We'll keep updating this as the JO Nationals meet marches through the week...
Monday and Tuesday
Colorado and New Mexico entries were a bit on the side of light for the first two days of the USATF Junior Olympics Nationals meet in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Monday and Tuesday.
It the 4 kg hammer throw, Haley Showalter outdistanced the field by more than five full feet, winning with a throw of 165-10. That throw also established a new meet record for intermediate girls.
Colorado and New Mexico had one entry each in the heptathlon. In the intermediate age group, Chasidy Horton scored 4083 points to claim ninth place. Horton's biggest point event was the 200, where her time of 25.97 pulled in 800 points.
New Mexico was represented in the young women's heptathlon by Kyra Mohns. Mohns finished 16th in the competition with 3738 points. Mohn's top scoring event was the 800 where her 2:33.04 netted her 655 points.
Wednesday
Colorado's Rachel Hough and Kristian Carroll both missed advancing out of prelims in the intermediate 800. Hough ran 2:27.85 and Carroll 2:07.98. Philip Thomas ran 2:00.07 in the young men's division but also missed out on qualifying for finals. Moises Coca of New Mexico encountered a similar fate, running 2:06.93 in the intermediate division.
In the 400 hurdles, there were several Colorado entries. Carly Paul bowed out of the competition with a 1:05.54. Carly Lester ran 1:03.60 and did make the cut for the next round. Trenton Stringari posted the #8 time in prelims with a 55.46 and will run in the next round.
Colorado's Jai'Shaun Thompson took the final 200 meter semis qualifying slot with a time of 21.65.
In field events, Chasidy Horton jumped an even 17-0 for 14th. Haley Showalter took 9th in the shot put at 39-3.25. New Mexico's Mike Budick launched the discus to 163-1 for sixth.
Thursday
Michael Day advanced to the 1500 finals with a time of 4:12.93. Figure that time will drop a little in finals. Fast Trax Troupe teammate Philip Thomas bowed out of the 17-18 1500 with a time of 4:23.16.
Trenton Stringari advance to the 110 hurdles semis with a wind-legal effort of 15.71.
Haley Showalter continued a nice series of finishes in the throwing events by taking a second in the 15-16 discus with a mark of 141-4.
Ashley Miller cruised in the 100 hurdles semis with a 14.35. Kiana Gomez, however, missed making the semis at 15.42. In the next age group up (17-18), the qualifying rules produced a paradoxical result. Carly Paul advanced by taking second in her heat with a 15.04, but Carly Lester failed to advance with a 14.94. Lester's time was wind legal, Paul's was not.
Jai'Shaun Thompson ran a wind-legal 10.87 in the 100 but missed advancing to semis. Thompson also ran in the semis of the 200, but missed making finals with a time of 22.49.
In the triple jump, Maya Ries fouled her first two attempts and finished 22nd with a 35-3 on her third attempt. Kiana Gomez took 37th with a 33-5.75.
New Mexico's Mike Budick took 18th in the 17-18 shot put with a heave of 50-8.25. Also from New Mexico, Dayna Guerro ran 5:29 to take 31st in the 17-18 1500.
Friday
With the week of competition nearing its end, several Colorado and New Mexico athletes were still in action.
Payton Miller ran 55.79 to advance to semis of the 400. Rachel Hough ran a 58.93 but was not able to advance to the next round.
Michael Day logged a fourth in the 15-16 3000 with a nice time of 9:09.68. New Mexico's Moises Coca took 12th in the same event with a 9:30.86.
Ashley Miller stormed through the semis of the 100 hurdles with the best time of 14.00 (-1.2). In the next age group up, Carly Paul bowed out at 15.18.
Lauren Martinez went 10-8 in the pole vault to tie for 18th position.
Lindsay Read ended up 10th in the 17-18 triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 38-7.
Saturday
It was a quiet day for New Mexico, but the Colorado group was seeing a good amount of action.
High jumpers Carly Paul (17-18), Rajon O'Quinn (17-18), and Ashlyn Hare (15-16) had their turns. Paul's 5-5 was good enough for second. O'Quinn and Hare both cleared 5-1, which was not enough to place in either case.
In the 15-16 400 hurdles, Trenton Stringari stayed alive to run in finals with a 55.73, good enough for fourth in semis. Carly Lester's 1:02.32 missed making finals by three places.
Missing finals by an even narrower margin was Payton Miller in the 400. Miller's 55.52 was the first time out in the 400 semis.
Sunday
Highlighting the action on Sunday were two second-place hurdle finishes for the Colorado contingent. Trenton Stringari ran 54.17 for second in the 15-16 boys 400 hurdles. Ashley Miller ran 14.00 (+1.6) for second in the 15-16 girls 100 hurdles.
Elsewhere, Colt Sessions cleared 6-4.75 in the high jump, but that wasn't enough to get him into the places. Michael Day, on the other hand, ran 4:07.33 in the 15-16 boys 1500 for a very nice fourth-place finish in that event.
Complete Results
Please notify me (e-mail address in bottom-left corner of this page) if I have inadvertantly overlooked the results of any Colorado and New Mexico athlete in these summaries. Thanks!