Purdue Freshman Tate Schienbein led the Indiana contingent on day 2 of the USA Junior Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa as he won the 3000m Steeplechase. Des Moines is hosting both the Junior (ages 19 & under) and the Open (elite/professional) championships.
Thursday was a day full of qualifying rounds for both the Open and Junior athletes with a sprinkling of finals mixed in.
Schienbein captured the steeplechase running 9:17.30 to win by nearly 3 seconds over Brenden Smith (Univ. of Pennslyvania). By virture of finishing in the top 2 and having previously met the qualifying standard of 9:10.00 Schienbein will be named to Team USA for the Pan Am Junior Championships that will be held in Medellin, Columbia August 23-25. "I came into this meet with the intention of performing well and hopefully gaining a spot on the team. After struggling so much this year it was great to end on a good note. I can't wait to represent Team USA in Colombia," stated Schienbein following his race.
In other Day 2 finals in the Junior Championships:
- Onyi Afoaku (Bloomington, Ind. / Univ. Mississippi) finished 5th in the Shot Put (59-0.75) and 7th in the Discus (183-5);
- Stephen Keller (Kouts, Ind. / unattached) finished 6th in the Decathlon (6823 pts.);
- Codie Hamsley (Georgetown, Ind. / unattached) finished 6th in the Discus (185-2);
- Adam Togami (New Albany, Ind. / Wabash College) finished 12th in the 3000m Steeplechase (9:53.15);
- Nakel McClinton (Merrillville, Ind. / Indiana University) finished 12th in the Hammer Throw (165-10); and
- Tyler Rusboldt (Chesterton, Ind. / Univ. Missouri) finished 17th in the 3000m Steeplechase (10:11.01)
Brittany Neeley (Greenwood, Ind. / unattached), the Indiana high school 800m record holder, advanced to the finals in the 800m after winning her heat in 2:09.75. Neeley will race in the finals on Friday at 7:20pm CT (8:20pm ET).
Junior athletes who competed but did not advance were Luke Brahm (800m), Zach Bray (110m Hurdles), Deakin Voltz (Pole Vault).
In the Open Championships Morgan Uceny of Plymouth, Ind. (1500m) and Stephanie Garcia of Bloomington, Ind. (Steeplechase) both advanced to the finals in their events and Kind Butler III (Bloomington, Ind. / Indiana University) advanced to the semi-finals in the 100m. Athletes failing to advance were Lance Roller, Jr. (800m), Andy Bayer (1500m), Daniel Stockberger (1500m), Austin Mudd (1500m).
Full results and more meet coverage can be found on the USATF website.