USATF Juniors: Four’s a crowd!

As has been our tradition most years, we will be traveling to the USATF Junior Championships next week. This year’s championship is in Clovis, California – near Fresno – at Veterans Memorial Stadium, Buchanan High School in Clovis. Because it is an Olympic year, the Junior Championships stand alone and are not held in conjunction with the Senior Championships, because that meet is actually the U.S. Olympic Trials.

An astute follower of our program, and former USATF Junior qualifier and participant, pointed out to me earlier in the week that this is the largest contingent of athletes (four) we have ever brought to the meet. Neat. Many years, including last year with Dietrich Mosel in Oregon, it is just one athlete. This year, we are fortunate enough to have four Marist competitors at this meet. Here is the rundown of athletes, in order of competition.

Men’s 10,000-meter run, Friday, June 24, 8:25 p.m. (Pacific time): Riley Hughes and Matt Baffuto. These two men become the 16^th and 17^th men in school history to qualify for this meet in this event.

Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Saturday, June 25, 7:45 p.m. (Pacific time): Emily Burns. Emily becomes the first woman in school history to qualify in this event at this meet.

Women’s 10,000-meter racewalk, Sunday, June 26, 8:30 a.m. (Pacific time): Katie Miale. Katie joins teammate Kristi Licursi (2014) as the only two to qualify in this event in school history. This is Katie’s third consecutive Junior Championship, as she qualified during her final two high school seasons.

We look forward to having a nice trip out to the Fresno area, where the forecast highs each day are well over 100 degrees. So, expect some whining/weather related posts from deep in the Central Valley. But hey. It’s dry heat.