The indoor season is quickly coming to an end, while the outdoor season continues to rev up. See our weekend coverage as we cover numerous top meet throughout the nation this weekend.
Top Boys Highlights - Blake Shaw (TX) blazes 1:49.41 in 800m at Texas Southern - Brandon Tucker (TX) goes 14.76 (110H) & 37.59 (300H) in LA - Ben Davis (IN) wins 4x2 at Hoosier Relays in 1:28.05, U.S.#1 - Brandon Pounds (IN) wins Hoosier State shot put in 64-03.25 - Corey Shank (IN) vaults 16-06.75 to win Hoosier State PV - Kevin Havel (IL) runs 4:12.62 for 1600m at Proviso West Inv. - Fort Bend (TX) runs 1:25.44 in 4x200m relay at Texas Southern - Spring Westfield (TX) runs 3:16.85 in 4x4 prelims at Texas S. Top Girls Highlights - Chalonda Goodman (GA) runs 11.43 for 100m at Benson Rel. (GA) - Jordan Hasay (CA) wins 3k at Easter Relays (CA) in 9:30.38, U.S.#1 - Kori Carter (CA) wins 300m hurdles at Cal Relays in U.S.#1 42.69 - Felicia Johnson (IN) wins Hoosier State shot put in 50-02.5 - Chelsey Sveinsson (TX) runs 2:08.46 to win 800m at Texas Southern - Lancaster (TX) wins 4x4 at Texas Southern in 3:46.54 - Brittany Koziara (FL) runs 4:57.42 (1600m), 10:48.32 (3200m) double in FL - Erica Alexander (TX) runs 11.40 in 100m prelims at Texas Southern - Brigetta Barrett (TX) leaps 5-10 to win high jump at Texas SouthernWeekend Highlights & Results (3/21 - 3/23)
Louisiana Classics (LA)
Many of the top flight athletes in Texas traveled to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday to take part in the Louisiana Classics. Strong sprint schools like LaPorte (TX) and Dallas Skyline (TX) tested their conditioning against some of the best in Louisiana and the results certainly showed their dominance.
Two performances stood out individually, with Sabrina Starr (LaPorte, TX) and Brandon Tucker (Lewisville, TX) running exceptionally well in the hurdles. Starr won the 100m hurdles in 14.76, while coming back to win the 300m hurdles in 46.78. She also won the 100m dash in 12.34. Tucker won both boys hurdle events, running U.S. elite marks for each. His 110m hurdle victory came over a strong field in 13.91 and his 300m hurdle time of 37.59 ranks him top five in the country currently.
In the relays, LaPorte (TX) won both the girls 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. They cruised home in each with strong anchor legs, winning the shorter relay in 49.40 and the longer in 3:57.94. On the boys side, O.P. Walker (LA) and Dallas Skyline (TX) put on a great show in the 4x200m relay, as Skyline nipped Walker 1:28.68-1:28.69 in a race nearly too close to call. Walker won the 4x100m relay in 42.20 and Skyline won the 4x400m relay in 3:24.66.
Hoosier State Relays (IN)
Hoosier State Relays Results: 4A-5A / 1A-3A
It's not every day the shot put steals the show at a track and field meet, but at the Hoosier State Relays Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana that exact feat occurred. All indoor season Brandon Pounds (Lawrence North, IN) threw consistently, earning a top five national ranking for much of the season. Meanwhile, his Lawrence North teammate Felicia Johnson quickly progressed to become one of the best in the country as well. In Saturday's 5A-4A finals, Pounds threw 64-03.25 to win the boys shot, while Johnson threw 50-02.5 to win the girls shot. Both athletes are now ranked U.S. top four.
While the shot put events stole the show, the best boys relay of the day was hands down the Ben Davis (IN) 4x200m relay win. This squad is consistently an Indiana sprint powerhouse and they proved they are still at it this year. The squad won big in 1:28.05, which currently ranks them U.S. #1 indoors in the event.
Another highlight of the event came in the boys pole vault. Entering the meet Corey Shank (Fort Wayne Northrop, IN) has been having one of the best indoor campaigns nationally in his marquee event. It was certain if he could crack the 16 foot mark this weekend he would win the event, and that he did. Shank cleared 16-06.75 to easily beat his competition.
In the various relays, the strong distance contingent from Westfield (IN) brought the crowd to their feet no once, but twice. Westfield won an exciting DMR over Fort Wayne Carroll (IN), beating FWC 12:23.67-12:27.52, which came down to the final leg of the race. In the 4x800m relay, Westfield soundly beat a strong field by over ten seconds, earning themselves the finishing time of 9:27.88.
The highlights from the 1A-3A portion of the meet came in the boys and girls 3200m run. Anthony Witt (Shakamak, IN) won the boys side of things in 9:21.12, winning by 17 seconds. On the girls side, Foot Locker finalist Alex Banfich (Culver Academies, IN) won her race in 10:50.51.
Texas Southern Relays (TX)
Texas Southern Relays Meet Page
The big meet in Texas this weekend is the Texas Southern Relays. This annual event hosts many of the best spring schools around the state. Kicking off Saturday's finals was Chelsey Sveinsson (Greenhill School, TX). The superstar freshman ran the 800m, fresh off her 4:49/2:11 combination from the weekend before at NIN. This time around, Sveinsson again led from the gun, but finished three seconds faster than last weekend in 2:08.46, U.S. #1 outdoors.
