Results from Thursday at the AAU JO Championships

Chris Dallager reports on the results of Thursday's AAU Junior Olympics meet in Norfolk, Virgina.

Medalist
Shane Streich (Janesville) captured 2nd place (of 73 athletes) in the Youth Boys 1500 meter run with a time of 4:21.69. Shane was seeded 17th and ran in a slower section than the top 16 seeded athletes. His accomplishment is all the more impressive given that he had no athletes near him to push him to his personal best. Shane is seeded first in the 3000 meter run by a margin of 15 seconds over the second seeded athlete. Although he is the heavy favorite in the AAU 3000 meter run, he has chosen to bypass the event in order to represent Minnesota at the Hershey North American Finals Track and Field Championships being held in Hershey, PA on Saturday.

Finalist
J'iana Cager (ICAA/MN Breeze) advances to the finals of the Sub-Bantam Girls 200 meter dash with the third fastest time of 28.72.

More results
The other Minnesotans running in the semifinals of the 200 meter dash were Ellie Bedingham in the Bantam Girls division, Keylan Jackson in the Bantam Boys division, and Shaheed Hickman in the Youth Boys age group. Bedingham ran 28.82 and finished 17th overall. Jackson finished 20th with a time of 28.41. Hickman managed a 10th overall finish with a time of 23.18.

After her third place finish in the Intermediate Girls 800 meter run, Samantha Nielsen came close to taking home two awards from Virginia. The Roseville High School sophomore from Maplewood ran 4:57.92 in the 1500 meter run to finish in 10th place of 50 athletes.

David Afolabi (Brooklyn Center) and Mitchell Dickerson (Maple Grove) were the other Minnesotans competing in the 1500 meter run. Afolabi's time of 4:37.60 was good enough for 58th of 83 athletes in the Intermediate Boys group, while Dickerson's 4:47.99 placed him 16th of 73 athletes in the Sub-Youth Boys division.

Two long jumpers finished just out of the medal standings. Sub-Bantam Girl Marie Sennes (Minneapolis) jumped 3.57m (11' 8.75") to place 11th of 70 athletes. Sub-Youth Boy Jonathan Webb (Team Woodbury) placed 13th of 72 athletes with his 5.32m (17' 5.5") effort.

In the Discus Throw, Eric Wilson (Real Track and Field/Apple Valley) and Hunter Downey (Minneapolis) finished with the same distance of 29.97m (98' 4") to place 33rd of 57 athletes in the Youth Boys group. Youth Girl Kendall Bond (Corcoran) finished 54th of 57 with her throw of 13.28m (43' 7").

Eric's brother Steven Wilson (Real Track and Field/Apple Valley) also finished in a tie for 32nd of 59 with fellow Minnesotan Ethan Turner (Woodbury) in the Intermediate Boys High Jump with marks of 1.67m (5' 6"). Wesley Bond (Corcoran) placed 54th in the same age group with a jump of 1.42m (4' 8").

Javelin throwers Nicholas Hodge and Morgan Stampley each placed 31st. Hodge, a senior at Minnehaha Academy, managed a throw of 31.31m (102' 9") in the Young Men's division, while Stampley, a senior at St. Paul Highland Park, finished with a best effort of 22.35m (73' 4") in the Young Women's division.

Intermediate Girl Shot Putter Nailah Hill, an All-State performer for Breck High School as a freshman last season, finished in 27th place of 54 athletes with an effort of 9.13m (29' 11.75").

The Midget Girls 4 x 400 relay foursome of Kailynn Blanchard, Feyisayo Ayobanidele, Cori Bond, and Candise Fountain placed 15th of 55 teams in a time of 4:29.78.