Kendrick Joshua of Coastal Georgia Track Team and recent Woodville-Tompkins graduate Nathan Anderson won titles to lead the contingent of local athletes competing last weekend in three national meets.
Anderson was fastest in the Boys 400-Meter Hurdles National Elite race Sunday at the Adidas Outdoor Nationals on June 16-18 at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro. Anderson, who ran unattached, posted a time of 55.33 seconds, breaking his personal record (56.96) with one of the top times in that division in the country this year.
Joshua, a rising sophomore at Richmond Hill High School, was in Philadelphia for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet on June 16-18 at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. Joshua’s event also was the 400 hurdles, which he ran in 54.56 for gold.
Teammate and classmate Jayden Taylor placed third in the Boys 400 Freshman race (49.08).
Coastal Georgia’s Stanley Smart Jr., an eighth-grader this spring at Blessed Sacrament, had a big weekend sprinting in the Adidas meet’s Middle School division. Smart was second in the 100 with a personal-record 11.18 after setting a new mark in the preliminaries (11.23).
He also placed fourth in the 200 (personal-record 22.83) and 400 (PR 51.67).
Also in Greensboro, Melik Mclaughlin, a rising sophomore at Richmond Hill, finished eighth in the Boys 400 Freshman division (PR 51.91).
A large group from the Savannah area traveled all the way to the University of Oregon in Eugene, home of Hayward Field and the Nike Outdoor Nationals on June 15-18.
Savannah Christian rising senior Jadyn Singleton placed sixth in the Girls Long Jump Championship division with a personal-best 5.72 meters (18 feet, 9 1/4 inches). Her previous best was 5.63 meters/18-5 3/4.
Singleton also had qualified for the Girls 100 Emerging Elite finals by winning her heat in 12.29, which was eighth-fastest in her division. Unfortunately for Singleton, the long jump competition ran long and prevented her from competing in the sprint race scheduled the same day.
Here are results for Coastal Empire track and field athletes:
Nike Outdoor Nationals
Girls 100-Meter Middle School preliminaries
49. Avery Pflibsen, Savannah Christian, rising freshman, 13.98 seconds (personal record)
Girls 200 Middle School
53. Pflibsen, 28.68
Boys 1 Mile Middle School
63. Cole Minnich, SCPS, rising freshman, 5:03.98 (PR)
Boys 1,500 Middle School En Route
62. Minnich, 4:43.70
Girls 100 Emerging Elite preliminaries
8. Jadyn Singleton, SCPS, rising senior, 12.29 (PR)
59. Haely Grant, Calvary Day, rising senior, 12.78
Girls 400 Championship division
30. Grant, 1:01.83
Boys 200 Middle School
33. Devin Patel, SCPS, rising freshman, 26.19
36. Caden Thomas, SCPS, rising eighth-grader, 26.34
49. Christopher Butler, SCPS, rising freshman, 27.06
Boys 2,000 Steeplechase Championship
46. Noah Sybert, Richmond Hill, rising senior, 6:43.95
Girls Long Jump Championship
6. Singleton, 5.72 meters (18-9.25) (PR)
Boys 400 Hurdles Championship
34. Billy Johnson, Jenkins, rising senior, 1:00.57
New Balance Nationals Outdoor
Girls 100 Championship preliminaries
28. Marissa Palmer, Coastal Georgia Track Team/New Hampstead HS, rising senior, 12.10
Girls 200 Rising Stars
19. Palmer, 24.83
34. Jayla Lawrence, CGTT/RHHS, rising senior, 25.19
Girls 100 Rising Stars
32. Lawrence, 12.30
Girls 800 Championship
23. Lyric Olson, unattached/Savannah Arts 2023 graduate, 2:11.66
Girls 200 Freshman
15. Kinley Gibson, CGTT/Richmond Hill, rising freshman, 25.46
Girls 400 Freshman
15. Ivey Hall, CGTT/Jenkins HS, rising sophomore, 58.92
22. Gibson, 59.92
Boys 4x400 Relay Championship
63. South Effingham HS, 3:36.67 (Devin Hallman, Kaleb Hodges, Zachary Stapleton, Isaiah Campbell, all 2023 graduates)
Boys 400 Freshman
3. Jayden Taylor, CGTT/RHHS, rising sophomore, 49.08
Boys 400 Hurdles Freshman
1. Kendrick Joshua, CGTT/RHHS, rising sophomore, 54.36
Adidas Outdoor Nationals
Boys 100 National Elite
60. Dakari Walker, CGTT/Effingham County HS, rising junior, 11.22
Girls 100 Middle School
83. Calleigh Peterson, unattached, qualified as eighth-grader at Garrison School for the Arts, 14.39
Girls Long Jump Middle School
23. Peterson, 4.22 meters (13-10.25)
Boys 100 Middle School
2. Stanley Smart Jr., CGTT, qualified as eighth-grader at Blessed Sacrament, 11.18 (PR)
Boys 200 Middle School
4. Smart, 22.83 (PR)
Boys 400 Middle School
4. Smart, 51.67 (PR)
Boys 400 Hurdles National Elite
1. Nathan Anderson, unattached/Woodville-Tompkins Class of 2023, 55.33 (PR)
Boys 400 Freshman
8. Melik Mclaughlin, CGTT/RHHS, rising sophomore, 51.91 (PR).
PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany Joshua Coastal Georgia Track Team & Jadyn Singleton Athleticslive.com
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