OLATHE, Kan. - Nike Central Park Track Club (Metropolitan) and the
Kansas City Smoke (Missouri Valley) claimed the women's and men's team
titles, respectively, this weekend at the USATF National Club Track &
Field Championships in Olathe, Kansas. Nike Central Park Track Club used
a well-balanced effort by both its men's and women's squads to also
claim the combined team title over VS Athletics (Southern California),
298.5 to 267 points.
Scoring in 18 of 24 events, the Nike Central Park TC women tallied 178
points, with VS Athletics (Southern California) scoring 143 points to
claim second place. Norfolk Real Deal (Virginia), finished fourth with
110 points, Greater Boston TC (New England), the 2002, 2005, and 2006
champions, scored 98 points, and Brockport Distance Project (Niagara)
scored 53 points to round out the top five.
"We've been eyeing this title for years, but it took an incredible team
effort to clinch it," stated Nike Central Park TC head coach Devon
Martin. "So many athletes ran their hearts out -- doubling and tripling
to get points -- and every throw, jump, and hurdle made the difference.
I couldn't be more proud of this crew."
In the men's competition, hometown favorite Kansas City Smoke outscored
Nike Central Park TC 146 points to 120.5. VS Athletics finished third
with 114 points. Southwestern Sprinters (Southwestern) ended the day
with 76 points claiming fourth place and Big River Running Company
(Ozark), making its Club Championship debut, finished fifth with 69.5
points.
Dabryan Blanton of the Southwestern Sprinters was the Most Valuable Male
Athlete, scoring 21 points. He finished 2nd in both the 100m and 200m
and was a member of the winning 4x100m and Sprint Medley relay teams.
Samaiyah Islam of Norfolk Real Deal was Most Valuable Female Athlete,
scoring 26 points. She won the 100m Hurdles, finished 3rd in the 400m
Hurdles, placed 5th in the Shot Put, finished 7th in the Javelin, and
was a member of the winning 4x100m team.
The top men's performance, based on the IAAF scoring tables, went to
Ashhad Agyapong of Shore AC for the 20.75 he recorded in the 200m
preliminaries. Valma Bass was awarded the top women's performance for
running 23.88 in the 200m.
Three meet records were broken during the championships. Championship
records established were: Shot Put (18.28m, John Langhauser, Nike
Central Park TC), Discus (48.51m, Katelyn Ciarelli, VS Athletics), and
Javelin (54.78m Kateema Riettie, Nike Central Park TC).
For complete results from the USATF National Club Track & Field
Championships, visit USATF.org.
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