A trio of athletes who also bought home gold medals in the throws were Sydney Juszczyk, Malcolm Harvey and Michael Phillips. Juszczyk (Ultimate Speed Academy) won the girls’ 13-14 javelin with a throw of 140 feet 4 inches. Harvey (Ultimate Speed Academy) won the boys’ 13-14 javelin with a throw of 153 feet while Phillips (Blues Track Club) won the boys’ 11-12 shot put with an effort of 42-10 ¼.
A pair of athletes also brought home championships in the race walk in Casey Anderson (Ultimate Speed Academy) and Caleb Nesbitt (Ultimate Speed Academy). Anderson won the 1,500-meter race walk in the boys’ 9-year old division in a time of 9:26.45. Nesbitt won the boys’ 11 1,500-meter race walk in 9:11.85.
