ZACHARY'S VEDEREK MATTHEWS FINISHES THE 300H DURING A 2023 HIGH SCHOOL MEET
The USATF Region 6 Junior Olympics begins this morning in Lafayette with the multievents. We have looked over the entries and identified five athletes to watch as they look to punch their ticket for a trip to the USATF National Junior Olympics in Eugene, Oregon later this summer.
No. 1 - River Cities' Demetria Harris
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Coming off a high school season which saw her lead her Huntington Lady Raiders to their first state championship in 35 years, Harris has used that momentum into this summer.
Usually one to go back-to-back in the 100m and 100m hurdles, Harris looks to concentrate on the hurdles and the long jump. She is the No. 1 seed in both events at the USATF Region 6 Junior Olympics.
Momentum is picking up off the track for Harris as well, Grambling head coach LaMonte Vaughn Jr. returned from his vacation and paid a home visit to Harris, who picked her first official offer from the Tigers. It is the first of many for Harris.
No. 2 - Southwest Mississippi Roadrunners' Vederek Matthews
Don't let the club name fool you. Hailing from Zachary High School, Vederek Matthews is one of the top returning hurdlers in the state.
The high school season did not end the way Matthews wanted. Matthews has used it as motivation this summer where he has been putting in the work in both the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. The numbers he put in his first meet of the summer proved he was ready to get the bad taste out of his mouth. In his first time out this summer, Matthews ran a personal record 14.47 at the USATF Southern Association Championships.
But, the performance that caught our eye was his 56.13 400m hurdle win at the USATF Southern Association Junior Olympics on June 25. Competing in the bottom of the 17-18 boys' age group this summer, Matthews is favored to win both events. Matthews said that MileSplit LA was sleeping on him at the beginning of 2023 indoor season. Consider us wide awake this weekend in Lafayette as we will be eager to see how well he does.
No. 3 - River Cities' Devon Oliver
What a showdown it will be this weekend in the boys' 15-16 discus where Devon Oliver is the No. 2 seed to Gulfport's Sean Fairley. Oliver is coming off of his first state LHSAA title a week after his personal record of 164-5 at the Region 1-5A Meet. Oliver has been consistent after breaking the 160' barrier on March 30 at the Bossier Parish Championships. He has been over 160'0 five of the last seven meets.
That's not the case with Fairley, who got off a monster throw of 176-0 at the MSAIS 4A Championships, finishing second to Roury McCloyen (189-5). Fairley's previous best was a throw of 158-1 at the 3A-4A South State Meet.
No. 4 - New Orleans Metro Stars' Kali Magana
We don't know how Kali Magana's coaches do it. How do you prepare a runner for both the 100m and 800m in the same meet? Is she a sprinter or a middle distance runner? It's fascinating, really.
I guess that's why Magana, who led Louise S. McGehee to the school's first LHSAA track and field championship, is on our watch list for the USATF Region 6 Junior Olympics this weekend.
She is the No. 1 seed in the 800m (2:15.99), No. 4 seed in the 200m (25.43), and No. 8 seed in the 100m (12.63).
While Magana's four gold medals at the LHSAA Class 1A State Meet were impressive, it wasn't as impressive as her answer when asked which of her gold medals meant the most.
"I'm most proud of the 4x200," Magana said. "As a team, we came together."
No. 5 - River Cities' Jackson Burney
After winning his third straight 800m state championship by claiming the LHSAA 2A title in May, Burney has kept the momentum going this summer by breaking the River Cities club record for 15-16 boys by running a 1:57.50 at the USATF Souther Association Junior Olympics. The old record was held by River Cities' head coach Mychal Word, who was on the public address system during Burney's performance.
Burney's PR in the 800m (1:56.18) came earlier in June at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Burney is the heavy favorite in the 800m at the USATF Region 6 Junior Olympics. He is also seed No. 2 in the 400m where St. Augustine's Kyzar Dunbar has the No. 1 seed.