Lacie Rasley makes Team USA roster for the World Youth Championships

Team USA roster for the World Youth Championships
World Youth Championships: July 8-12 in Bressanone, Italy

The mark listed next to each event below is what an athlete likely needs to achieve in order to place in the finals of the World Youth Championships. Each athlete’s listed IAAF mark is the best-known performance by the athlete that meets IAAF standards and was achieved between Jan. 1, 2008 and June 22, 2009.

Shot Put (44-08.75)
1. Lacie Rasley (Shafter, Ca.) 43-09.25
IAAF: 44-00.50 (Central Sec. Sequoia-Sierra Area, 2, Oakhurst 5-13-90)
2. Sarah Howard (Trinity Christian, Dublin, Ga.) 42-09.00
IAAF: 44-06.75 (Atlanta Inter., 1, Atlanta 5-30-09)

Lacie Rasley wins throwing event at the USA Track & Field Youth Championships

Anna Jelmini's not the only one around here who can throw her way into world competition.

Stockdale High's Alex Collatz and Shafter's Lacie Rasley each won a throwing event at the USA Track & Field Youth Championships this week and advance to compete at the IAAF World Youth Championships next week in Bressanone, Italy.

The events are for 16- and 17-year olds. Both Collatz and Rasley were sophomores last year.

Collatz threw 152 feet in the discus Tuesday at the USATF event in Ypsilanti, Mich., not close to her personal best of 177-0 but enough to out-distance her nearest competition by more than five feet.

Then on Wednesday, Rasley put the shot 43-9.25 to beat Sarah Howard of Dublin, Ga., by 12.25 inches. Rasley's personal best is 44-0.25.

The top two finishers in each event were up for consideration to attend the world youth games, and USATF selected Collatz and Rasley.

Shafter High's Jelmini competed in the discus in Poland last year as part of the USATF World Junior Championships team, one age group up from Youth.

Jelmini adds more national hardware

EUGENE, Ore. -- Shafter High graduate Anna Jelmini earned her second junior national championship of the weekend with a victory in the discus Saturday at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Jelmini's winning throw of 174 feet, 10 inches was well short of her national record (190-3), but it easily outdistanced Erin Pendleton and Aslynn Halvorson, who each threw 169-5.

"I threw decent today," said Jelmini, who will next compete July 31-Aug. 2 at the Pan Am Juniors in Trinidad and Tobago. "It has been a long weekend. I just did what I needed to do to go to the next meet."

Jelmini captured the junior national shot put title Friday night.

Jelmini wins shot put at USA junior nationals

EUGENE, Ore. -- Late night? College competition? No problem. Anna Jelmini is a champion again anyway.

Jelmini, a Shafter High graduate, won the junior national championship in the shot put Friday, just hours after competing in the senior discus event on Thursday night at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.

Her best throw was 53 feet even, enough to out-distance the field by 3 feet, 7 inches. She hit that mark on her second of three attempts.

This came after Jelmini finished seventh in the discus among all U.S. competitors the night before.

"This morning I was a little groggy because I had such a late night," Jelmini said in a statement released by USATF. "But it was exciting to make the final in the women's discus, and I wanted to try and bring some of that excitement with me to the shot put."

Jelmini actually trailed after her first throw Friday, a 47-4.5 effort. But her second throw was the big one, and she followed that up with a 49-11.5 that also would have won the national title.

Jelmini competes in the junior discus championship at 9 this morning. Tonight, Taft native Billy Nelson goes for gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

88:02 Team Time - 1737 average by Shafter at Valley 08

88:02 Team Time - 1737 average by Shafter at Valley 08

5. 159 SHAF/Shafter High ( 17:37 1:28:02)
====================================================================
1 14 Jesus Villapondo So 778 14 16:59
2 23 Christian Barrios Jr 774 23 17:26
3 30 Joshua Wittenberg Sr 775 30 17:36
4 34 Alex Moreno Jr 777 34 17:47
5 58 Hector Montoya Sr 779 59 18:14
6 ( 64) Jakob Velasquez Jr 780 65 18:22
7 ( 74) Christopher Handel Jr 776 76 18:36

Coach Darin Sundgren use to coach at North and if this past track season is any indication of the upcoming cross country season, he will be having a lot of success. Besides having many of the above athletes returning, he had more than a half dozen underclassmen break five minutes in the 1600. His squad is big, young and talented and should be one of the top teams around this fall.

Mens 1600 Meter
Rank	Mark		Name	Grade	School	Section	Meet	Date
1	4:39.12		Alex Moreno	10	Shafter	CE	Sequoia Sierra Area Finals	05/13/09
2	4:41.29		Chris Handel	11	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
3	4:41.61		Jesus Villalpando	10	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
4	4:42.09		Miguel:Plascencia	10	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
5	4:45.73		SimonlViss	10	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
6	4:50.16		Joshua Wittenberg	12	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
7	4:51.22		Chis Handel	11	Shafter	CE	Atascadero Memorial Inv	03/21/09
8	4:53.18		Hector.Montoya		Shafter	CE	Exeter Monarch Invitatio...	03/27/09
9	4:55.84		Erik Manzo	9	Shafter	CE	South Sequoia Finals-CE	05/09/09
10	4:59.59		Pablo;Mendez		Shafter	CE	Frontier Frosh-Soph Relays	04/04/09

Mens 3200 Meter
Rank	Mark		Name	Grade	School	Section	Meet	Date
1	9:50.87		Jesus Villalpando	10	Shafter	CE	Sequoia Sierra Area Finals	05/13/09
2	10:02.01		Chris.Handel	11	Shafter	CE	West Coast Relays	04/04/09
3	10:08.39		JesusiVillaplando		Shafter	CE	Central Valley Masters	05/23/09
4	10:10.58		ChisiHandel	11	Shafter	CE	Atascadero Memorial Inv	03/21/09
5	10:15.93		Joshua Wittenberg	12	Shafter	CE	Sequoia Sierra Area Finals	05/13/09
6	10:19.14		Alex:Moreno	10	Shafter	CE	Reedley Invitational	05/01/09
7	10:22.46		Alexander Moreno	10	Shafter	CE	Atascadero Memorial Inv	03/21/09
8	10:43.34		Luis Mireles	9	Shafter	CE	Atascadero Memorial Inv	03/21/09
9	10:49.63		Hector Montoya		Shafter	CE	Kern Relays	03/13/09
10	10:49.95		Erik Manzo	9	Shafter	CE	Reedley Invitational

Jelmini makes discus final at national meet

EUGENE, Ore. -- Barely out of high school, Anna Jelmini already is competing with the nation's best.

Jelmini, a Shafter High graduate, made the final of the discus throw at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday night at Hayward Field.

Jelmini finished seventh in a field that included Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Brown-Trafton and American-record holder Suzy Powell. Jelmini's best mark was 187 feet, 9 inches, two and a half feet short of her national high school record 190-3.

Brown-Trafton won the event at 210-9, and Powell -- who previously owned the high school record -- was fifth at 197-10.

Jelmini became one of the eight women in the final with a 185-11 throw on her last qualifying attempt. She popped off the 187-9 with her second-to-last throw in the final.

She competes in the junior national championships in the shot put today and in the discus Saturday.

Jelmini tops Day 1 results Nationals

Impervious to the pressures and pratfalls, Anna Jelmini continued to perform
in a class of her own.
Jelmini, the recently graduated throws sensation from Shafter High in the Bakersfield, California
region, delivered a pair of clutch efforts to provide the biggest highlights among high schoolers
assembled for the opening day of the 2009 USATF National Championships at Hayward Field on
Thursday.

More HERE