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Fifteen headlines for 2015 - Best of the Year - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Dec 31st 2015, 10:41pm
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Fifteen for '15: Reviewing the best of the year

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 


 

As the year comes to a close, here is a look back at some of the biggest headlines of the year in high school track and field and cross country.

 

There is no slowing down in this year-round sport and 2016 promises to be bigger and better than ever.

 

Counting down the Top 15 of '15.

 

15. Mondo Duplantis. The age-group pole vaulting sensation wasted no time making his mark on the high school scene. As a ninth grader at Lafayette LA, the son of former pro Greg Duplantis smashed the freshman class record over and over again. Before Mondo came along, the freshman records were 15-6.50 (indoors) and 16-3.25 (outdoors). On Jan. 10, Duplantis smashed the indoor record with 16-1 and the same month raised it to 16-8. By the time he was done with indoor season, Duplantis had taken the record 15 inches higher with 16-9.50. Outdoors, on March 28, he became the first ninth grader over 17 feet with his 17-1 performance at the Texas Relays. He topped 17 feet four more times and concluded the season by winning the IAAF World Youth title with 17-4.50 for his family's native Sweden.

 

14. Sammy Watson and Kamryn McIntosh. In New York, where young female mid-distance running continued to flourish after the recent example set by Mary Cain, the new names to watch were sophomores Sammy Watson of Rush-Henrietta and Kamryn McIntosh of Suffern. On Feb. 7, McIntosh stunned everyone at The Armory -- including herself -- when she broke the national record in the indoors 600 meters with 1:28.78 at the New York Section I Championships. Later, she won New Balance Nationals Indoor 400 with 54.57 and helped her team win the national championship in the DMR. Outdoors she ran 2:05.63 to win the New York state title in the 800 meters. Meanwhile, Watson was no less impressive. She won the NBNI title in the 800 meters with US#1 2:08.13 and helped carry her team to the national record in the sprint medley relay (3:52.68). Outdoors, Watson's spectacular season included a 400/1500 double at the New York state meet and a gold medal at the IAAF World Youth title in the 800 meters (2:03.54).

 

13. The girls 100 hurdles final at CIF Finals. On a night filled with so much brilliance and drama in Fresno, it was hard to top the showdown in the girls 100-meter hurdles between Jasmyne Graham of Roosevelt and Mecca McGlaston of Dublin. Graham edged McGlaston with US#1 13.17 to US#2 13.18 -- times that made them both top-10 all-time in the event. Graham went on to run another US#1 with 40.73 in the 300 hurdles to complete one of the greatest hurdles doubles in history.

 

12. Nike Cross Nationals. The culmination for the top cross country teams in the land, NXN saw the Fayetteville-Manlius NY girls crowned for the ninth time in 10 years and the California boys champions from Great Oak win the school's first national title. The races also saw Katie Rainsberger of Air Academy CO take charge of the girls race in the final mile and win in dominating fashion. Meanwhile, American Fork UT junior Casey Clinger used a late kick to get away from Ben Veatch and capture the victory in the boys race. In so doing, Clinger tagged himself as the top distance runner in the Class of 2017.

 

11. Andrew Hunter. It was a very good year for Virginia’s Andrew Hunter, who matured into the nation’s premier high school distance runner. That process got kick-started on March 15 at New Balance Nationals Indoor when he won a thrilling 2-mile against seniors Alec Ostberg and Levi Thomet in 8:48.22. In April he won the mile (4:07.15) at Penn Relays. In May, he ran a 1:52.98/4:03.88 800/1600 double at the Dogwood Track Classic. At the adidas Grand Prix Dream Mile in June he finished behind Grant Fisher in 4:02.36. But then he beat Fisher in the 2-mile at the Brooks PR meet with 8:42.51 and then beat him again in the finals of the 1,500 meters at U.S. Juniors. In the fall, Hunter was the wire-to-wire US#1 in cross country, capped by a dominant win at the Foot Locker Cross County Finals. Hunter was part of an noteworthy first at Foot Locker as he and girls winner Weini Kelati came from the same school district (Loudoun County Public Schools).

 

10. The Brothers Lyles. They look like they could be twins, but Noah (18) and Josephus (17) of T.C. Williams VA are separated in age by a year despite being in the same class. Both have signed with the University of Florida. And together, they might yet prove to be the best 1-2 punch on any high school 4x400 relay ever. Noah, who repeated first grade due to health reasons, according to the Washington Post, ran 10.14 to win the U.S. Juniors 100 meters and 10.21 to win the 200 at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. He also won the Pan Am Juniors title in the 100 with 10.07 with a 4.3 m/s tailwind. He also ran 47.50 for 400. Indoors, he ran 20.83 to win a loaded 200 at New Balance Nationals Indoor. Josephus ran 45.46 in the 400 meters for silver at the IAAF World Youth Championships. He also ran 20.74 in the 200 for bronze in the same meet. The gregarious duo told the Washington Post in November, “No record is safe” in their upcoming senior season.

 

9. Sydney McLaughlin. The expectations continued to grow with every meet and the sophomore sensation from Union Catholic continued to meet – and exceed – them. Last winter, she won the New Balance Nationals Indoor 60-meter hurdles with No. 3 all-time 8.17 and was also the NJ state champion in the 400 with 53.72. Outdoors, she lowered her 400 meters PR to 52.59 and ran 51.28 on a relay split. She ran No. 2 all-time 55.28 in her specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, and won the World Youth title in that event. She finished the season ranked No. 8 in the U.S. Then, in August, she turned 16. As a junior she has her sights set on the U.S. Olympic Trials.  

