Junior Olympic 1500m Race Walk Final: Results And Highlights

The USAF Junior Olympics Track & Field Championship are underway at the E. B. Cushing Stadium in Texas all week. On Wednesday, July 24, the elite youth track and field meet featured the final for the 1500m race walk.

Taking disciple and endurance, boys and girls in this event took the track—some setting personal records on their road to becoming a Junior Olympic champion.

Here are highlights from the events, including the athletes who took the top three spots.

9-10 Boys 1500m Race Walk

The race walk competitions started with the boys 9-10 age division 1500m race walk that was a solid start to the events of the day when Langston Coleman of USA Rockets Youth took first place with a finish time of 8:43.17.

It was a tight race between Coleman and Ayden Jennings for a brief moment; however, Coleman was the clear champion. Saish Gondhali with Mission Valley Track & Field finished in second place with almost a minute behind Coleman with 9:40.05. Jennings with DeSotto SWIFT took third with 9:46.21.

There was some buzz after the top boys finished with three officials gathering to discuss a yellow card. Still, all 16 boys in the race walk gave it their best effort in theta event.

Boys 11-12 1500m

Immediately after was her boys’ 1500m for the 11-12 age division. The meet record for this division remains at 6:44:01, set in the ‘90s.

This pack of race walkers typically finished in the 8-minute mark, so no records were expected. However, while national leaders finish in the 7-minute mark, Elgin Shark Track team’s Sam Gibb had a triumphant finish with a finish time of 7:50.42.

It seemed like no one could catch him, as he made his move early and held onto the lead two set his new personal record.

Eben Haviland also set a PR. The 12-year-old who is unattached finished the race in 8:19.44. Also setting a PR was thturd place Dylan Prescott of Distance University. He finished the race walk in 8:19.54.

Interestingly enough, all stop seven finishers in this race way set a personal record, proving this was a motivating race to be part of.

Girls 9-10 1500m Race Walk

The top four race walkers in this event set personal records. This was another great race to watch since the competition was just so close at the finish. In the end, it was Charlotte North of the Arizona Cheetahs Track Team who was crowned the 1500m girls race walk champion with her finish time of 9:53.14.

Aviva Neel with Mission Valley Track & Field was a close second with 9:53.37, followed by teammate Haneett Sini with 10:24.99.

Girls 1500m 11-12 Race Walk

This was one tough lineup, with the best in this age group being the top in the country. Vivienne David with the Elgin Sharks dominated this race, holding a 10-second lead early on.

Teammate Aanya Pateel started towards the back of he pack early in the race, but was able o make a move and was in a solid 7th place before the 5-minute mark.

Eventually, Patel finished in third place with a finish time of 8:32.23. In second was Brisa Carbajal with Great Esteem Track Club with 8:32.23. It was a PR for both Patel and Carbajal. David was the champion with a 8:27.24 finish.