A handful of local athletes competed at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Savannah, Ga. from July 21-27, headlined by rising King’s senior Kimberly Beard, who set a national record in the age 17-18 women’s hammer throw at 56.85 meters (186 feet-six inches).
The athletes competing at Savannah State University had to overcome intense temperatures and humidity, with the heat index reaching as high as 109 degrees. With focus on proper hydration and preparation, they were able to overcome it to achieve high marks.
Beard, a four-time state champion who is several weeks removed from claiming the national title at Nike Nationals, jumped ahead right away with a 56.15m (184-02) throw on her first attempt, which put her seven feet ahead of second place and more than 30 feet ahead of third.
Despite distancing herself from the competition early, Beard continued to push herself further, ultimately hitting a national record-breaking distance on her third throw. That throw ultimately beat second-place Amanda Javellana’s best throw (56.08m, 177-05) by more than nine feet.
“It’s hard, and it’s like that when there’s not a lot of competition right behind me,” Beard said. “You really have to, like, focus on amping yourself up, kind of keeping the adrenaline running, focusing on reaching your next goal, which for me, would have been like hitting 200 (feet), so I just kept my eyes on that.”
Between Nike Nationals and the Junior Olympics, Beard had worked on changing her entry, keeping the hammer flatter while maintaining speed through the release. She felt her form was the best it had been in a while, but the toll of the heat made it difficult to set a new personal record, which is 196-00 for Beard.
“She wanted to be up in the 190’s, but she peaked at exactly the right time for U20s and the Nike championships,” said Chris Beard, Kimberly’s father and coach. “It’s tough to maintain a peak like that for a month, a month-and-a-half. … Junior Olympics are always a little bit of a slog because there are so many kids, so I was happy with how she opened up (and) the fact that she got up to 186.”
Beard has one more meet she’s preparing for this summer at the Iron Wood Throw Center in Idaho on Aug. 14 before gearing up for her senior year.
In addition to Beard, rising Kamiak junior Miller Warme won the 15-16 boys 400-meter hurdles in 52.21 seconds, just 0.27 seconds ahead of second-place Amari Scott in the finals.
After winning his heat in the preliminary rounds, Warme woke up around 4:30 the morning of the finals for the 7 a.m. race. He described the scene as “eerily quiet.” With such an early start time, the stadium was nearly empty, and the sun was just starting to rise when he began warming up.
Warme felt his start was not perfect, but he stayed ahead of Scott, who was seeded ahead of him. Warme recalled hearing Scott behind him the entire race, and by the time he reached the back 200, he knew he needed to hit another gear in order to stay ahead.
“It’s really hard to think when all that’s going on,” Warme said. “I’m confident in my race. My last 200 meters, I’m confident in how I run that part of the race. So I knew if I was equal or ahead of Amari at that point, I could win. So I just gave everything I had to make sure that happened.”
By capturing the Junior Olympic Championship, Warme validated his decision to focus solely on hurdles early in his sophomore season. Warme’s best time in the open 400 this season was 47.98 seconds, which would have been the winning time at the WIAA Boys 4A State Championship by 0.35 seconds.
Instead, Warme was determined to work on the hurdles, wanting to challenge himself against and improve alongside Hazen High School’s Kenyon Andrews, his teammate at GLS Speed Track Club, who eventually won the Boys 4A 300 hurdles at the WIAA State Championship in an even 36 seconds. Warme placed third at 37.53.
“We talked about it,” Kamiak assistant coach Mike Moore said. “I mean, your bread-and-butter in college is going to be 400 hurdles. Everyone is going to take notice as soon as you get a chance to run that, because obviously in high school, you only run 300 hurdles. …
“I said, ‘Personally, I love that you’re going to choose the hurdles, but you know, I just don’t want you to regret. You can easily win the open 400.’”
Warme didn’t hesitate.
“I knew (Andrews) was going to run (an) extremely fast time, and I wanted to be there in that race to try and run it with him,” Warme said. “I was happy with my (open) 400 time. I didn’t necessarily need to run in a state championship to know that. But with my 300 hurdles, I did need to run more to tell myself I could run it at that pace.”
After falling short of the state title in May, Warme got himself a Junior Olympic gold in July. After taking some time off, Warme will pick things back up in the fall with club track before diving into his 11th-grade indoor and outdoor seasons next year.
Among other area competitors at the Junior Olympics, fellow Kamiak athlete Avery Goldwire placed seventh in the 17-18 women’s heptathlon with 4,216 points, and Mountlake Terrace’s Brynlee Dubiel placed third in the 17-18 women’s 400 hurdles at 1:01.06.
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