AAU Club Nationals: Day 8 Girls Summary (Final Day)

 
Well everyone, I’m back with the last AAU Club Championship recap. This whole entire week has been so hectic, with all the athletes that were running and the rain delays, but it’s all over now. And since there was so much going on today, I’m going to do a girls and guys edition.
 
The day started off with the 15-18 year old girls 2,000m steeplechase. There weren’t many girls in the steeplechase to begin with, but don’t think that the times were slow either. The girls really were doing their own thing when it came to this race. A couple girls in the steeplechase also doubled with the 800m run later on that day. Here were the top 5 from each age group:
 
15 and 16 
1. Antwonette Thomas (Conyers, GA) 7:50.44
2. Jessica Torres 8:13.22
3. Erica Evans (College Park, GA) 8:15.95
4. Paola Ramos (Puerto Rico) 8:33.91
5. Kendall Long (Memphis, TN) 8:39.91
 
17 and 16
1. Paulanicole Ortiz (Puerto Rico) 8:01.77
2. Ashanti Jackson (Hampton, VA) 8:11.07
3. Dejah Renee Jones 8:22.10
4. Zimmie Greene (Brooklyn, NY) 8:33.52
5. Leah Banks (College Park, GA) 8:46.08 
 
Following directly after the steeple chase were the girls 100m hurdles finals. The 15 and 16 year olds had very impressive times, for only being so young. And when it came to the 17 and 18 year old, you can tell they definitely had some experience under their belt. The top times for those two age groups were :14.58 and :14.26. For both of these finals, the race was really close when coming down first and second as well as second and third place. Here are your top 5 ladies:
 
15 and 16
1. Domoinique Turner (Lake Mary HS – Lake Mary, FL) 14.58
2. Brittley Humphrey (Hoover, AL) 14.59
3. Jessica Watson (Pfafftown, NC) 15.44
4. Lauren Epps (Forest Park, GA) 15.51
5. Kayla Ruff 15.87
 
17 and 18
1. Stefani Kerrison (Jones HS – Orlando, FL) 14.26
2. Danielle Phillips (Rockledge HS – Rockledge, FL) 14.52
3. Hunter Roberts 14.57
4. Natisha Dixon (Marietta,GA) 14.59
5. Pattriana Perry (Vacaville, CA) 14.65
 
Next on the agenda for the day was the 100m dash. For the 15 and 16 year old girls the race for first was separated by six one hundredths of a second. The winner of that race was Halimah Barlow of Georgia Favor TC (College Park, GA) with a time of :12.12. As for the 17 and 18 year old ladies, it was no contest; Regine Williams easily claimed that title with a time of :11.85 beating Lake Highland Preps, Deanna Hill. Williams not only easily claimed the 100m dash, but the 200m dash as well, with a time of :23.64. 
The most interesting race of the day in my opinion was the 15 and 16 year old girls 400m dash. This field was stacked with some of Florida’s finest as well as the nations. With girls such as Erin Ford (Royal Palm Beach HS), Eriqa Caldwell (Spoto HS – Ruskin, FL) and Tamani Wilson (Maclay School) as well as Georgia’s own Mackenzie Dunmore. The race started out with Dunmore and Caldwell leading the pack up until the 200m, then as everyone came around that curve, it just became even. Erin Ford moved up from close to last place to 3rd and bumped Dunmore into 4th place. Mikaela Smith (Clovis North HS – Fresno, CA) took over the entire race to win at the 150m mark. But also after that Smith won the 800m with a 2:16.33.
 
1. Mikaela Smith 55.53
2. Eriqa Caldwell 55.62.
3. Erin Ford 55.91
4. Makenzie Dunmore   56.10
5. Tamani Wilson 56.36
 
As for the 17 and 18 year old girls it was a battle of two different Florida State classes. It was between Adriana Allen of Dr. Krop (4A) and Gabrielle Gayles (1A). The race was probably close for about 200m then Allen just had another gear and left the rest of the field in the dust, beating everyone by almost a whole second.
 
1. Adriana Allen 54.56
2. Jarra Owens 55.30
3. Gabrielle Gayles 55.74
4. Isabella Howerton 57.09
5. Vanessa Equwatu 57.12
 
One of the final races of the day was the 200m dash and no one really came in the place they were predicted to come in, which brought on some crowd excitement. In the 15-16 year old age group, Dunmore redeemed herself and won the race, but surely putting up a fight for it. Here are the places as followed.
 
15 and 16
1. Makenzie Dunmore     24.49      
2. Erin Derrow               24.63    
3. Venida Fagan               24.73   
4. Erin Morrison             24.77   
5. Erin Ford                 25.04   
6. Kaitlin Sherman           25.52   
7. Sunsara Williams         25.57     
8. Caitlan Tate               25.73    
 
17 and 18
1. Regine Williams 23.64             
2. Deanna Hill 23.90   
3. Marika Brown 24.19             
4. Jarra Owens             24.56 
5. Destiny Washington    24.64  
6. Kayla Tyson             24.65
7. Maya Marshall           24.86   
8. Krysten Golden           25.33
 
Keep a lookout for the guy edition!
 
Keep running fast,
 
Denise