Day 7 Summary
Joel Coleman (pictured right by Ted Plunkett), a rising junior at King's Fork High School in Suffolk, ran a significant PR in the 400 meter dash in the intermediate boys prelims as he clocked a time of 48.99 to advance to the finals with the fourth fastest qualifier.
Champagne Bell of Booker T. Washington and Cassandra Jones of Granby just missed making the finals for the young women's 400 meter dash with Bell at 56.30 and Jones at 56.33 as the ninth and tenth fastest athletes in the prelims.
Norfolk Real Track Club's 4x800 meter relay in the intermediate girls division placed third overall with a time of 10:00.70. The relay included Bethel's Rashaun Combs, Churchland's Amani Harper and Khadeja Kearney, and Indian River's Shannon Morton.
Day 6 Summary
Elizabeth Cornell (pictured left by Ted Plunkett), a rising junior at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, drop her previous 1500 best by five seconds to take first place and win the AAU national title with a time of 4:50.96. Cornell, who has a personal best of 5:09 for 1600 from a runner-up performance at MileStat.com Track Classic, has had a great summer of races.
William Brown of Hampton, VA (high school unknown) became an AAU age group national title in the 1500 meter run with a 4:04.98 victory to win by less than two tenths of a second.
Consisting of many of the same relay members who performed well last week at the USATF Junior Oympic National Championships in Greensboro, the intermediate boys 4x400 from the Norfolk Real Deal ran the second fastest qualifying time at 3:19.39. The young women's 4x400 from Norfolk Real Deal is also moving onto the finals after a 3:45.48 performance in the prelims as the third fastest qualifier including many top Eastern Region athletes.
J.R. Tucker rising sophomore Nick Simmons earned All-American honors in the intermediate boys high jump with a successful clearance of 6'2" and a third place finish in the event.
Walter Mitchell from Salem High School in Virginia Beach will be moving onto the 200 meter dash finals in the intermediate boys division after posting a time of 22.11 which is third fastest among all qualifiers. Also competing in the finals of the 200 meter dash for the young women division will be Menchville's Tania Minkins after winning her heat in 24.41.
Day 5 Summary
Keilah Tyson once again clocked a swift time well under 12 seconds as the incoming Western Branch transfer from Oscar Smith will certainly be in the hunt for an AAU national title in the 100 meter dash after qualifying for the finals. Tyson ran a time of 11.80 in the prelims, which ties her for fastest among all finalists as Tiffani McReynolds also ran the same time in the first round.
Tiffany Ellick leaped to an All-American honor in the long jump for intermediate girls with a mark of 18'5", which is just an inch behind her all-time best of 18'6" to give the Indian River rising sophomore a fourth place finish.
Day 4 Summary
Walter Mitchell of Salem High School is the fastest qualifier in the intermediate boys 200 meter dash after clocking 21.57 in the prelims. A rising junior from Virginia Beach, Mitchell improved his previous 200 personal best of 21.77 with the performance in Iowa.
Tania Minkins of Menchville will be the second fastest qualifier heading into the young women's 200 meter dash finish following her 24.11 clocking in the prelims, which is a dramatic drop in her personal best with a previous best of 24.56.
Day 3 Summary
At the VHSL Group AAA State Meet in May, Booker T. Washington's Champagne Bell leaped to a personal best mark of 19'0" to finish fifth place in the long jump. She was a few inches short of that mark at the AAU Junior Olympic Championships at 18'9", but her performance was good enough for her to finish as a national runner-up in the young women's division.
