It was arguably the busiest and highest profile weekend of the year for high school track and field with national championships in three different corners of the country. New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia, adidas Nationals in North Carolina, and Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene all produced several state and national records for athletes and teams from all across the country. Adjacent to Nike Outdoor Nationals was the USATF U20 National Championships which had its fair share of high schoolers defeating collegians for national titles, as well.
Several Missourians and Missouri relay teams competed admirably across the four meets with a handful of performances standing out the most.
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Bailey Hensgens Wins High Jump U20 National Championship
Incarnate Word's Bailey Hensgens grabbed the headlines again this weekend with a victory at the USATF U20 Championships in the High Jump. Her 1.83m (6-0) clearance was her third mark over 6 feet this season and she now owns the top five high jump marks in state history. The U20 championship was just another accolade to an incredible junior season in which she won district, sectional, and state titles in the event, as well an indoor national championship this past winter.
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SLUH Boys Shatter State 4xMile Record at Nike Outdoor Nationals
The SLUH boys took to the Outdoor Nationals meet hosted by Nike and run adjacent to U20s to take a shot at the 4xMile. The team of Benjamin Yoffie, Michael Luna, Warnicke Beatty, and Jackson Miller finished fifth to earn All-American honors and shattered the State record in the process. The previous 4xMile record of 17:49.24 was set by Liberty North at last year's Nike Outdoor Nationals, but the Jr. Bills made easy work of that mark with their 17:28.71 clocking. This also breaks Park Hill South's 17:41.00 4x1600 State record from earlier this season. SLUH's splits were 4:29.54 (Yoffie), 4:26.04 (Luna), 4:19.67 (Beatty), and 4:13.46 (Miller).
Miller also took part in the 800 and 1 Mile races. He won the Emerging Elite race with a MO #2 mark of 1:53.28 and finished 12th in the Championship mile race in 4:09.09, his third mark under 4:10 for the full mile this season.
Beatty won his heat of the 800 in the Emerging Elite division, running a personal best of 1:56.02 in the 800, and added a personal best mile time of 4:16.10, fourth among Missourian sophomores this season.
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Perkins, McGovern Cap Off Stellar Seasons at Nike Outdoor Nationals
The Kansas City contingent at Nike Outdoor Nationals was led by Lee's Summit West's Harrison Perkins and Rockhurst's Jack McGovern.
Perkins continued his breakout junior season with a personal best and third place finish in the Emerging Elite 100 meter dash, running 10.55 (+3.2) in the preliminary rounds. He would go on to run 21.02 in the 200 and 47.97 in the 400, the former mark qualifying him for finals where he finished with an unfortunate DQ. Regardless, Perkins heads into his senior year as the overall state record holder in the 200, junior class state record holder in the 400, and a top-tier returner in the 100 now.
McGovern posted marks in both the Mile and 2 Mile in Eugene. He ran 4:09.42 in the Mile, his second straight mark under 4:10, but not enough to beat the 4:08.62 personal best he hit at the Festival of Miles earlier this month. The 2 Mile mark of 8:52.72 was a personal best in that event and would have been right in line with the 8:49.10 3200 personal best he posted at the Arcadia Invitational this past April. McGovern is a top returner in both the 1600 and 3200 going into his junior year, but will be looking to defend his Class 5 State Cross Country title first and foremost.
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More Notable Missourian Performances
Kirkwood's Khalani Barry dropped a massive personal best in the triple jump of 14.90m (48-10.5) at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, finishing fifth overall in the Championship division. The Class 5 runner-up in the long jump who had not contested the triple jump since May 7th has now posted his first two marks over 14 meters of his career: 14.45m and now this 14.90m mark. He is now the top triple jumper in the entire state by over a foot.
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The Lutheran South senior followed up his undefeated season and Class 3 State title in the high jump with a 5th place finish and All-American honor at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in a personal best of 2.07m (6-9.25). Wangia leapt up to fifth in the overall state rankings with this performance.
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The Centralia junior had a strong showing at Nike Outdoor Nationals with 21.80 and 48.02 performances in the 200 and 400, respectively. Ross had not competed since the Class 3 State Championships where he earned third place medals in the 200 and 400, and a fifth place medal in the Javelin.
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Cardinal Ritter's Logynn Spain had a massive day at New Balance Nationals in the triple jump, finishing fourth in the freshman division with an 11.95m (39-2.25) performance. This personal best mark boosted her to fourth in the state this season and first among freshmen by a full foot.
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Durrah wrapped up her junior season with strong performances in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, posting a personal best 11.85 (+0.6) in the preliminary round of the 100 and 24.56 mark in the 200. She ran 23.83 earlier this season.