High Schoolers

Joshua Burks

i have long maintained that the only thing preventing White athletes from being amongst the USA's elite sprinters is the simple fact that most fast White kids simply don't go out for track. it has NOTHING to do with the false "reality" that White kids just aren't fast enough.

today, i provide a bit more anecdotal evidence to support that position ...



it's been almost a year and a half since Joshua Burks (James Clemens, AL) first set foot on the track. the record-setting results have been eye-popping.

Burks had been a lifelong baseball player, renowned by his coaches and his teammates for his speed in the outfield. in the spring of his junior year (2014), he finally decided to try out that speed on the track, running for the track team PART TIME while still playing baseball. just five months later, Burks qualified for the State track meet in both the 100- and 200-meters.

this year, he gave up on baseball in order to focus solely on track. he is now a multiple State Champion.

during the 2015 indoor season, he posted a personal-best 6.87 in the 60-meters (U.S. #21) en route to winning the Alabama 7A (big school) State Championship and 21.98 in the 200 (U.S. #33). as the weather warmed up and the running moved outdoors, Burks' times just got faster.

i wonder if it's lonely at the top ...



just how fast is he? check out this angle for a more accurate picture:



the Alabama 7A State Champion in the 100-meters posted personal best wind-legal times in the 100-meters of 10.65 (AL #2) and the 200 of 21.66 (AL #4). he was narrowly edged out in the deuce at the State meet, taking second place. he was also the anchor (and fastest) leg, coming from behind in story-telling fashion to win the State Championship in the 4x400 relay ... which is "weird," considering he's the only non-afflete on the team:





in all, as a senior Burks won 13 races (10 outdoor and three indoor) on the season, including six victories in the 100 (he ran under 10.7 on four separate occasions), four in the 200, one in the 300 and two in the 60.

and remember, this is the first year he's ever focused on running track!

Burks accepted a scholarship to run track at Auburn in the SEC.

i wonder how many other White kids are out there who could have stories similar to this, but are instead convinced that they're "not fast enough" to compete with the black afflete.

Kate Hall (Lake Region, ME) just pulled off a VERY impressive double in the New England Championships. the senior leapt 20-feet 11-inches in the long jump, tying her for the national lead (albeit with no wind indicated), AND she blazed a time of 11.41 in the 100-meters (also with no wind indicated). if her time in the 100 were wind-legal, it would be the #4 time in the U.S.

as a bonus, she ran 23.69 (no wind indicated) in the 200-meters to take second place, missing out on that win by just .05. it would be U.S. #15 if legal.

Hall holds the Maine state record in SIX events (indoor 55-meters, 200-meters, and long jump; outdoor 100-meters, 200-meters, and long jump) and has never lost a race at her state meet.

she's so good, almost no one even adds in the fact that she has Type I Diabetes. simply amazing!

what a talent she is!

she has committed to run at Iowa State.

*************************



Tori Weeks (left, Cabot, AR) and her twin sister Lexi have both reached rarified air. each has cleared higher than 14 feet in the pole vault AND at one time or another held both the top spot in the nation and the national record.

this week it was Tori who set the bar just a bit higher ... launching herself 14-feet 4-inches UP at the Arkansas Vault Club Open. it is a new National High School Indoor Record. Lexi managed to clear 14 feet. again. which, at this point, is almost boring for her.

both athletes are also Arkansas high school State Champions in other sprint events, as well, but have committed to Arkansas to focus on the pole vault.

Jimmy Chitwood said:

i have long maintained that the only thing preventing White athletes from being amongst the USA's elite sprinters is the simple fact that most fast White kids simply don't go out for track. it has NOTHING to do with the false "reality" that White kids just aren't fast enough.

today, i provide a bit more anecdotal evidence to support that position ...

it's been almost a year and a half since Joshua Burks (James Clemens, AL) first set foot on the track. the record-setting results have been eye-popping.

Burks had been a lifelong baseball player, renowned by his coaches and his teammates for his speed in the outfield. in the spring of his junior year (2014), he finally decided to try out that speed on the track, running for the track team PART TIME while still playing baseball. just five months later, Burks qualified for the State track meet in both the 100- and 200-meters.

this year, he gave up on baseball in order to focus solely on track. he is now a multiple State Champion.

during the 2015 indoor season, he posted a personal-best 6.87 in the 60-meters (U.S. #21) en route to winning the Alabama 7A (big school) State Championship and 21.98 in the 200 (U.S. #33). as the weather warmed up and the running moved outdoors, Burks' times just got faster.

i wonder if it's lonely at the top ...

just how fast is he? check out this angle for a more accurate picture:

the Alabama 7A State Champion in the 100-meters posted personal best wind-legal times in the 100-meters of 10.65 (AL #2) and the 200 of 21.66 (AL #4). he was narrowly edged out in the deuce at the State meet, taking second place. he was also the anchor (and fastest) leg, coming from behind in story-telling fashion to win the State Championship in the 4x400 relay ... which is "weird," considering he's the only non-afflete on the team:

in all, as a senior Burks won 13 races (10 outdoor and three indoor) on the season, including six victories in the 100 (he ran under 10.7 on four separate occasions), four in the 200, one in the 300 and two in the 60.

and remember, this is the first year he's ever focused on running track!

