AAU Junior Olympic Games: Track and Field Highlights Wide Field Of Sports
08/05/2020
As week two of the AAU Junior Olympic Games heats up, track and field draws attention.
Article originally posted on Florida Today.
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - As the AAU National Junior Olympics heats up during Week 2 in Brevard County, here's a look at what you need to know:
The big draw will be the track and field meet at Satellite High's stadium. That event begin Wednesday and runs through Saturday. It will draw an estimated 2,100 athletes from across 44 states.
Admission is $15 a day, $45 for the entire pass. Parking fees are extra.
Action begins at 8 a.m. and runs through mid-afternoon in most cases.
Spectators must wear a mask and practice social distancing.
Many of the competitors were testing the rubberized track Tuesday and the new discus cage installed just a week ago. Heat on the track reached 108 degrees Tuesday before an afternoon thunderstorm cleared everyone out.
AAU banners, neatly trimmed grass, an endless field of tents and dozens of portablepotties already have given the venue a true national competition feel.
Milesplit and FloTrack have researched some of the top athletes to watch.
Jumpers
Among the best are Pennsylvania's Jaden Price-Whitehead, who has leaped 25 feet, and Tallahassee Leon's Curtis Williams, who won the boys' 15-16 long jump a season ago with a career best mark of 24 feet, 7 inches.
Throwers
Keep an eye on 12-year-old Jackson Cantwell of Missouri, who could dominate his class, and Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson's Romario Jackson, who in January, his first discus competition of the season, hit 56.24 meters, or 184 feet, 6 inches.
He enters with the second farthest throw in the boys 17-18 division discus, just behind Josiah Harry.
On the women's side, Michigan's Valadian Pallett owns a personal-best shot put toss of 50-3.5 and is seeded as the favorite. She'll also contend in the discus where Shelby Frank is hoping to break 170 feet
Sprinters/hurdlers
Louisiana 14-year-old Makeriah Harris leads the field after having won four events at the West Coast AAU Junior Olympic Games in July and is entered in the 200 meters, 400, 100 hurdles and 200 hurdles. The rising freshman has personal bests of 12.47 in the 100 meters (though will not compete in that event this week) and 14.42 in the 100 hurdles.
Also watch for Erriyon Knighton in the boys 15-16 100 and 200 meters. The Hillsborough High student out of Tampa. This year, the sophomore posted a U.S. No. 8 time of 10.40 seconds in the 100 meters and a U.S. No. 7 mark of 20.89 in the 200.
Other events on tap this week in Brevard include:
• 7-on-7 flag football at Viera Regional Park, Saturday and Sunday
• Soccer at Mitchell Ellington Park, Merritt Island, Saturday and Sunday
• Footgolf at Mallards Landing, Melbourne, Saturday
• Presidents Youth Fitness Program, Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High, Saturday
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - As the AAU National Junior Olympics heats up during Week 2 in Brevard County, here's a look at what you need to know:
The big draw will be the track and field meet at Satellite High's stadium. That event begin Wednesday and runs through Saturday. It will draw an estimated 2,100 athletes from across 44 states.
Admission is $15 a day, $45 for the entire pass. Parking fees are extra.
Action begins at 8 a.m. and runs through mid-afternoon in most cases.
Spectators must wear a mask and practice social distancing.
Many of the competitors were testing the rubberized track Tuesday and the new discus cage installed just a week ago. Heat on the track reached 108 degrees Tuesday before an afternoon thunderstorm cleared everyone out.
AAU banners, neatly trimmed grass, an endless field of tents and dozens of portablepotties already have given the venue a true national competition feel.
Milesplit and FloTrack have researched some of the top athletes to watch.
Jumpers
Among the best are Pennsylvania's Jaden Price-Whitehead, who has leaped 25 feet, and Tallahassee Leon's Curtis Williams, who won the boys' 15-16 long jump a season ago with a career best mark of 24 feet, 7 inches.
Throwers
Keep an eye on 12-year-old Jackson Cantwell of Missouri, who could dominate his class, and Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson's Romario Jackson, who in January, his first discus competition of the season, hit 56.24 meters, or 184 feet, 6 inches.
He enters with the second farthest throw in the boys 17-18 division discus, just behind Josiah Harry.
On the women's side, Michigan's Valadian Pallett owns a personal-best shot put toss of 50-3.5 and is seeded as the favorite. She'll also contend in the discus where Shelby Frank is hoping to break 170 feet
Sprinters/hurdlers
Louisiana 14-year-old Makeriah Harris leads the field after having won four events at the West Coast AAU Junior Olympic Games in July and is entered in the 200 meters, 400, 100 hurdles and 200 hurdles. The rising freshman has personal bests of 12.47 in the 100 meters (though will not compete in that event this week) and 14.42 in the 100 hurdles.
Also watch for Erriyon Knighton in the boys 15-16 100 and 200 meters. The Hillsborough High student out of Tampa. This year, the sophomore posted a U.S. No. 8 time of 10.40 seconds in the 100 meters and a U.S. No. 7 mark of 20.89 in the 200.
Other events on tap this week in Brevard include:
• 7-on-7 flag football at Viera Regional Park, Saturday and Sunday
• Soccer at Mitchell Ellington Park, Merritt Island, Saturday and Sunday
• Footgolf at Mallards Landing, Melbourne, Saturday
• Presidents Youth Fitness Program, Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High, Saturday
