EUGENE – Roderick Townsend-Roberts was pulling double duty this weekend at Hayward Field.

 

While competing in the men’s F46/63/64 high jump on the last day of the USATF Para Nationals Championships, the five-time Para world champion and three-time Paralympic champion was also on coaching duties with his athlete – two-time Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech – included in the competition on Saturday in Eugene.

 

“(Ezra’s) becoming a point where he’s becoming a distraction,” Townsend-Roberts said laughing.

 

Townsend-Roberts managed to tackle both obligations en route to winning the combined classification high jump title at 2.04 meters (6-8.25). Frech was the top F63 athlete, finishing third overall with a clearance of 1.83m (6-0).

 

Townsend-Roberts, who’s also an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University, needed only to clear two heights to claim victory, going over both 2.00m (6-6.75) and 2.04 (6-8.25) on his first attempts. He missed his first attempt at 2.08m (6-9.75) then passed on his final two attempts to complete the competition.

 

“Extremely grateful to be here,” Townsend-Roberts said. “Extremely grateful to be able to jump with Ezra, Derek (Loccident) and the younger guys, just to continue to see the sport elevate.”

 

Frech was also successful at his first two heights at 1.78m (5-10) and 1.83m (6-0) before bowing out at 1.93m (6-4). It was his second event of the day after finishing second in the T63 100 earlier to Desmond Jackson.

 

“In general, on a broad level, this was a great weekend,” Frech said, who also won the long jump on Friday.

 

“I had a lot of fun. I got to spend time with the people I love. I got to compete in a great stadium in front of a lot of amazing fans…A lot of dreams came true this weekend.”

 

The para competition concluded on Saturday with a flurry of activity. 

 

Hunter Woodhall clocked 45.79 seconds in the men’s T62 400 to capture his second win of the meet, falling just nine hundredths of a second shy of his world record time of 45.70.

 

Jaydin Blackwell won the men’s T38 100 in a time of 10.65 seconds, claiming his second win of the meet along with his win in the T38 400 on Friday.

 

Tatyana McFadden followed her win in the women’s T54 400 on Friday with a win in the T54 100, finishing in 15.59.

 

Michael Brannigan (T20) won his second event of the weekend, running 3:48.12 to win the men’s T13/20/38/46 1,500. Brannigan won the 5,000 on Thursday in 14:38.76.

 

Daniel Romanchuk (T54) completed his busy week of five events with wins in the men’s T53/54 1,500 (3:02.75) and 100 (14.14).

 

Brittni Mason bounced back in the win column after finishing second in the women’s T46 200 on Friday, winning the women’s T46 100 in 12.22.

 

Isaac Jean-Paul’s first-round jump of 6.95 meters (22-9.75), his only fair jump of the competition, won the men’s T11/13 long jump.

 

Beatriz Hatz (F64) jumped 5.35m (17-6.75) to win the mixed women’s long jump, then followed with a win in the women’s T44/62/64 100 in 13.23.

 

Kym Crosby added a second gold medal to her name, winning the women’s T13 100 in 12.56 after winning the 200 on Friday.

 

Susannah Scaroni (T54) won with ease in the women’s T53/54 1,500 in 3:18.12.

 

Rayven Sample (T45) won the men’s T45/46/47 100 and 400, running 11.33 and 50.45, respectively.

 

Brian Siemann claimed victory in the men’s T53 100 in 15.13.

 

Annalise Porreca produced a time of 15.38 to win the women’s T36 100.

 

Marshall Zackery led from gun to tape in the men’s T35 100, running 12.74 for the win.

 

Taylor Swanson (T37) won the women’s T37/38 100 by nearly a second in 13.05.

 

Samuel Winter won the men’s T36 100 by half-a-second in 13.27 and also won the 400 by six seconds in 1:01.71.

 

John Reynolds surged away in the last 20 meters of the men’s T37 100 to win 13.05.

 

Isaiah Rigo (T52) out-leaned Weston Powell at the finish line of the men’s T34/52 100 by a margin of 18.34 to 18.52.

 

Chelsea Stein (T53) surged to victory in the women’s T34/53 100 in 18.31.

 

Lindi Marcusen held off Noelle Lambert at the finish line in the women’s T63 100, winning in 15.04.

 

Desmond Hodges clocked 12.14 to win the men’s T44 100 by over a second.

 

Jonathan Gore (T64) won the men’s T44/64 200 in 23.26.

 

Yen Hoang (T53) held a three-second advantage over the women’s T34/54 400 field to win in 1:02.43.

 

High schooler Violet Hall (T46) of Bloomington South IN won the mixed women’s 400 in 1:01.07.

 

Eric Francis (F56) overtook Anthony Pone (F57) in the sixth round of the men’s F56/57 discus, throwing 33.70m (110-7)

 

Samantha Heyison (F44) threw a third-round mark of 37.00m (121-5) to win the women’s F37/44/64 discus.

 

Khalid Jlidat (F57) won the mixed javelin competition with a throw of 33.82m (110-11).

 

Christina Gardner (F57) had five throws over 20 meters, including her best at 22.05m (72-4), leading her to win the women’s F51/56/57 discus.