August 02, 2022

Hudson, Kliesch, Medas-King, Pinckney each win multiple titles at Junior Olympic championships in California

Results

On Sunday (31-Jul) the 2022 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships concluded in Sacramento, California. The championships were held on the campus of Sacramento State University. USATF New York was represented by 37 athletes who competed in 69 individual events.

4325 athletes competed during the sevens days of competition that began on Monday (25-Jul).

Five (5) USATF New York athletes won eleven (11) national titles and turned in a total of 25 all-American performances by way of finishing in the top eight in an event. Each all-American was presented with a championship medal, an all-American patch, and a coveted Junior Olympic all-American hat.

Brielle Hudson (New York Starz Track) and Michael Pinckney (Eclipse TC) each won three titles while Katelyn Kliesch (Ocean Breeze Wave Runners) and Kunusasha Medas-King (Midas Touch) each won two titles while Nathaniel Samson won one.

Hudson's (pictured above) wins came in the 9-10 girls High Jump, Shot Put and Triathlon. In the high jump she cleared 1.35m (4-5) to tie her association record. In the Shot Put she broke the Junior Olympic meet record with a throw of 10.63m (34-10½) and just missed the national record, by 2½ inches, that she set two weeks earlier at the region 1 championships in Maine. Her winning mark was nine feet better than the rest of the field. In the Triathlon she accumulated 1351 points just missing her association record by 6 points. She also finished 10th in the Javelin Throw.

Pinckney (pictured above) won the 17-18 boys Discus Throw, Shot Put, and Hammer Throw. His winning throw of 61.79m (202-8) in the Discus Throw set the USATF New York association record and was the #2 mark ever by a New York prep; just missing the state record by 1 inch. He won the competition by 14 feet. In the Shot Put his throw of 19.01m (62-4½) was a career best and was the #1 throw by New York prep in 2022. In the Hammer Throw his winning mark of 68.40m (224-05) was 29 feet further than the runner-up. In fact all four of his marks topped the rest of the field.

Kliesch (pictured above) won the 13-14 girls 800m and 1500m titles. In the 800m she stopped the clock at 2:13.59 to establish a new career best as well as a new USATF New York association record. She was over three seconds ahead of Xiomara Lewis of California. In the 1500m she had a much tighter race as won by less than .5 seconds over Ellery Lincoln of Oregon. Her winning time of 4:42.78 was a career best.

Medas-King (pictured above) won her national titles in the 9-10 girls 800m and 1500m. In the 800m she ran 2:28.85 to win by 1.22 seconds over Arabella Smith of Georgia. The time was a career best by 4.94 seconds. In the 1500m she stopped the clock at 5:20.55 to defeat Taisley Janssen of Texas by less than one second. Medas-King also finished ninth in the 400m running 1:05.93. She missed earning a trip to the finals (and all-American honors) by just .04 seconds.

Samson (pictured above) won the 11-12 boys 1500m Race Walk over Maximus Chan of California in a time of 8:38.38. He also placed 12th in the Javelin with a mark of 29.21m (95-10).

Silver medals were won by Jaden Marchan (unattached) in the 15-16 boys 400m (48.36) and Konstantin MacKinnon (Westchester Wolves) in the 11-12 boys 800m (2:12.84). Marchan also finished sixth in the 200m. MacKinnon's mark in the 800m was a career best by over two seconds and established a new New York association record.

The sole third place finish by a New York athlete was turned in by Kyle Schmits (Notre Dame Track) as he earned his bronze medal in the 11-12 boys Pentathlon with a score of 1900 points.

Earning two all-American honors were Aaron Irish-Bramble (Notre Dame Track) and Kayla Cassidy Johnson (Hall's Express II). Irish-Bramble finished fourth in the 13-14 boys Pentathlon and eighth in the Triple Jump. Johnson finished fifth in the 17-18 girls 1500m and seventh in the 800m.

Other New York athletes earning all-American honors were:

Ariadne Irish-Bramble (4th, 9-10 girls Shot Put)
Kyan Muendell (6th, 17-18 boys Javelin Throw)
Stephen Baron-Williams (7th, 9-10 boys 400m)
T. Harrison Moeller (8th, 13-14 boys 800m)

The complete New York Results Scoreboard can be found here.

Next year's championships will be held July 23-30 in Eugene, OR.

The 2022 USATF National Cross Country Championships will be held December 10 in College Station, TX.