This year we are highlighting the top NBNO commitments each week leading up to the championships on June 19-21.  

By Steve Underwood of the NSAF

Ja’Mari Ward – King of the horizontals

Remember watching Ja’Mari Ward two months ago at NBNI?  Seeing the fast, lithe, springy Cahokia (Ill.) junior eat up huge amounts of real estate as he exploded off the long- and triple-jump boards?  Witnessing a double so impressive that Ward was named Boys’ Athlete of the Meet?  His NBNI marks at The Armory was stunners: US#1 and Armory record leaps of 25-7.25 and 51-7.75.  The former was also a meet record, #6 all-time and within two inches of the junior nat’l class record.  The latter was #11 a-t, within four inches of the MR, and just a half-inch off the junior mark.  Well, you’ll get a chance to watch him again at NBNO, and see if he can duplicate that feat under the warm Carolina sun. 

There’s been no letup for Ward outdoors.  He nailed a PR 51-11 TJ at the Belleville West Invite in mid-April, then a few weeks later spanned 25-6.5 at the St. Clair County champs – both wind-legal and both US#1.  No doubt there will be others to challenge him at NBNO, trying to knock him off the perch … or perhaps push him to greater distances.  It could be a busy summer for Ward, as he’s set to represent Team NSAF at the Caribbean Scholastic Invite in Cuba (the team will be outfitted by New Balance) and would have a great chance to medal for Team USA if he goes for the World Youth Champs.  Make sure and catch him in Greensboro!

Alex Ostberg – Always fast; gunning for 5k title again

Alex Ostberg doesn’t always win, but if he’s toeing the line a big race there’s little doubt it will be fast and intense!  At NBNI, the senior anchored his Darien, CT team to a strong runner-up finish behind Spirit of Pre (Saline HS, MI) in Friday’s DMR, then Sunday was a very close 3rd in arguably the best 3-deep indoor 2M finish ever as he, Levi Thomet and winner Andrew Hunter all ran 8:48s.  Then just last weekend, he was runner-up in the mind-boggling Loucks Games 3,200, running a state record 8:43.93 for eight laps – just behind Mike Brannigan.

Of course, Ostberg has won plenty of big races, including the Penn Relays 3k this spring.  But his biggest career victory on the track might be the 2014 NBNO 5,000, where he cemented his status as a top-echelon national-class prep distance runner with his 14:16.61 triumph … just five seconds off the meet record.  The track 5k may just be his sweetest of sweet spots and Ostberg has confirmed he would be out to defend that title and … wait for it … attempt to drive the meet record under 14:00!  The Friday night 5k’s are a great way to end the first day of NBNO every year and there’s little doubt that Ostberg will make it special!

Ryan Clark – Now a short sprint star, too

You’ve been watching Ryan Clark and hearing his name for quite some time now.  A somewhat prodigal long sprinter, the Banneker (College Park, GA) standout made Team USA for the World Youth Champs in 2013 and won the 400m silver in Donetsk, Ukraine with a 46.33 – in addition to anchoring Team USA’s runner-up medley relay finish.  After remaining on about the same level in 2014, Clark blasted into his senior season early with some promising 200 and 400 indoor marks.  But it was mid-winter 6.25 55m dash and 6.68 60m performances at meets in North Carolina that probably made you say “Whaaat?”  Suddenly Clark’s short sprint chops were on a level with what he’d done in longer races.

And so it’s continued.  At NBNI, Clark upheld his favorite’s role in the 60m with a narrow 6.65 victory over Noah Lyles, then was a very close runner-up to the Virginian in a rematch over 200 – running the #3 time in prep history at 20.83.  He’s stayed hot outdoors, too, leading the nation (wind-legal lists) at 10.32 and a close US#2 at 20.71.  Without a gauge, he’s also hit 10.22 and 20.64.  You can watch him in Greensboro, likely at those two distances and again battling Lyles – though he’d still like to take down that 46.33 400m from his soph year!  He’ll also join Lyles and Ja’Mari Ward on Team NSAF in Cuba!

