Rebekah Topham
Hillsdale, Ill. – Rebekah Topham claimed her spot in the record books by winning both the 3,000 and 800 meter Intermediate Girls’ races Saturday at the USATF National Youth Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Proviso West High School in Hillsdale, Ill.
Athletes in the Sub-bantam through Youth age divisions qualified through one of four youth zone championships by placing in the top six of their event. Athletes in the Intermediate and Young Men and Women’s age divisions were able to enter directly into the championships. Results from the zone championships can be viewed here.Rebekah Topham proved her position as the fastest seeded runner was no fluke as she won the Intermediate Girls 3,000m by a 14-second margin to take home her first national crown in 10:27.12. The Elgin Sharks Track Club of nearby Elgin, Ill. made their presence known during the youngest divisions of the girls 3,000m race. Laureen Toussaint won the Midget competition in 11:22 and her teammate Nina Olshever followed up with a 11:09.51 win in the Youth Girls division.
The Youth Boys 3,000m race came down to a photo finish as Brayden Law narrowly edged out Turner Kelly at the line. Law took the win in 9:54, only two tenths of a second faster than Kelly, the runner-up. Other champions at the 3,000m distance included Ryan Heskin who won the Midget Boy’s race in 11:36.87, Wyatt Uresti who won the Intermediate Boy’s race in 9:47 and David Ryland for the Young Men in 9:32.60.
Samantha Savicks won the only race walk competition of the day in dominating fashion with nearly a 40 second lead over her nearest competitor. With a quick turnover and efficient form, she set a personal record en route to claiming the 1,500m race walk national title in 9:11.88.
Kyna Robinson and Raelynee Miller sprinted down the straightaway stride for stride in the Bantam Girls 800m. Robinson narrowly won by seven hundredths of a second to take the crown in 2:45.12. The other age divisions were won by large margins with impressive showings from Luryn Heskin who won the Sub-Bantam girls 800m race in 2:50.01, Gabrielle Wilkinson in the Midget division in 2:25.35, Maya Halprin-Adams in the Youth division in2:22.67and Rebekah Topham took her second title of the day in 2:24.76 for the Intermediate division win.
The Elgin Sharks Track Club swept the top three spots in the Sub-Bantam Boy’s 800m race. Brandon Smiley took the top spot in 2:56, followed by his teammates Getsemani Aguirre and Josue Valencia. Manuel Ayarza won the Bantam Boy’s race with a 10-second margin in 2:32.12. Nicolas Arrivo of the Ann Arbor Track Club improved his seed time by six seconds with his win the Midget Boy’s division of 2:36.12. In the Youth Boy’s race, Marvin Franklin won in 2:13.51 while Joseph Codrington of the Ann Arbor Track Club won the Intermediate division in 2:08.47, and Sidgie Green clocked the fastest time of the day by winning the Young Men’s race in 2:04.13.
In relay action, the Living Waters Athletics Team won the Bantam Boys 4x200m relay in 2:06.46 while the Illinois Storm Track Club won the Bantam Girls division in 2:22.55. In the Youth Girls Division, the Cambridge Jets Youth Track Club and the Metro Eagles Track Club delivered a classic battle as the final leg of the relay was run stride for stride, but Camile Sery-Ble turned in a fast anchor leg to lead the Jets to the win in 1:46.41.
The Jump High Athletic Club turned in the top two performances in the Young Women’s pole vault. Anna Tessiatore soared over 3.25m/10-08.00 while her teammate Savannah Emmrich took the runner-up spot with a clearance of 3.10m/10-02.00. Bonnie Draxler won the national title for the Intermediate Girls’ division by clearing 3.20m/10-06.00.
In the girls’ shot put, the furthest throw of the day came from the youngest age division when Samantha Noennig recorded a toss of 11.71m/38-05.00 to win the Youth Girls competition. Tia Jones won the Intermediate division in 10.94m/35-10.75, and Adesola Ibitayo won the Yong Women’s division with a heave of 10.24m/33-07.25.
In the Young Men’s shot put, twins Jeremy and Jermaine Kline reversed their seed order, with Jeremy recording the furthest throw of the day in 19.29m/63-03.50, followed closely by his brother Jermaine with 19.20m/63-00.00 in the runner-up spot. Ellery Lassiter won the Intermediate Boy’s competition with a throw of 11.97m/39-03.75, and Ryan Walker took the top spot of the Youth Boys in 11.76m/38-07.00.
Olivia Thorsgaard leapt more than a foot further than her nearest competition to win the Midget Girls long jump in 4.05m/13-03.50. Brenna Banks won the Sub-Bantam girls long jump with a leap of 2.93m/9-7.50, and Jakarri Alven took top-honors in the Bantam division in 3.83m/12-06.75.
Aron Cruickshank improved by almost half a meter on his sixth and final attempt to take the lead in the Midget Boy’s long jump in 4.44m/14-07. Shatir Hall jumped ahead of the rest of the field in the Sub-Bantam boys long jump with a win of 2.51m/8-03.00.
