Colorado product David Oliver won big in the 110 Hurdles at the USA Track & Field Championships this past weekend. Photo by Vic Sailer, photorun.com.
Without a World Championships or an Olympic Games to qualify for, the USA Track & Field Championships didn't have quite the luster this year that we've grown accustomed to in recent years. Still, there were several spectacular performances posted. And not a few of those were posted by athletes who have been part of the Colorado high school scene. Those performances included one current high schooler, a few very recent high school graduates, and a few more not-so-recent graduates.
Most noteworthy of all may be David Oliver winning the 110 hurdles in a wind-legal time of 12.93. As if the time wasn't convincing enough, Oliver made it convincing on all counts, winning his heats in prelims, semis, and finals.
Speaking of hurdlers, Trevor Brown had a solid showing in the 110 hurdles, junior division. Brown brought home third with a time of 13.74.
The senior men's shot put also had a strong representation from Colorado with Russ Winger finishing 4th and Mason Finley 8th. Unlike so many other events on the weekend, the men's shot put field included most of the nation's regular top performers. Earlier in the week, Winger and Finley also placed in the discus with a 4th and an 8th, respectively.
Eleanor Fulton took second in the junior women's 3000 steeplechase, finishing second to Shelby Greany with a time of 10:37.84. While neither earned a placing finish, it is noteworthy that both Matt Williams and Alicia Nelson qualified for and ran in the finals of the senior 3000 Steeplechase events.
Elsewhere, places were earned by Cassie Ortiz in the junior women's 5000 (8th), Sarah Stevens in the senior women's shot put (3rd), plus Aaron Braun and Brent Vaughn in the senior men's 5000 (4th and 5th, respectively).