Burks accepted a scholarship to run track at Auburn in the SEC.

i wonder how many other White kids are out there who could have stories similar to this, but are instead convinced that they're "not fast enough" to compete with the black afflete.

Click to expand...

He sounds a lot like Curtis Godin who won the California State HS 100m and 200m dashes last year.
He started his high school career as a baseball player, and then switched to track in his junior year.
So just 2 years of track and he became the fastest kid in California.... and one of the fastest in the country for that matter.

jacknyc said:

Decided to start a new thread for Track and Field High Schoolers.
The previous ones are pretty old and long.

I'll start this one with news of a young sprinter/jumper from Maine, Kate Hall.
She dominated at the New England Interscholastic Indoor Championships, winning the 60m and LJ, and breaking the New England record for both in those events.

"....broke New England all-time best marks in the 55-meter dash (6.95 seconds) and the long jump (20-6) to the delight and amazement of fans at the Reggie Lewis Center. "

http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=321196

Those marks make her #3 Nationally in the 55m dash, and #1 in the Long Jump!
Hopefully she is the next Jenna Prandini!

Click to expand...

BIG NEWS!!!
Katie Hall just broke the National High School Record in the Long Jump!!!
She jumped 22' 5". That puts her in the Top 10 women's jumpers in the world this year!
The record stood for 39 years until she broke it today!
Congratulations KATIE!

p.s. that jump is further than Jenna Prandini jumped at the NCAA Championships.

jacknyc said:

BIG NEWS!!!
Katie Hall just broke the National High School Record in the Long Jump!!!
She jumped 22' 5". That puts her in the Top 10 women's jumpers in the world this year!
The record stood for 39 years until she broke it today!
Congratulations KATIE!

p.s. that jump is further than Jenna Prandini jumped at the NCAA Championships.

Click to expand...

6.84 metres (for the rest of the world :icon_lol.
Wow, and she's what age?

She should be 17....or possibly turned 18 recently.

Chad Zallow also ran a ridiculous 13.19. There was wind aid, but that time is smoking regardless.

jacknyc said:

BIG NEWS!!!
Katie Hall just broke the National High School Record in the Long Jump!!!
She jumped 22' 5". That puts her in the Top 10 women's jumpers in the world this year!
The record stood for 39 years until she broke it today!
Congratulations KATIE!

p.s. that jump is further than Jenna Prandini jumped at the NCAA Championships.

Click to expand...

Here's an article about Katie's record breaking jump!
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/06/21/kate-hall-sets-national-long-jump-record/

jacknyc said:

Here's an article about Katie's record breaking jump!
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/06/21/kate-hall-sets-national-long-jump-record/

Click to expand...

great story

Lexi Weeks (Cabot, AR) set the high school national outdoor girls pole vault record by clearing 14 feet, 7 1/2 inches Saturday at the Freedom Vault Meet at Arkansas Vault Club in Black Springs, where she and her sister Tori have trained since they were in the eighth grade.

Weeks surpassed Desiree Freier's previous mark of 14-7 1/4 set in 2014.

the record, which is officially recognized by Track and Field News, was even sweeter because it gave the Weeks family both the Outdoor and Indoor high school girls national records. Tori Weeks already held the Indoor record of 14-4, which she set on June 14 at the Arkansas Vault Club's School's Out meet. that vault broke Lexi's mark of 14-3 1/4 inches set in February at the club (as i posted about earlier in this thread).

Lexi was named the Arkansas high school female Track Athlete of the Year for 2015.

the Weeks sisters will join Desiree Frier (currently a freshman at the University of Arkansas and American junior record-holder at 4.45m/14-7.25 ft.) to form possibly the top young ladies pole vaulting unit in the nation.


