Virginians @ AAU Junior Olympic Games Highlights

AAU Junior Olympic Games
MileSplit Staff

 

Highlights of performances by Virginians at the 2013 AAU Junior Olympic Games beng held between July 28th and August 3rd at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

 

AAU Junior Olympic Games Coverage Links:

 

Thursday Highlights

  • Rising sophomore Grant Holloway of Grassfield only needed to a clear a height of 6'6" to claim the AAU age group national title for the 15-16 age group boys. Holloway earlier this spring in freshmen year of outdoor track cleared a remarkable height of 6'11".
  • Grassfield's Grant Holloway clocked a new personal best time of 14.22 to finish 3rd for All-American honors in the finals of the 110 meter hurdles for the 15-16 age group boys.
  • Morgan Knight of South County earned AAU All-American honors with a 5th place clocking of 14.61 in the finals of the 100 meter hurdles for the 17-18 year old girls.
  • No AAU national title for Mustaqeem Williams in the 200 meter dash after being the top qualifier from the prelims earlier in the week. It remains to be seen if he will show up in the next round of the 100 meter dash or what reasons he did not show for the 200 semis.

Wednesday Highlights

C.D. Hylton's Ebony Owusu-Sampah

  • C.D. Hylton's Ebony Owusu-Sampah won the Group AAA state title this spring in the triple jump and this past week became an AAU national runner-up in the event for the 17-18 age group girls with a new season best time of 39'4". South County's Jeonna Taylor placed 7th in the same event with a mark of 37'8.50".
  • Nichelle Scott of L.C. Bird earned All-American honors in the 800 meter run with a new personal best time of 2:13.32 to place her 3rd in the finals of the 17-18 age group girls division. A repeat All-American performance for Scott who was 4th last year in the AAU finals of the 15-16 age group division (2:14.62).
  • The versatile youthful track talent that is Grant Holloway of Grassfield finished 4th for All-American honors in the long jump with a leap of 21'11.25". He will be featured in the 110 meter hurdles and high jump in his age group's division this week as well.
  • State record holder Mustaqeem Williams of Forest Park comfortably won his semi-finals heat of the 100 meter dash with a 10.67 clocking. We will see in the finals if Williams can shift into another gear and challenge his state record performance of 10.31 from last week in Greensboro, North Carolina at the USATF JO's.
  • Brooke Point's Joe Cline needed a 51 plus foot throw and some change to crack into the top 6 for All-American honors of the 17-18 age group boys in the shot put as his best mark of the day at 49'10.50" ranked him 7th in the final standings.
  • Ashanti Jackson of Phoebus finished 7th place in the 2000 meter steeplechase with a time of 8:16.93, which completed a solid summer of races in the event for the primary 300 meter hurdler in the spring running 1,700 meters more in the steeplechase.
  • Osbourn Park's Kiana Hairston just missed the finals of the girls 100 meter dash  (17-18 age group) with 12.30 clocking to put her on the outside looking in of the 8 finalists as the 9th fastest performer in the semi-finals.

Tuesday Highlights

Woodbridge's Isaac Agyemang

  • Woodbridge's Isaac Agyemang was the AAU national runner-up in the 15-16 age group for the boys' decathlon with a grand total of 5,360 points. Agyemang was the top performer in several of the multi events including the discus (107'2"), 400 meter dash (51.97), and 100 meter dash (11.59).
  • Mustaqeem Williams of Forest Park continues rolling as he was the fastest qualifier in round one of the 17-18 age group boys 200 meter dash with a 21.20 clocking.
  • Grassfield rising sophomore Grant Holloway clocked a time of 14.49 to win his prelim heat of the 15-16 age group boys 110 meter hurdles comfortably and move onto the finals as the second fastest qualifier and legitimate threat to win an AAU age group national title in the event.
  • Forest Park's Christian McFarland just missed AAU All-American honors in the triple jump with a 7th place mark of 42'8.75" in the 15-16 age group bracket, which was a new personal best for the rising junior after jumping in the 39-40 foot range for most of the outdoor season.
  • South County's Morgan Knight will be in the finals of the 100 meter hurdles for the 17-18 age group girls after posting the 4th fastest time overall in the prelims at 14.71. The Northern Region outdoor champion has a personal best of 14.43 in the event.
  • Victoria Pope of C.D. Hylton clocked a new PR of 15.13 in the 100 meter hurdles prelims, but fell just short of the time inserting her into the finals of the 15-16 age group girls 100 meter hurdles with the 9th fastest time overall after winning her heat.
  • After making it out of the prelims of the 100 meter dash on Monday, Osbourn Park rising junior Kiana Hairston also was able to advance out of the first round of the 200 meter dash for the 17-18 age group girls with a 24.66 clocking (12th fastest overall). She was second in the same heat as the top qualifier Kendall Baisden (24.03) from Michigan.

Monday Highlights

William Byrd's Marcellus Fletcher

  • Mustaqeem Williams of Forest Park is back in action after his historic races last weekend at the USATF Junior Olympic Championships when he set the Virginia high school state records in the 100 (10.31) and 200 (20.64) meter dash. Williams opened at the AAU JO's in Michigan with a 10.63 performance in the prelims of the 100 meter dash as the top qualifier in the event.
  • William Byrd rising junior Marcellus Fletcher was 7th in the triple jump at the New Balance Nationals earlier in the summer to just miss All-American honors, but was able to achieve that status at the AAU national meet with a 5th place leap of 47'3.25".
  • Colonial Forge rising junior Crystal Jones cleared a height of 5'4" in the 15-16 age group girls high jump, which tied her for 7th place in the event.
  • Osbourn Park's Kiana Hairston won her preliminary heat of the girls 100 meter dash (17-18 age group division) with a 12.22 clocking, which makes her 10th fastest going into the next round.
  • Both Grassfield's Grant Holloway (10th, 11.24) and Grafton's Alize Ford (11th, 11.28) both were heat winners in the first round of the 15-16 boys age group of the 100 meter dash to move onto the semis.
  • C.D. Hylton's Ebony Owusu-Sampah leaped to an 8th place mark of 17-6.75 in the 17-18 girls long jump with South County's Jeonna Taylor just behind her in the final results in 10th place with a mark of 17-5.25.
  • Osbourn Park's Teague Peck just missed the finals of the 800 boys meter dash in the 17-18 age group after finishing 2nd in his preliminary heat with a time of 1:58.26.
  • Christina Hill of Colonial Forge clocked a new personal best of 2:23.43 in the 800 meter run, which placed her a second away and two places away from making the finals of the 17-18 age group girls with the 15th fastest overall time among 60 competitors.