CCC report from the USA Championships:
The
US Championships were held June 22nd-25th at Sacramento State
University. Both divisions, junior & senior, were held at the same
site this year, during Olympic years they are held separately. The
Senior division represents most of the top athletes in the world, as the
US is consistently the top medal winning nation at the World
Championships. The Junior division is for athletes under 20 (College
Freshman and younger).
In
2017, the CCC had five current, or former, athletes compete for spots
on the national team. Seniors are headed to the World Championship in
London later this summer and the juniors were qualifying for the Pan-Am
games.
Thursday
started off with action in the senior division with Abraham Alvarado
(BYU, Atwater HS '13) in the 800m. Abraham was in the fastest heat of
the opening round and advanced to the semi-final with the 9th fastest
time, 1:47.38. At the same time that Abraham was running on the track,
Channing Wilson (CSU Stanislaus, Turlock HS '11) was competing in the
javelin. Channing let loose a 173' 11" throw on her third throw that
would prove to be her longest of the day and good enough for a 5th place
finish! Her throw was also a lifetime best by about three feet.
Friday
saw two more athletes take the track, this time in the junior
division. First up was Shawn Bettencourt (Golden Valley HS '17) in the
110m hurdles, a medalist in the state HS meet earlier this month. Shawn
finished 13th overall with a time of 14.26. Kiana Clay (CSUFullerton,
Pitman HS '16), who ran at the NCAA west regional this season as a
freshman, took the track next in the 400m finishing 16th with a time of
55.35. The highlight of the day was Abraham Alvarado WINNING his
semi-final heat, advancing to the 800m final on Sunday, in a time of
1:46.62!
Our
only competitor Saturday was Cerah Moren (Pitman HS '17) in the
javelin, 2017 was Cerah's third appearance at the US Championships in
the junior division. Experience paid off as Cerah brought home a 4th
place medal with a throw of 143' 11".
Sunday
brought the men's 800m final, where Abraham finished 7th in the
nation! His opening lap of 52.08 was his fastest loop around the track
for the week.
The
finish to the 2017 season was amazing for our little 7 team league in
the Central Valley. Both qualifiers in the senior division made the
final in their events and we had three athletes qualify to compete in
the junior division, a feat that was also accomplished in 2014 (Moren,
Alvarado & Ryan Pust - GVHS).
Who will be the next CCC athlete to represent at the national meet in 2018?
No comments:
Post a Comment