Local athletes to compete at USATF Nationals

Photo courtesy of Autumn Hayes##Jaxon Howard, McKinley Hayes, Deacon Howard, Billy DeLoe III and Edwin Aldaco pose for a photograph after all having either qualified for nationals or setting a personal record at the USATF Region 13 Junior Olympic Championship at Juanita High School in Washington. Five of the seven Amity Club athletes that qualified are competing in the hammer throw.

Photo courtesy of Autumn Hayes##Emmett LaRance gets ready in his block before the boys’ age 11-12 80-meter hurdles, where he qualified for nationals and placed fifth with a time of 14.81. LaRance did some warmups that left him slightly bloody and bruised before his race, but it mattered little to the 12-yard-old.

Amity Track Club qualified seven athletes to compete across eight events when the USATF National Junior Olympics begin on Monday, July 27, in Norfolk, California.

The Warrior contingent punched their tickets last weekend at the USATF Region 13 Junior Olympic Championships, which took place at Juanita High School in Kirkland, Washington.

In the boys’ age 15-16 hammer, Deacon Howard reached a personal best mark of 136-5 on his second of six throws to claim first place and national qualification. He fouled on four attempts, including his first, but it was the lone mark that mattered as he upped his PR by two feet.

Later, Howard launched the discus longer than ever before with a mark of 132-11 1/4 to earn dual qualification. The 15-year-old thrower hit a PR at 130-9 on his second throw but still sat behind the pack until unleashing his next PR on his sixth and final toss to claim second place.

Amity throws head coach Randy Hayes said that Howard’s growth in maturity and strength over recent months has been the most exciting to watch.

Howard also threw the shot put, reaching 40-4 1/2 for an eighth-place finish.

Another hammer thrower in Willamina High School’s Billy DeLoe III qualified in the men’s age 17-18 event. DeLoe was in fifth after having reached 144-9 on his first attempt. Two tries later, he reached a mark of 146-2 1/4 to jump into fourth place.

Amity graduate Jaxson Howard competed as an exhibition and will join his comrades at nationals after qualifying with a PR mark of 213-0 at the USATF U20 Championships on June 21 in Eugene.

Hadley Hughes of Dayton High School was another to qualify in past competitions but use the regional meet as a chance to practice. She will compete in the girls age 17-18 javelin.

Emmett LaRance became the youngest from Amity to qualify by running a personal best time in the boys’ age 11-12 80-meter hurdles. LaRance placed fifth at 14.81, trimming 0.37 seconds off his previous best of 15.18. LaRance also raced in the age 11-12 100-meter sprint, where he set another PR at 14.34 and placed 13th.

LaRance was also active in the field, where he threw the 450-gram Aero Jav 77-5 1/2 for a 10th-place finish.

In the age 15-16 girls’ javelin, incoming Amity sophomore Sage LaRance became one of three Warrior girls to qualify for nationals. Sage placed fifth with a distance of 99-6. She was joined in qualifying status by Adaclara Fifield and Madelyn Miller.

Fifield earned her badge in the girls’ age 15-16 hammer, throwing her implement 89-2 3/4 to place second. Fifield’s competition included a dance in the shot put, where she placed ninth with a toss of 29-9 3/4. She also found a PR in the discus, reaching 77-2 for 16th place.

Miller, a graduate of West Salem High School and 6A state podium placer in the shot put and discus, qualified in the girls’ hammer for the 17-18-year-old age group. Miller finished second by hurling her hammer 127-6 1/4. Also competing in the shot put, Miller reached a PR at 34-5 3/4 to place ninth. She later got a mark of 99-11 1/4 to finish eighth in the discus.

Other quality performances, beginning on the girls’ side, came from 16-year-old Kaia Halstead.

The incoming West Salem junior placed 16th behind Fifield in the shot put, reaching a mark of 25-3 1/2. Halstead competed with Fifield in the hammer as well, throwing a PR at 49-4 3/4 to place sixth. Completing a trio of throwing events, Halstead threw the javelin 66-4, placing 12th.

Finishing one spot ahead of Halstead was incoming McMinnville freshman Gabriella Lagunas. Her mark was 68-7.

In the youngest competition, 7-year-old Knoxx Haskell competed in two events and saw a PR in one: the eight-and-under javelin. Haskell threw his implement 27-8 3/4 to place 14th. Haskell threw the shot put, too, reaching 9-5 3/4 and 15th place.

More shot put contestants included incoming Amity freshman Gunnar Rose, who reached a mark of 31-6 3/4. He placed 13th.

At the upper division, soon-to-be McMinnville senior McKinley Hayes and Molalla graduate Gabriel Nunn shared three rings.

Hayes led Nunn in the age 17-18 shot put, reaching 44-9 — a PR — to place sixth. Nunn finished 11th with a toss of 42-0. Hayes and Nunn placed ninth and 11th, respectively, in the discus. Hayes’ distance was 140-6 1/2, while Nunn attained a mark of 135-9.

Finally, the two finished behind DeLoe in their age group’s hammer toss. Hayes placed seventh at 132-4 1/2, and Nunn took 10th with a throw of 107-3 3/4.

Others to compete but not qualify were 16-year-old Edwin Aldaco (sixth in age 15-16 hammer at 101-6 3/4) and Amity seventh-grader Clifton Rolston (13th in age 11-12 javelin at 71-11 1/4 and 17th in long jump at 11-11 3/4).

McMinnville graduate Alexis Kanig took part in the women’s age 17-18 pole vault but was unable to clear her first height of 8-11 1/2.

The USATF National Junior Olympics will commence at Cerritos Community College’s Falcon Stadium, where the Amity throwers will be first in line to test their mettle when the events begin.