 

8. The Throw. On May 7, Connellsville Area PA sophomore Madison Wiltrout made national headlines when she smashed the national record in the javelin with a throw of 185-8. That was the eighth best throw by a U.S. woman in 2015 and broke Haley Crouser’s high school record by more than four feet. The former Little League baseball pitcher proved to be a natural with the javelin and a future star. However, that progress was interrupted at the Pennsylvania state meet when Wiltrout injured the elbow of her throwing arm, a setback that required surgery.

 

7. The Weeks Twins. Between the two of them, Lexi and Tori Weeks covered just about every event in track and field. Together, the scored a whopping 88 points for Cabot at the Arkansas Class 7A Championships. But the sisters will go into the history books arm in arm as two of the greatest prep pole vaulters. In a fast-evolving event, Lexi and Tori raised the bar indoors and out. Lexi broke the outdoor national record when she cleared 14-7.50 at the Fourth of July Freedom Vault in her last chance at the record. Tori went indoors on June 14 and cleared 14-4 at the Arkansas Vault Club School’s Out Open to break the indoor national record. In the fall the two of them began their college careers, together, at the University of Arkansas.

 

6. Michael Norman. The junior from Vista Murrieta CA was untouchable during the height of his outdoor track season and made very difficult things look easy. On June 6 at the California State Meet, Norman won the 400 meters with a sensational time of 45.19 seconds – good for No. 6 all-time in prep history. Then he won the 200 meters in 20.24 seconds – tied for No. 5 all-time. He split 44.9 for his team’s 4x400 relay. A week later, he won the adidas Dream 100 in New York City with US#6 10.36. Norman was rewarded for his spectacular junior season by being named the Gatorade Track and Field Boys Athlete of the Year.

 

5. Mikey Brannigan. No high school track athlete’s story crossed over into the public’s consciousness and made a bigger imprint on more people than Mikey’s. Setting aside his accomplishments on the track for a moment, his impact as a role model for families with autistic children across the U.S. and around the world is beyond measure. For that alone, he could be ranked No. 1. The recent ESPN E:60 feature on Mikey showed a wider audience what we at a DyeStat have known for a couple of years. His passion for sport and his competitor’s spirit are enormous. On the track, Mikey had a signature moment on May 9 at the Loucks Games. He won one of the best races of the entire year, pulling away from Alec Ostberg and others to win the 3,200 meters in 8:42.92 for a New York state record. Four guys went under 8:50 in that race, five under 8:52. Off the track, he made people pause and reconsider how they feel about people with disabilities.   

 

4. The Leap, Part II. Vashti Cunningham, junior at Bishop Gorman NV and daughter of a legendary NFL quarterback, was the best female high jumper in the United States in 2015. She cleared 6-5 at the Pan Am Juniors to break her own record. On April 18 at the Mt. SAC Relays, she broke Amy Acuff’s 22-year-old national high school record. She also cleared 6-4 on two other occasions. Although she opted to not contend for a spot on the U.S. national team, her 6-5 clearance in Edmonton, Canada on Aug. 2 would have been worth seventh place at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing. She finished the season ranked 12th in the world.

 

3. The Leap, Part I. For its sheer audacity and wow factor we’re going to slot Kate Hall’s long jump at New Balance Nationals Outdoor one spot ahead of Cunningham. Hall, who managed her diabetic condition to compete at the highest levels of prep sprinting and long jumping, came from a remote outpost (Lake Region) in Maine and achieved one of her biggest dreams when she won the New Balance Nationals Indoor title in the long jump in March. But it was in Greensboro, N.C., on her final attempt at the outdoor championships, when she put everything together and hit a Beamonesque mark of 22 feet, 5 inches to leave mouths agape with disbelief. Hall’s jump broke the Kathy McMillan’s 39-year-old national record by two inches. It was a PR of 18 inches. It made her the No. 6 long jumper in the U.S. in 2015 and No. 17 in the world.  

 

2. Sub-Four Mania. The allure of the sub-four minute mile, especially at the high school level, is unmatched. Nothing stamps you as an instant legend than to join the elite members of the sub-four club, which gained two new entrants in 2015. Matthew Maton from Bend, Ore. ran independently of his high school in the spring, which allowed him to set up particular races to go after his goals. After a promising 3:42.52 clocking in the 1,500 at the Oregon Relays, Maton got into the men’s mile at the Oregon Twilight meet on May 8 and ran 3:59.38 to become the sixth sub-four prep. The nation’s attention then turned to Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc, Mich. Everyone was waiting on Fisher to do it after his mishap at New Balance Nationals Indoor, when he stepped on the rail rounding the final turn in what was most likely a sub-four effort there. At the Michigan state meet on May 30, he ran 4:00.28 for 1,600 meters and 4:01.67 for the full mile. A week later, on June 4 at the Nike Festival of Miles in St. Louis, Fisher got into a men’s race with enough speed to go for it. Fisher became the seventh sub-four prep by running the exact same time as Maton: 3:59.38.  

 

 

1. Candace Hill. The best comparison we can come up with is this one: Wilma Rudolph. But here’s where it gets astonishing. Hill in the 10th grade was every bit as fast – faster, even – than Rudolph was in the 1960 Olympics. Hill was not only consistently great during the season in both the 100 and 200, she was improving. And then came the Brooks PR meet. That’s the spot where, on June 20, Hill’s entire life seemed to shift into fast forward as a result of running 10.98 and becoming the fastest 16-year-old girl in the world. By smashing the 11-second barrier she immediately joined the realm of world elite sprinting. At the World Youth Championships she ran 11.08 and 22.43 for gold medals. In the fall, she became the fourth high school girl in recent years – and the youngest – to turn professional. She signed a reported 10-year contract with Asics and will look to try to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2016.  



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