Desiree Freier

Do you remember Curtis Godin?
Two years ago he was the California State Champ in the 100m and 200m.
He was amazing! He had only been running track for 2 years (previously played baseball), almost broke the state record in the 100m, and never lost a 100m race all season.
An incredible prospect!
Last year he was at UCLA, but got injured, and basically didn't run the entire season.
This year, I didn't find him on the UCLA roster....wondered if he transferred or what...?
Now I got the bad news that he is still at UCLA, but not running track.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/highs...not-running-track-at-ucla-20160208-story.html

This kid was the best white 100m prospect in this country in 30 or 40 years, maybe more! Faster than Casey Combest, Matt Bruno, or any other HS sprinter we've ever discussed, and now he is out of track altogether. So disappointing! and not the first time I've seen this, but one of the worst cases of lost prospects.

jacknyc said:

Do you remember Curtis Godin?
Two years ago he was the California State Champ in the 100m and 200m.
He was amazing! He had only been running track for 2 years (previously played baseball), almost broke the state record in the 100m, and never lost a 100m race all season.
An incredible prospect!
Last year he was at UCLA, but got injured, and basically didn't run the entire season.
This year, I didn't find him on the UCLA roster....wondered if he transferred or what...?
Now I got the bad news that he is still at UCLA, but not running track.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/highs...not-running-track-at-ucla-20160208-story.html

This kid was the best white 100m prospect in this country in 30 or 40 years, maybe more! Faster than Casey Combest, Matt Bruno, or any other HS sprinter we've ever discussed, and now he is out of track altogether. So disappointing! and not the first time I've seen this, but one of the worst cases of lost prospects.

Click to expand...

I'm still disgusted by this news. Why would you give up something you love and that your the best in the state at? It just doesn't make any sense at all.

I wonder what it is.
Matt Bruno also went to UCLA and dropped off the team there.

Drew Hunter runs a 3 min 57.8 second mile

• Just Weeks Later, High School Senior Breaks Own Indoor Mile Mark
• A Quick Turnaround as Drew Hunter Breaks High School Mile Mark

I'm surprised that no one has noticed what Zach Shinnick has been doing.

To refresh your memories, he's a skinny hs junior in California. As a soph, he was a phenom in the 400 who also ran well at shorter distances. So far this year, he dominated California in winter track, smoking a 6.76 in the 60 and an incredible 32.90 in the 300. That 300 time puts him at the elite level for professionals running indoors, but it doesn't show up on lists because, being in California, he ran it outdoors. Note that outdoors he had to run 2 straightaways in opposite directions and that tailwinds don't produce enough benefit to overcome the negative effect of headwinds, so his 300 may have been faster if he could have run it indoors. More recently, he ran his first 100 meters in a wind-legal 10.53. He's already been offered a scholarship at UCLA. My hunch is that he has Olympic level talent at the 400. I haven't seen enough of him in the 100 to guess what his potential is there.

Oh no, he's going to UCLA?!
That was the end of the line for the 2 previous best white HS sprinters in California - Matt Bruno and Curtis Godin.

Turns out Zach Shinnick comes from a McCaffrey-type family:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/la-sp-shinnick-arcadia-sondheimer-20160408-column.html

He's running the short sprints at the big Arcadia meet this weekend. The rival that he talks about in the video is a year older than him, and the best hs runner in years.

Haven't kept up with the high school kids this year. Thanks so much for posting this video. I will have to see if I can
find a way to watch a link this weekend. If not I will be anxiously awaiting the results. For some reason, white high school
kids in california always seem to be very fast compared with the rest of the U.S.
S

Well, hell . . . watched the race online and Shinnick pulled up with an injury. It might be a hamstring.
Meanwhile, Cole Dubots, a junior finished 3rd in 10.65.

jacknyc said:

Well, hell . . . watched the race online and Shinnick pulled up with an injury. It might be a hamstring.
Meanwhile, Cole Dubots, a junior finished 3rd in 10.65.

Click to expand...

Man what a bummer. He will be back but this would have been a great test. Nice 3rd place finish by Dubots. Do you
have a link to the race jacknyc? Thanks in advance if you do.

Katie Rainsberger, still in high school, beat the professionals in the mile at Oregon. She's definitely becoming one to watch: http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandf...katie_rainsberger_ma.html#incart_article_smal

In CA, Austin Tamagno ran a 4:03 mile. He could be the second sub-4 hs miler this year, after Drew Hunter.

