USATF Region 12 JO Meet Preview

Long Jump: The girls 17-18 LJ will be an exciting competition to keep an eye on to see how many girls go over 19’! Jernaya Sharp enters as the top seed with her TX #6 19’7.5” a few weeks ago. Ready to challenge her will be Kaylor Harris, who has jumped 19’5.25” this season. Her Mesquite Horn teammate Zuliat Ali has also jumped 19’+. All three girls in the TX Top-10. Then for the 15-16 field, it will take a big PR for someone to challenge Kynnedy Flannel if she is jumping well.

Triple Jump: There’s one name that jumps out in this field and it’s future Longhorn and State Champs Asa Garcia. She leads the state in this event and is 3rd in the nation at 42’5.75”.

Throws: Diamond Thomas & Cori Runnels both rank in the TX Top-10 with throws over 143’. The discus should be decided between those two seniors, though Zoe Broadway has been earing 140’ and could put together a throw to break up the senior sweep. In the shot, Leilyn Miles is coming off a stellar finish to her outdoor season where she threw a big PR over 48’ to finish 2nd at State, which moved her up to TX #2. We’ve seen Meia Gordon rule the throws rankings all season, but is Miles ready to throw over her 48’8”!?

Pole Vault: Haley Houston will enter as the favorite in what has been an awesome year for girls vaulters in Texas. She has been over 13’ in 2015 and we’ll see if she can repeat that feat here. Avery Stuchell looks to be her toughest competition. Stutchell cleared her season best 12’7.25” at Texas Relays and has the ability to make it a close competition with Houston. After a fantastic medal performance at the State meet, Charlotte Brown will be on the runway and has continued to improve after State with a 12’7.25” clearance at the SW JO qualifier.

Heptathlon: Kaylee Hinton has a stacked weekend of competition with individual events on top of the Hep. Heavy favorite would be an understatement for the Rockwall senior. She won USATF Jr Outdoor Nationals, she leads the nation, and has a PR nearly 1000 pts ahead of anyone else in Texas. Also in this group is Olivia Pappas who has moved up to 2nd in the state and has begun to consistently go over 4300. Chase Martin is just under the 4000 point barrier and could turn 2nd place into a close matchup with Pappas.