Via USATF New York Communications

The 2016 USATF Junior Track & Field Championships take place on June 24-46 with eleven (11) athletes from New York competing. The championships, for athletes ages 20 and under, are being held at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California.

Athletes finishing in the top two in their event (and also have met the IAAF performance standards) will qualify to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland July 19-24.

Leading the New York contingency are Eion Nohilly,  Zola Golden, Bella Burda, Rayvon Grey, and Alexandra Harris.  Each are entered with a entry mark amongst the top 5 in their events and have also previously met the IAAF performance standard.

Nohilly, 18, of Golden Bridges, NY has the #3 entry in the 3000m Steeplechase.   At the NYSPHSAA state championships he used a strong last 300m to win run past Noah Affolder to win in 9:06.36; a time that is among the top 20 times in U.S. high school history.  A day earlier he captured the 800m running 1:52.77; a career best time by over 2.5 seconds.  Nohilly will attend Georgetown University in the fall.  The 3000m steeplechase will go off at8:45pm PT tonight.

Golden, 19, a freshmen at Texas from LaGrangeville, NY, has the fourth best  entry mark in the 400m (53.10).   Earlier in the month she ran the third leg  in 52.12 on Texas’ winning 4x400m relay at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. Last year Golden represented Team USA at the Pan Am Junior Championships in Canada.  The first round of the women’s 400m is Saturday at 5:20pm PT with the finals on Sunday.

Burda, 18, a freshman at Villanova who hails from Pleasant Valley, NY, is entered in the 5000m with the #3 seed time of 16:25.67.  The #2 seed time by Amy Davis of Wisconsin is just .15 seconds faster putting Burda in the mix for a national team spot.  The women’s 5000m will he held tonight at 9:00pm PT.

Grey, 18, of Beacon, NY has the #5 entry mark in the men’s long jump.  His season best of 25-4.75 at the NYSPHSAA championships broke Bob Beamon’s 51 year old New York state record by 1.25 inches.  Grey, who will matriculate to LSU in the fall, was a two time  NYSPHSAA  champion in the long jump.  He will jump tonight at 7:00pm PT

Another local to keep an eye on is Alexandra Harris in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.  Harris, 16. has a very quick 2000m time of 6:47.07 and won a bronze medal at last year’s Pan Am Junior Championships in Canada.  She just completed her junior year at North Rockland High School.  Her race goes off at8:45pm ET on Saturday.


For a complete list of New York athletes entered in the championships and to track all of the athletes' performances click here.