2015 World Youth Trials
Meet Page & Coverage Central
Preview: Girls Sprints/Hurdles - Boys Sprints/Hurdles - Girls Distance - Boys Distance - Girls Field Events - Boys Field Events
With the exception of the girls 800, the fields are rather on the light side for the World Youth Trials for the United States set for Tuesday and Wednesday this week at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Somewhat disappointing considering how many outstanding sophomore and junior distance runners are found throughout the country that passed on the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2015 World Youth Championships in two weeks in Columbia if they had qualified at the trials.
Nonetheless, can count on at least one World Youth qualifier from the United States to be of among the nation's best between Sammy Watson in the 800, Julia Heymach in the 1500, and Destiny Collins in the 3K.
Watson is the 2015 New Balance Nationals Indoor and Outdoor champion in the 800. The sophomore from Rush Henrietta Sperry High School in New York is also entered in the 400 at the World Youth Trials, which could force her to pick one to compete in and possibly pull out of the 800. However, she was entered in both at New Balance Nationals two weekends ago and picked the 800 while scratching from the 400. Watson is certainly a World Youth medal contender in the event after splitting a 2:03 leg for national record setting sprint medley relay at New Balance Nationals, while having an open 800 PR of 2:06.35.
The 800 is the deepest and fullest girls distance field as it also includes 1500 meter top seed Julia Heymach, a sophomore from Texas, who ran a PR of 2:05.54 in the 800 at the Brooks PR Invitational for third place. It will be interesting to see if Heymach attempts to double in the 1500 and 800 at the World Youth Trials.
Other contenders for World Youth team spots in the 800 include the 2015 New Jersey Meet of Champions winner Amari Onque-Shabazz from Union Catholic. If Onque-Shabazz were to finish top two in the 800 at the World Youth Trials, the Union Catholic track team could be sending two athletes to the 2015 World Youth Championships between her and Sydney McLaughlin in the 400 meter hurdles.
Sub 2:10 half miler Sage Hurta from New York and Sophia Cantine, a 2:47 1000 and 2:10 800 meter runner from Washington, also figure to be competitive and in the mix. Especially if Watson scratches for the 400 and Heymach scratches for the 1500, the two World Youth spots could really open up for many of the entrants.
In the 1500 meter run, Heymach ran a very quick time of 4:23 earlier in the season at the rarely contested distance for high school season. The Texas 6A state champ this spring in both the 1600 and 3200 meter run, Heymach had been flirting with challenging Mary Cain's 4:39 national sophomore class record in the mile at the adidas Dream mile. Heymach ended up finishing fifth in the race with a mile PR effort of 4:41.31, which ranks her US #8 this spring.
In a small, but quality field of four, Arizona state champion Allie Schadler will be Heymach's top challenger. Schadler ran 4:43 for the full mile at the Prefontaine Classic and finished third for All-American honors in the mile at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor.
800 meter entrant Cantine is also slated to race in the 1500 as well, which she had won the Oregon Relays 1500 earlier this spring in a time of 4:30 and could certainly hang with Heymach and Schadler.
Destiny Collins, the US leader in the 3200 meter run, will run her first 3K ever and should be able to win comfortably. Collins, who finished as a close runner-up in the two mile at the Brooks PR Invitational two Saturdays ago against two-time Foot Locker champ Anna Rohrer, won the California state 3200 title this spring in a personal best time of 9:53 earlier in June.
Next best entrant in the girls 3K, another small field of four is Katrina Patterson, a 7th place finisher in the New York State Meet 3K with a 10:02 PR. However, sophomore Sara Platek from Ragsdale High School in North Carolina has run a 9:49 3K in route and is coming off a 10:32 PR 3200 meter race in the post-season.
Madie Boreman, a sub 4:50 miler as a freshmen in 2013, is looking to make the World Youth team in the 2K steeplechase. Now a rising senior at Leander Rouse High School in Texas, Boreman is making her steeple debut this week but definitely has the credentials without the steeple barriers to take the win and qualify for Worlds.