On the boys side, Blake Shaw (TX) ran in the university division 800m dash and placed a strong second in 1:49.41. With that time, Shaw becomes the first prep under 1:50 this year.
The depth of certain relays showed Friday evening, with great performances coming across the board. Perhaps the best result came in the girls 4x400m relay prelims, which saw eleven teams dip under the four minute barrier. Lancaster (TX) led the way with their 3:46.54 effort, while Houston Westside (TX) placed a strong second in 3:50.33.
In the girls individual events, Erica Alexander (Clear Brooks, TX) dominated the 100m prelims, winning her heat in 11.40. Meanwhile in the field events, Brigetta Barrett (Duncanville, TX) lept 5-10 in the high jump to win Friday's final. With most of Friday's action being prelims, Saturday is stacking up to be quite a day.
On the boys side, Jamele Mason (Spring Westfield, TX) won one of the only individual finals of the day with his victory in the 300m hurdles. Mason stole the show, cruising to victory in 37.69. In the relay prelims, Mason's Spring Westfield team showed their dominance, placing second to Fort Bend Hightower (TX) in the 4x200m, while leading five teams under 3:20 in the 4x400m relay with their 3:16.85 heat win. FB Hightower ran 1:25.44 in the 4x2 prelims, while Spring Westfield ran 1:26.55.
Elite Classic (FL)
The Elite Classic Saturday hosted some of the best competition of the weekend in the southeast. Leading the charge was distance star Brittany Koziara (Boone, FL), who continued her winning ways from the fall cross country season by taking home the top spot in the 1600m run in 4:57.42 and the 3200m run in 10:48.38, which is one of the best double distance performances of this season thus far.
While Koziara was tearing up the track, the boys pole vault became a great spectacle to watch. Few athlete have broken the 16 foot barrier this season, but two athletes in particular broke the mark Saturday. Andrew Lattave (Lake Brantly, FL) and Riley Egan (St. Thomas Aquinas, FL) both vaulted 16-00, with Lattave taking first place based on missed attempts.
The jumps attracted some attention as well with Stoney Burns (Jones, FL) and Cameron Gannawy (Miami Jackson, FL) putting on a show in the long and triple. Gannaway won the long jump with a great mark of 23-05, while Burns came in second in 23-00.5. In the triple Burns earned the victory with a 47-01 jump, while Gannawy took home the runner-up position with a 45-00 leap.
Proviso West Invitational (IL)
Proviso West Invitational Meet Page
Proviso West Invitational Results
While the track season came to a close for much of the country last weekend at the two indoor national championships, Illinois has two more weekends left in their long indoor campaign. Friday night at the Proviso West Invitational, a collection of the top talent in Illinois showed their stuff. Leading the way were three stars in particular.
Kevin Havel (Hersey, IL) ran 4:12.62 for 1600m, beating second place by 16 seconds. Havel has been viewed as an underdog this track season to Neuqua Valley's (IL) Chris Derrick, however, the Hersey senior has been putting up solid indoor marks all winter. Meanwhile in the field events, Dan Block (Lake Park, IL) showed why he is one of the best junior throwers in the country with his 62-06 toss to win the shot put. Block's throw ranks him in the U.S. top ten in the event and the second ranked junior.
The third great performer of the evening was Warnether Banks (Springfield Lanphier, IL). Banks won all three flat sprint events, running 6.53 in the 55m, 22.72 in the 200m and 50.36 in the 400m. Banks beat out his senior teammate Jacob Mitchell to win the 55m by one-hundreth of a second. Following Banks in highlights was Greg Haugh (Lake Park, IL). Haugh kept the audience involved in the pole vault, clearing 15-00 to win the event.
While a few of the top teams chose not to attend the meet this year, some of which couldn't attend due to district policies on competing on Good Friday, the Proviso West Invitational once again proved to be one of the strongest meets of the indoor season.
ROTC High School Indoor Invitational (MN)
ROTC H.S. Indoor Inv. Meet Page
ROTC H.S. Indoor Inv. Results: Boys / Girls
The ROTC High School Indoor Invitational used to be known as the Minnesota Indoor State T&F Meet, however, the past few years have seen this meet fall from it's top billing to something worth keeping an eye on, but no nearly championship caliber. This year with Easter weekend forcing a few teams out of action, the competition remained fierce and produced some good results.
On the boys side, Austin Delaney (St. Louis Park, MN) set a meet record in the triple jump with his winning leap of 46-07. Delaney also won the 60m hurdles in a great time of 8.66, besting all comers. Meanwhile in the distance events, Pieter Gagnon (Washburn, MN) won the 3200m run by over a minute in a new meet record of 9:26.49. He also took second in the 1600m run in 4:30.99. On the girls side the top performance of the day came from the Sisler (MN) 4x400m relay squad. The team broke the meet record in the event with their winning time of 4:05.12.
Easter Relays (CA)
Distance star Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep, CA) ran 9:30.38 to win the girls 3,000m run Saturday at the Easter Relays in California. Hasay lapped much of the field and continued her dominating ways this track season.