Maasen Holds On In 17-18 1,500 Meters; Katherine Valentine Wins Women's Final; Keayari Thompson, Bayleigh Minor Fastest In The 400 Finals

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Hayden Luther Photos

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Brody Maasen used every ounce of energy he had in the end of the men’s 17-18 1,500-meter final Saturday to capture his first national title on the penultimate day of competition at the USATF National Junior Olympics from College Station, Texas.

Maasen, representing Jenks America Track, lowered his lifetime best of 4 minutes, 3.67 seconds from the preliminary round to win the final in 3:59.46, outlasting both Riley Tricas and Mark Barajas at the finish line.

Tricas of Xtreme Speed and Barajas of El Paso Wings Track Club nearly ran down Maasen in the final 100 meters after heading into the bell lap just seconds behind the eventual champion, who had opened his lead by almost 10 meters on the last lap when the competitors hit the back stretch.

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On the final turn, Maasen began showing signs of slowing and Tricas slowly began to close the gap, moving up to second position. Barajas, who was fourth at the bell lap, also moved to third before hitting the last 100 meters.

Maasen, who led from start to finish, had enough real estate between him and Tricas and Barajas in the last 50 meters to come away with the win despite a close finish at the end.

But the fastest 1,500 time of the day belonged to Kiefer Willcox of Lake Tahoe Track Club on the boys side, winning the 15-16 final by six seconds in 3:58.99.

Willcox closed in 61.49 on the last 400, defeating Isaac Benjamin convincingly in 4:04.68.

Katherine Valentine out of League City, Texas captured the women’s 17-18 1,500 title in a personal-best 4:37.42, with Caila Lyons of San Antonio Swift Track Club and Sofia Arcuri of Sauganash Striders finishing second and third, respectively, in 4:39.88 and 4:40.43, also personal-best efforts.

Madison Howland from Kansas Flyers Track Team took care of business in the girls 15-16 1,500 final, posting the fastest time of the day in 4:35.26

Keayari Thompson, representing TakeOff, completed the first of his two national title attempts, winning the men’s 17-18 400 final in 46.15 over Malik Franklin in 46.84. Thompson will race in the 800 final Sunday, entering with the fastest preliminary time of 1:53.09.

Bayleigh Minor of The Afterburners Youth Track Club ran a season’s best performance of 53.20 to win the women’s 17-18 title.

Compton Electric Speed’s Jaelen Hunter and Kaedyn Burroughs finished first and second, respectively, in the boys 15-16 400 final, with Hunter running 46.84 and Burroughs clocking 47.00.

Clara Adams of Central Coast Cheetahs bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the girls 15-16 200-meter final, winning the 400 final in a personal best 54.18.

Meet records fell in both the men’s and women’s 17-18 4x100 relay finals, with Athletic Performance, featuring Bradyen Dashun Williams, Jayden Deon Finley, Tandon Champion and Justin Stewart, running 39.34 to win the men’s race, and Team Quest Track Club, featuring Royalytee Brown, Hannah Lowe, Chirstiana Boyd and Indya Mayberry, running 43.62 to capture the women’s title.

Ryhan Balous of Burner Nation jumped a personal-best mark in the long jump by 8.75 inches to secure the women’s 17-18 title with 20-9.75 (6.34m), winning by more than seven inches.

Harrison Lowe of Track Houston Youth Track used a sixth-round jump of 49-10.50 (15.20m) to set a meet record in the boys 15-16 triple jump en route to winning the national title.

Isaac Ackerman of Omaha, Nebraska fell within a few inches of his shot put lifetime best of 63-4 to win the men’s 17-18 title in 62-3.25 (18.98m).

Sam Crenshaw from Bangor, Wisconsin cleared 15-11 (4.85m) to capture the men’s 17-18 pole vault title.

McCager Smith of Momentum Throws took the win in the boys 15-16 discus competition by nearly 26 feet, throwing a personal best mark of 189-1 (57.65m).

Emily Harbach from Argyle, Texas threw a personal best mark of 143-3 (43.66m) in the fourth round to win the women’s 17-18 javelin competition.

Anna Millikan of Bend, Oregon prevailed in the girls 15-16 javelin final, winning with a throw of 135-7 (41.33m).

Keith Fowler of D4 Training Group cleared his first five heights on each of his first attempts, with his best clearance at 6-8.25 (2.04m) to win the men’s 17-18 high jump title.