Stepanov wins 800m and 1500m titles and finishes second in the 3000m; Sibert wins Shot Put title
Colorado Results Scoreboard The 2024 USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships concluded on Sunday (28-Jul) in College Station, Texas. The championships were held on the campus of Texas A&M University. 7571 athletes competed during the seven days of competition that began on Monday (22-Jul). USATF Colorado was represented by 65 athletes who competed in 88 individual events and 8 relay events. USATF Colorado clubs represented at the championships were (# of athletes):
The Colorado athletes won three (3) national titles and earned 11 all-American honors (top eight in each event).
Winning national titles were Blake Sibert (Colorado Springs Striders TF) and Robert Stepanov (Unattached). Sibert won the Boys 7-8 Shot Put on his final throw. The winning throw of 8.07m (26-05¾) was a personal best for him by over 2 feet. During the season his personal best improved by over six feet. He also finished 19th in the Javelin Throw.
At last year's championship in Oregon Stepanov won two national titles in the 9-10 division. Despite moving up to the 11-12 division and being at the "bottom" of the division he was able to continue his winning ways as he again won two titles; and nearly won a third. He started the week off finishing second in the 3000m on Tuesday; running 9:33.25. The race was won by Eli Hernandez of California in 9:30.71. On Saturday he won the 1500m running 4:29.92 to defeat Lukas Derheimer of California by 2.24 seconds. His time was a personal best over 10 seconds. The next day he won the 800m in a thrilling race against Oliver Miller of Texas. His winning time of 2:13.05 beat Miller by .51 seconds and was a personal best by over four seconds. Stepanov, a four-time Colorado Athlete of the Year, has now won six USATF Junior Olympic titles in track & field and cross country in his young career.
Kaeli Powe (Angel Flight Track) and Zenobia Witt (Alpha and Omega Athletics) each leaped to all-American honors in both the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Powe finished second in the Girls 17-18 Triple Jump and eighth in the Long Jump. In the Tripled Jump she was edged out by Casssandra Atkins of Washington by just 2 inches on Atkins final jump. Powe, who earlier this year won the event at the Colorado state championships, received her silver medal for her 12.54m (41-01¾) mark. In the Long Jump she came within ¾ of an inch of her personal best as she placed eighth with a jump of 19-07½. Witt, a three-time Colorado athlete of the year selectee, finished fifth in the Girls 15-16 Long Jump (5.84m / 19-02) and eighth in the Triple Jump (11.92m / 39-01¼).
Blake Sibert (Colorado Springs Striders TF) Boys 7-8 Shot Put Robert Stepanov (Unattached) Boys 11-12 800m Robert Stepanov (Unattached) Boys 11-12 1500m
Kaeli Powe (Angel Flight Track) Girls 17-18 Triple Jump Robert Stepanov (Unattached) Boys 11-12 3000m
Zenobia Witt (Alpha and Omega Athletics) Girls 15-16 Long Jump
James Davis IV (CDm Elite TC) Boys 17-18 Javelin Throw Nevaeh Rura (Colorado United TC) Girls 15-16 High Jump
Kaeli Powe (Angel Flight Track) Girls 17-18 Long Jump Kaitlyn Pearson (Colorado Speed TC) Girls 17-18 Heptathlon Zenobia Witt (Alpha and Omega Athletics) Girls 15-16 Triple Jump
The complete Colorado Results Scoreboard can be found here.