Rathke, Kelleghan soar to 1-2 finish at Junior Olympic nationals in Florida

Colorado Results scoreboard 

On Sunday (1-Aug) the 2021 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships concluded in Jacksonville, Florida. The championships were held on the campus of North Florida University. USATF Colorado was represented by 15 athletes who competed in 18 individual events.  5432 athletes from 49 states competed during the sevens days of competition that began on Monday (26-Jul).

Athletes from Colorado earned a total of five (5) all-American honors for placing in the top eight in an event. Each all-American was presented with a championship medal, an all-American patch, and a coveted Junior Olympic all-American hat.   

The storyline of the meet for the Colorado athletes was the 1-2 finish in the 15-16 girls pole vault by Kourtney Rathke and Megan Kelleghan.  The two training partners came into the competition with high expectations coming off of recent career best vaults and their past experience of competing together at national youth events.  Rathke, a rising sophomore at Peak to Peak Charter School, had cleared 12-6¾ on July 24; just before leaving for Florida and Kelleghan, a rising junior at Silver Creek High School, had cleared 13-4½ to win the Colorado 4a high school state title in June.  In Jacksonville, it was Rathke who took the gold medal with a winning clearance of 3.75m (12-3 while Kelleghan took the silver medal clearing 3.60m (11-9¾).  This marked the second time in two years that the duo finished 1-2 in a national youth championships.  At the 2019 USATF Youth Indoor Championships in New York Kelleghan won the 13-14 girls division while Rathke was second.  Both cleared 2.94m (9-8) that day.
Fabiola Belibi (Steadfast Track) finished fourth in the 16-18 girls Heptathlon scoring 4429 points to just miss her career best, set at The Outdoor Nationals in July, by 18 points.  She is a rising senior at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora.

Megan Ericksen (unattached) placed sixth in the 17-18 girls 2000m Steeplechase in a time of 7:45.11. Ericksen is a rising senior at Grandview High School in Aurora. Ethan Rathke, Kourtney's younger brother, finished seventh in the 13-14 boys Pole Vault with a clearance of 2.85m (9-4¼).
  Finley Voss (unattached), a rising senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, finished 10th in the 17-18 boys Javelin Throw with a throw of 47.05m (154-4).  The mark was just off his career best of 49.73m (163-2) set in finishing second at the USATF Youth Championships in Georgina in June.

Click here to see the complete Colorado Scoreboard.

Next year's national championships are scheduled to take place July 25-31 in Sacramento, CA.

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