Madison Wiltrout – Suddenly a national-record holder

You knew Madison Wiltrout was something special last year, especially if you’re part of the great prep javelin nation in Pennsylvania.  As a Connellsville, PA frosh, she was consistent at 137 or better, won more than half her meets against good competition, and capped it off with a 10-foot PR 151-1 to take the state AAA crown!  You notice she’s a big, strong, athletic girl – athletic enough to also triple jump 32 feet – but her demeanor impresses you even more: Humble and friendly, but with a measured confidence that makes you think she is on her way to being able to beat anyone, anywhere.

Now suddenly, less than two months into her sophomore year, Wiltrout has thrown further than anyone in girls’ high school history.  First, she hit a huge 164-11 PR in early April, then was a very impressive runner-up to then-US#1 (and NSAF Project Javelin thrower) Sophia Rivera at the Penn Relays.  But two weeks later in her district qualifier, she launched a 185-8 bomb that improved Haley Crouser’s 2012 mark by more than four feet!  She’ll likely be unpressed through her state meet, but how about a month later at NBNO when she’ll get a rematch with Rivera and the NSAF Project Javelin’s other 150- and 160-footers?  It’s already shaping up as THE throwing event to watch in Greensboro!

Ryen Frazier – Carving out her own legacy

Once upon a time, if you were a national track fan outside of the Tar Hell State and knew about a Ryen Frazier from Ravenscroft, you thought of her as “Wesley’s little sister.”  Hard to blame folks for that and hard for Ryen to break that label at that point – not when a nearly unbeatable Wesley Frazier was finishing up her prep career in 2013 with FIVE NBN Indoor and Outdoor titles.  But something surprising happened at the NBNO mile last June, as Ryen – now a junior – burst from the pack in a race where she was considered no better than a contender and took the race in 4:46.39.  Then this past fall, Ryen exceeded Wesley’s best national finish in cross-country and the conversation regarding comparisons changed dramatically.

Now during her senior indoor and outdoor track seasons, Ryen has become a unique distance running warrior, even if she hasn’t always won.  She ran under 4:50 four times coming into NBNI, then wound up going for the long distance triple – which Wesley did outdoors, but never indoors (with the last two races closer together).  Ryen was a close 2nd behind Anna Rohrer’s 5k national record Friday, then Sunday scorched a near-solo 10:02.86 2M – #2 in meet history.  She was surprised in the mile by Nevada Mareno, but still ran 4:44 and the triple was strong enough that she won the NBNI Girls’ Athlete of the Meet.  Will she go for the triple again at NBNO?  Stay tuned.

Sharrika Barnett – Taking over at the top

Sharrika Barnett was having an outstanding season as an Oak Ridge (Orlando, FL) junior in 2014, running a PR 54.20 for 400m in the Bob Hayes meet in March, then improving to 53.86 in the 4A state meet.  But it seemed no one could touch St. Thomas Aquinas senior Kendall Ellis, who ran the first sub-53 of the season, nationally, to take that 4A 400 – beating Barnett by just under a second.  But after the state meet, Barnett kept progressing, taking the Golden South in 53.98 and then in the NBNO 400m final – with Ellis also in the race – finishing a surprising 2nd to New York’s Zola Golden with another career best of 53.43.

With Ellis graduating, Barnett was clearly the girl to beat in the Sunshine State – and obviously a national title candidate – as 2015 dawned.  The Bob Hayes meet was again a notable one, as she ripped a 53.32.  That was a US#1 and it was untouchable until two weeks ago, when Barnett toed the line for that Florida 4A 400 final again.  This time she was the one running the nation’s first sub-53 of the year – a smoking 52.67 – to triumph with room to spare.  Now Barnett will get a chance to show again what a good post-season/summer runner she is again as she stands now as the favorite to move up a spot from her 2014 finish and top the podium in Greensboro.

Make sure to check out NBNationals.com and NationalScholastic.org often for new updates and make sure to tune in to NBNationals.com on June 19-21 to watch all the action LIVE!