US Junior Nationals Coverage

Quite a few Virginians are participating in this week\'s USATF Junior Nationals and USATF Nationals (seniors) held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Live results of the meet can be found here. We will be giving updates of the performances from Virginians throughout each day of events.



Sunday: Keith Moffatt, a former athlete at Menchville High, had an outstanding second place showing in the high jump at a height of 7\'6.50\". Moffatt competes at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Shareese Woods just missed qualifying for the finals of the senior women\'s 200 meter dash at 23.15 in ninth place in the semis. A surprise in Allen Johnson not advancing out of the men\'s 110 meter hurdles at a time of 13.59 to finish 10th overall. In the finals of the women\'s 800 meter run, Nikeya Green took seventh in 2:03.24. and Leslie Treherne finished eighth at 2:03.38. Sheena Johnson became a national runner-up in the 400 meter hurdles with a 53.90 run behind Lashinda Demus (53.07).

Saturday: St. Catherine\'s senior Katie Doswell finished 13th in the finals of the junior women\'s 1500 meter run with a time of 4:37.51. University of Richmond\'s Jessica Young finished fourth in the finals of the 400 meter dash finals with a 53.39 clocking. Former Lake Braddock great and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson won his 1st round heat of the 110 meter hurdles in 13.58. Prince George product Shareese Woods qualified out of her preliminary heat of the 200 meter dash in 22.95. NC State star and former Jefferson Forest High athlete Ebony Foster seized the final spot for the finals of the 100 meter hurdles from fellow Virginians and Hampton University teammates Yvette Lewis (13.14) and Kellie Wells (13.29) finishing fourth in the heat at 13.04. Lewis competed at Denbigh and Menchville High School, while Wells starred at James River in Midlothian. Foster later finished eighth in the finals at 13.02. Gar-Field alum Sheena Johnson ran the second fastest time in the semis of the 400 meter hurdles with a 54.09 clocking to finish second in her heat behind favorite Lashinda Demus (53.50). Hampton University alumn James Carter took third in the finals of the men\'s 400 meter hurdles at 48.44. Lashawn Merritt finished just short of winning his first US senior national title in the 400 meter dash as Andrew Rock (44.45) nipped the former World Juniors champion Merritt (44.50) at the line. Former C.D. Hylton High star and current runner at Jemissa Hess competed in her first US Nationals race with the older athletes as she finished 13th in the 1500 meter run finals at 4:28.58.

Friday: Menchville\'s Nicole Saunders just missed finishing in the top two with a personal best time of 58.88 in the 400 meter hurdle finals to finish half a second off of second place Eboy Collins (58.31). Great Bridge\'s Mike Morrison had an off day in the junior men\'s pole vault as he was the defending champion in the event, but finished sixth this year with a clearance of 16\'6.75\". Appomattox\'s Trumaine Kelso (also known as Rashad Kelso) ran a swift time of 47.26 in his 400 meter preliminary heat, but was unable to advance onto the next round. University of Richmond\'s Jessica Young set school records in qualifying for the finals of the 400 and 200 meter dash with times of 53.49 and 23.50 in the junior women\'s prelims for the 400 and finals for the 200. Young finished 6th in the 200 meter dash finals and advances onto the next round in the 400 meter dash. Hayfield alumn and currently starring at George Mason University, Murielle Ahoure just missed qualifying to the next round of the junior women\'s 200 meter dash after finishing second in her heat with a 23.81 clocking. In the senior women\'s 100 meter dash, Virginia native Latasha Colander posted a time of 11.44 to finish second in her heat and advance on. Indiana University senior and former Bethel star Ara Towns finished with a time of 11.80 in the same heat. Two former Virginians in Nikeya Green and Leslie Treherne qualified to the finals of the women\'s 800 meter run with times of 2:02.24 for Green and 2:04.77 for Treherne.

Thursday: Menchville junior Nicole Saunders kept trucking from her national runner-up performance at NON in the 400 meter hurdles by winning her prelim heat of the 400 meter hurdles at Junior Nationals with a time of 59.46, which is a personal best for Saunders. Saunders\' time is the second fastest with only UCLA\'s Nicole Leach at 57.84 posting a faster time putting Saunders in good position to qualify for Junior Worlds in Beijing, China in tomorrow\'s finals. Booker T. Washington senior and Norfolk State University bound Marlon Woods finished ninth in the high jump at 6\'6.75\". Patrice Potts, a former Brunswick senior star and currently running at Virginia Tech, ran a time of 11.86 in the 100 meter dash prelims, but failed to qualify to the next round. Northside junior Catherine White ran a time of 9:55.80 to finish fourth in the 3000 meter run with Foot Locker Nationals champion Jordan Hasay of California only five seconds ahead of her as the winner at 9:50. In senior action, UVA assistant coach Dawn Cromer (formerly Dawn Cleary) qualified through the women\'s 3K steeple first round with a time of 10:17, while South Lakes alumni Richard Smith, running for Nike, did not make it out of the first round for the men\'s 800 meter run of 1:48.64. In the men\'s 400 meter hurdles, former Petersburg star Terry Thornton, who currently runs for Hampton University qualified for the next round with a time of 50.32, while former Centreville star Rickey Harris (51.32) failed to qualify out of the first round in the event. Former Woodrow Wilson star Lashawn Merritt, running professionally for Nike, won his heat of the 400 meter dash prelims in a time of 45.26. Merritt\'s time is the third fastest among all qualifiers. Severe weather in the area forced delays in the meet to postpone some of the events to later in the week.