Well, while the board has continued to engage in yet more repetitive arguments over Christophe LeMaitre (ad nauseum), a future star has emerged unnoticed. Michael Slagowski, a high school senior from Idaho. First, he ran a sub 1:50 800m completely alone, which is rare in high school, then he followed it up with a sub-4:00 minute mile. There's reason to believe he might be the most talented of the recent spate of young middle distance runners. Admittedly, he's still behind the incredible Drew Hunter, but Slagowski might possibly have a higher ceiling. His coach tells us that he runs 22-23 sec 200m. That's incredibly fast for a high school middle distance runner. Heck, that's incredibly fast for a collegiate middle distance runner. That's Sebastian Coe level speed.

a week ago today, i traveled with a friend to the Arkansas high school Meet of Champs. again. and once again, (as i've posted before) those blue collar, overachieving gym rats with boring feet, tight hips, thick ankles, and no hip swivel "somehow" managed to be more-than-competitive on the track, despite the disproportionately low participation rate of White athletes in track and field, and (of course) their complete lack of athleticism.

a quick review of the performances on the boys side where the best-of-the-best, invitation-only athletes from across the state went head-to-head:

White athletes won the ...

100 meters, Zach Jewell with a 10.70.
200 meters, Zach Jewell with a 21.37.
300 meter hurdles, Mark Odom with a 38.53.
800 meters, TJ Sugg with a 1:55.54.
1600 meters, Toler Freyaldenhoven with a 4:21.55.
3200 meters, Dylan Douglas with a 9:45.27. he's a sophomore!
long jump, Zach Jewell with a leap of 22-feet 10.75-inches.
high jump, Dylan Western with 6-foot-6. he cleared 6-8 but kicked the bar with his heel. he's a junior, and he's only 5-foot-9!
pole vault, Zach McWhorter with a clearance of 16-feet 10-inches.
shot put, Eli Jackson with a toss of 59-feet 0.75-inches.
discus, Blake Young with a throw of 166-feet 11-inches.

of the 14 individual events, White athletes won 11.

all-White quartets also won two of the three relays, the 4x400 and the 4x800.

i can "clearly" see why the media, and "experts," and "talent" "scouts," and idiots everywhere matter-of-factly insist White cats can't be athletes.

for the year in Arkansas, White athletes held the top overall mark in the state in the:

100 meters - Zach Jewell (10.69)
200 meters - Zach Jewell (21.37)
800 meters - TJ Sugg (1:55.54)
1600 meters - Toler Freyaldenhoven (4:15.79)
3200 meters - Dylan Douglas (9:45.27) - he's a sophomore!
300 hurdles - Mark Odom (38.53)
high jump - Logan Hall (6-foot-7)
long jump - Zach Jewell (23-feet 4.25-inches)
pole vault - Nick Johnson (17-feet 3-inches)
shot put - Eli Jackson (59-feet 0.75-inches)
discus - Blake Young (166-feet 11-inches)

additionally, a White sophomore won the 7A (biggest classification in the state) State Championship in the 100-meters, Payton Copher with a 10.93. And Mark Odom had the #4 time in the 110-hurdles with a 14.56.

"obviously" White athletes can't compete with their darker-skinned peers.

*********************

a quick note regarding athletes from nearby states ...

in Oklahoma, junior Kolby Mendenhall won the 100 and the 200 at the Oklahoma MoC. it's been an up and down year for the gifted sprinter due to injury, but he still ran a windy 10.77 and 21.80 wind-legal this year.

senior Logan Daily of Okemah ran a 10.66 (#2 time overall in the state) and 21.62 (#4 time overall in the state) to win the State Championship in both events.

senior Dillon Stoner from Jenks posted a personal-best of 48.52 in the 400 (#2 overall time in the state), and he went on to win the State Championship in the 400 for the second-consecutive year. he's committed to play football for Oklahoma State.

in Missouri, junior Jon Redmond had the second-fastest 100-meters on the year, running a sparkling 10.53. He ran 10.69 or faster on 5 occasions this spring, and he also posted a personal-best of 21.77 in the deuce.

sophomore Reece Bickford ran a pr 10.83 in the 100.

senior Eric Hughey posted the top 400-meter time of the year, running a stellar 48.23.

Hey! Big news!
Trey Cunningham of Alabama, set a new National High School record in the 60m hurdles.
http://highschoolsports.al.com/news...dler-trey-cunningham-sets-national-hs-record/

In fact his time is superior to the World Junior Record!
Definitely one to keep an eye on.

I just researched Cunningham a little. Up to 400 metres is there anything he can't do?
Born August 1998
Personal Bests
Event Result Wind Venue Date
60m ind. 6.90 Birmingham (USA) 03.12.2016
400m ind. 49.58 Birmingham (USA) 03.12.2016
60mH ind. 7.79 Birmingham (USA) 12.12.2015
60mH ind. (0.99) 7.63 Birmingham (USA) 03.12.2016 [NOW 7.49]
110mH (0.99) 13.37 +1.6 Clovis (USA) 24.06.2016
400mH 55.66 La Habana (CUB) 27.05.2016
Long Jump ind. 7.04 Birmingham (USA) 12.12.2015