National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Mayaguez, Puerto Rico - The 21st  Annual Pan American U20 Track and FIeld Championships are being held at the Jose A. Figueroa Freire Stadium

from Friday August 4- Sunday, August 6.

Full results will be posted here  with live stream available for all sessions can be found here. 

Here are recaps of the morning session.

10000m Racewalk Women

In an event starting at 6:30am and with only four competitors, the winner was Sharon Herrera
Soto (Costa Rica) with a time of 49:53.76. Second was Heather Durant (Larkin, Elgin, IL) less
than 10 seconds back. Fourth was the 2023 Nike Outdoor Nationals 3000m Racewalk
Champion, Talia Green (College Prep, Oakland, CA) in 53:49.82.

100m Qualifying Men

Though the U.S. team was a bit depleted due to passport and other issues, both Americans qualified for the final. Tyler Azcano (East Ridge, Clermont, FL 2022 grad) who will be a freshman at FLORIDA  A& M in the fall, led all qualifiers with 10.58 (-2.9). Cameron Tarver (SAN JOSE STATE; Fresno Central, Fresno, CA) was the 6th overall qualifier (10.76, -2.7).

Both the first place (Cameron Miller, Creekside, St. John’s, FL) and third place (T-Mars Mc Callum, TENNESSEE; Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach, SC) finishers at the USATF U20 qualifying meet were not present.

The second fastest qualifier was Jamaica’s Bouwahigie Nkrumie at 10.60 (-2.6). He holds the Jamaican U20 record in the 100m at 9.99. The final will have 2 Americans, 2 Jamaicans, 2 Antiguans, a Canadian and a Puerto Rican.

100m Qualifying Women

The US took 1-2 in qualifying with Kaila Jackson (GEORGIA; Renaissance, Detroit, MI)
running 11.47 (-0.9) and Camryn Dickson (TEXAS A+M; Clear Brook, Houston, TX) at 11.75 (-
0.9). (Jackson with 5 th in the 2021 Nike Outdoor Nationals 200m). Alana Reid (Jamaica) was
the third qualifier at 11.96 (-2.6). Reid has a best of 10.92, run in winning the Jamaican high
school championships in March. Khristal Martindale of Barbados, 9 th at the 2023 NCAA
Division II championships for Lewis U, was the 6 th qualifier overall.

Hammer Throw Men

It was 1-2-3 for Chile (Miguel Castro Vasquez), Argentina (Tomas Olivera) and Mexico (Jose Chavez Espinosa) with the winner throwing 237-9. Michael Pinckney (UCLA; Construction Trades, Queens, NY) finished fifth but with a personal best of 224-04, only 2 inches out of fourth. His prior best was 219-11, and he remains the US U20 leader. He was the 2022 Nike Indoor Nationals weight throw runnerup.

Gary Moore (Baylor; Hillhouse, New Haven, CT) was 7th in 212-10, off his 218-04 best. Moore had finished third at the USATF U20 championships,
and was named to the team taking the place of second place finisher Rory Devaney (Cal Poly/SLO).

Shot Put Women

Mensi Stiff (Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN), the 2023 Nike Indoor Nationals shot put champion, saved the best for last. She opened with a throw of 49-09.25 and, in the end, she secured the win with that throw. She fouled on the next three attempts, then finally got in a groove on the 5th throw with a toss of 51-09.25.

Wisdom Williams (IOWA; Alexandria City, Alexandria, VA) moved into second with throw of 49-08.25 only an inch off Mensi’s early leading throw. (Wisdom got her PR of 50-06 at the USATF U20 champs. She had finished 20th in the 2019 New Balance Outdoor Nationals Emerging Elite shot put!).

On the final throw of the competition Mensi unleashed a monster 54-09.5. She is now the fourth ranked high school
performer ever and is also ranked 5 th on the current World U20 list.

The high school alltime list now reads:
Alyssa Wilson 2017 58-01
Raven Saudners 2014 56-08.25
Michelle Carter 2003 54-10.25
Mensi Stiff 2023 54-09.5
Maggie Ewen 2013 54-08.5
Julia Tunks (Canada) finished fourth at 45-04.25. She is the daughter of three time Canadian
Olympian and discus national record holder Jason Tunks. Jason is the 2003 Pan American Senior discus champion.

Hammer Women

Giovanna Meeks (VANDERBILT; Northfield, Denver, CO), the 2022 Nike Outdoor Nationals hammer throw champion, barely edged teammate Skylar Soli (Douglas County, Douglasville, GA), 194-1 to 194-0! It was a personal best for Soli and improved on her US high school lead. She had finished second in the 2023 Nike Indoor Nationals weight throw.

Sophie Perez Gonzalez (Guatemala/WAKE FOREST), who finished fourth in the recent NACAC U23 hammer throw and 11 th in the 2023 ACC championships, finished third here at 190-00. Liangie Calderon Reyes (Puerto Rico/NORTHEASTERN, Coventry, RI) was 6th. She had finished third in the 2022 Nike Indoor Nationals.