Robinson-O’Hagan elevates to No. 3 all-time prep competitor with best American Under-20 men’s hammer throw performance since 2017, Weaver captures women’s 5,000 title, joining Fink, Gorze and Nakato as champions in Oregon

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE, Ore. – Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan learned Thursday what his potential could be before the end of the summer competing with the 6-kilogram hammer throw.

Analee Weaver rediscovered the confidence in her running in the women’s 5,000-meter final just in time before she embarks on a new chapter of her collegiate career in the fall.

Robinson-O’Hagan, an Ole Miss signee representing Woonsocket High in Rhode Island and the Ocean State Hammerheads, and Weaver – a recent transfer to Utah State after beginning her collegiate eligibility at Brigham Young – were among five champions crowned on the opening day of competition at the USATF U20 Championships at Hayward Field.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | MEET VIDEOS | PHOTOS by John Nepolitan

The top two athletes in each final secured spots on the U.S. roster to compete Aug. 1-6 at the World Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, providing they achieved the qualifying standard Thursday or in a previous competition this year.

Robinson-O’Hagan began his series by elevating to the No. 3 all-time prep competitor with the 6-kilogram hammer, launching a throw of 246 feet, 4 inches (75.08m), the best mark achieved by an American Under-20 athlete since 2017. He ranks No. 5 among World Under-20 performers this year.

Following his victory June 18 with the 12-pound hammer, producing a winning mark of 241-1 (73.49m) at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia, Robinson-O’Hagan resumed training with the 6-kilogram implement in the days leading up to competing in Oregon and elevated to the No. 5 competitor in American Under-20 history.

Jeremiah Nubbe of Rainier High in Washington, a Texas commit representing Yelm Tornado Track Club, had only two days to train with the 6-kilogram hammer after winning the Nike Outdoor Nationals crown June 19 by throwing the 12-pound implement 236-4 (72.03m).

In his first showdown with Robinson-O’Hagan since last year, Nubbe took third with a fifth-round effort of 232-3 (70.79m).

Collin Burkhart of Penn State, who used the 16-pound hammer throughout his freshman year, returned to the 6-kilogram implement and placed second with a fifth-round performance of 238-1 (72.58m).

Weaver, who hadn’t competed in a race since February, gained confidence from a recent 3,000-meter time trial in Logan, Utah, and surged in the final kilometer of Thursday’s championship to prevail in a personal-best 16:25.67.

Although she was in third place at the 3,000-meter split, early leader Ellie Shea of Belmont High in Massachusetts dropped out of the race shortly thereafter, leaving Weaver and Arkansas freshman Heidi Nielson up front at the 4,000-meter mark.

Weaver produced a significant move on the penultimate lap by producing a 72.56-second split and Nielson didn’t respond, placing second in 16:30.50 in her first race since January. Oregon’s Harper McClain took third in 16:48.23.

Tyrone Gorze, a junior at Crater High in Oregon, made a decisive push midway through the men’s 5,000 final to separate from Penn’s Dylan Throop and Wisconsin’s Jacob Bourget, and he never looked back to prevail in 14:08.08.

Gorze, who clocked 14:00.34 on May 6 at the Sound Running Track Meet in California, covered the final 400 meters Thursday in 63.88 seconds to prevent a comeback from either of the top collegiate freshmen.

Throop closed in 62.93 to edge Bourget by a 14:09.22 to 14:09.74 margin.

Emily Fink, representing the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., won the women’s 4-kilogram hammer throw with a third-round mark of 196-8 (59.94m).

Fink, who ranks fifth this year among World Under-20 competitors at 208-8 (63.60m), triumphed against UCLA freshman Jillian Stafford, who also produced her personal-best 195-3 (59.52m) in the third round.

Although all the athletes who finished in the top two of both 5,000 finals, as well as each hammer throw championship, achieved the World Under-20 standard, that was not the case with the women’s javelin final.

Oregon freshman Kohana Nakato, who captured the Nike Outdoor Nationals title last year, emerged victorious with a fifth-round effort of 157-10 (48.11m).

Saydi Orange of Kentridge High, a Washington signee representing Tahoma Track Club, placed second with an opening-round mark of 156-4 (47.65m).

Neither athlete achieved the World Under-20 automatic qualifying mark of 164 feet (50.00m), and will await to learn if they will earn the opportunity to throw in Colombia.

The opening day of heptathlon and decathlon competition also took place, with JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, a freshman at Emerald Ridge High in Washington, leading the women’s competition with 3,371 points.

Blakelee Winn, a freshman All-American at NCAA Division 2 Pittsburg State, is second with 3,235 points and Louisiana Tech-bound Bryanna Craig of Ruston High in Louisiana is third at 3,223 points.

Bryce Pearson of Cerritos College in California leads the decathlon at the midway point with 3,499 points, followed by Texas A&M commit Landon Helms of Emmett High in Idaho at 3,287 points and Max Tucker of Mount Pisgah Christian High in Georgia, representing Major Impact Track Club, in third with 3,256 points.