Prep Juniors Earn Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Sarah Trainor

With 56.2 percent of the vote, Sarah Trainor won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Nathan Green and Micah Williams with their second-place tallies of 14.7 percent.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt NY junior broke the national high school record for the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Race at the Oval Office. Her time of 6:29.08 took 0.12 seconds off the 2011 record set by Maddie Meyers.

Impressively, Trainor's meet was not a one and done record. In addition to her steeplechase race, Trainor also raced the 800 and 1,500 meters, winning both in 2:16.60 and 4:34.19, respectively. The 800 was a season's best and the 1,500 was an outdoor personal best.

Prior to her steeplechase record, Trainor had experienced success on the national stage. She finished runner-up in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the 2018 New Balance Nationals Outdoor. Trainor's record was a personal best by 12 seconds.

It is possible we will see a rematch between Trainor and last year's New Balance Nationals Outdoor champion Taylor Ewert later this year. If so, it will definitely be an interesting race.

Editors’ Choice: Micah Williams

Williams, a Benson OR junior, is slowly building a case that he is among the all-time great prep sprinters. Following his sophomore season, Williams finished fourth in the 100 meters at the USATF U-20 Championships. That earned him a spot on the U.S. 4x100 relay team at the 2018 IAAF World U-20 Championships. The team won gold.

Over the winter, despite living in cool and rainy Portland, Williams broke the junior class record in the 60 meters at New Balance Nationals Indoor, running 6.60. That is good for third on the prep all-time list.

Now in the outdoor season, Williams is continuing to break records. That campaign started at the Arcadia Invitational where he broke the Oregon state record in the 200 meters, running 21.03 into a headwind.

A second record for Williams came Friday at the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays. Competing in the elite 100 meters, Williams shattered the Oregon state record with a time of 10.21, again running into a headwind.

Watch Williams' race on Twilight-Relays.com.

That 10.21 is the fastest wind-legal prep time in the country this year. It is also the second-fastest all-conditions time this year. Additionally, it makes Williams equal to 15th on the prep all-time performer list. 

Watch Williams' post-race interview on Twilight-Relays.com.