This year we are highlighting the top NBNO commitments each week leading up to the championships on June 19-21.  

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By Steve Underwood of the NSAF

Kate Hall – Going for the indoor/outdoor double
She was the leading returnee for the NBNI long jump in March, with Keturah Orji having graduated, but there were no guarantees for Kate Hall.  She would have to beat a great field, including Courtney Corrin, the great California leaper making her first indoor nationals appearance.  Well, the Lake Region, ME senior was more than up to the challenge.  She flew a meet record 20-11.25 in the 2nd round, taking the lead for good with what wound up being the winning effort, then had three more jumps at 20-9 or better – further than anyone else could manage.  Corrin had an outstanding 20-7, but had to settle for 2nd.

So who doesn’t love a great rematch?  Hall will return to NBNO in June and the field will be even tougher.  But Corrin will again be the top challenger, having won this event in 2013 and having taken 2nd last year.  The Californian is also the current U.S. leader at 20-11.  Hall, by comparison, has had a low key outdoor season in Maine so far, with a best of 20-5(nwi) jumping against in-state competition only.  Given that she’s also been dealing with some knee pain and that her NBNO record isn’t as stellar – 7th in 2013, 6th in 2014 – it’s not short-sighted to say that Hall will again be in a “favorite, but no guarantees” role with something to prove.  That may be just the way she likes it.

Sarah Walker – Ready to take the next step
Sometimes some of the most interesting storylines at NBNO come not from the champions and other established greats who have entered, but anticipating the breakthroughs of those who are on the precipice of greatness and find the platform in Greensboro to make their mark.  Sarah Walker, currently the top entrant in the girls’ 800, might be one of those runners who kicks through to the next level next month.  The Germantown Friends School, PA junior has run 2:07.56, 2:07.48 and 2:08.03 in different meets this spring.  Might NBNO be where she shaves a few seconds off to move into really elite territory?

Walker first really made a mark as a freshman in 2013 when she ran 2:08.55 in the John Hay Memorial against an elite/open field.  It took almost a year before she surpassed that time, then at the John Hay meet she lowered her best again to 2:06.62.  Then, as in 2013, it was tough to improve on that in the post-season: She was 9th at NBNO with 2:09.12 and 7th at USA Juniors after a 2:07.72 prelim – better than 2013, but not quite what she wanted.  This past winter, however, showed that Walker is getting better in the big prep meets.  She had a 1:32.30 to win the loaded Armory Invite 600m, then at NBNI made All-American in 4th at 2:08.97.  The next month will be extra exciting for Walker as she’ll join Team NSAF in Cuba for the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational.  Will she make her next breakthrough in Havana, Greensboro – or both?  Stay tuned!

Ashleigh Resch – A walk worth watching
If you’re like a lot of track and field fans, your modus operandi is to tune out or check out while the race walks are taking place.  Maybe go get a hot dog and a drink, or not show up for that part of the meet at all.  So if that’s what you did that during the NBNI girls’ 1 mile race walk, you missed something special – REALLY special.  In that race, Ashleigh Resch – the Beavercreek, Ohio senior by way of Australia – defended her title with a stellar national record 7:00.33.  Behind her, Katharine Newhoff and Meaghan Podlaski clocked 7:08.02 and 7:08.92, making it the first time three girls have beaten 7:10 in a race.  If you appreciate athletic greatness, whatever form it comes in, it was one of the meet’s most electrifying events.

Resch’s arrival in the States has been a shot of energy to the girls’ prep racewalking scene, no doubt.  Outdoors, she won the 2014 Penn Relays Junior Women’s 5k walk with the best prep performance of the year, then returned this spring to walk more than a minute faster there – even while finishing 2nd to Puerto Rico’s Rachelle DeOrbeta.  Resch’s 23:31.20 made her #2 all-time prep in that event.  Now, she’s coming to NBNO for the first time.  Again, the national record – 7:00.87 by Heather Buletti in 2006 – will be in play and Podlaski, the defending champ, will be among those providing stiff competition.  Bottom line: If you missed the epic girls’ 1 mile race walk in March, don’t make the same mistake in June!

Jordan Geist – Another sophomore 70-footer?
Throwing the high school shot put 70 feet or further is an extraordinary achievement for any young man.  It’s the benchmark that separates the very good from the all-time greats.  Achieving that level of performance as a sophomore, however, is beyond special.  Exactly one thrower in prep history has done it: Nick Vena, who in fact set freshman-, sophomore- and junior-class national records in becoming prep history’s #3 putter during his 2008-2011 career.  Now another Pennsylvania 10th-grade putter, Jordan Geist of Knoch HS, has powered his way into “Vena territory.”  

Over the period of a week in late April/early May, Geist became the 2nd soph champ at the Penn Relays with a 67-1.25, then exploded to a US#2 69-1 at the Baldwin Invite.  That’s knocking on the door of 70 feet, and makes him the top current entry in the NBNO shot.  As a 9th grader at Knoch last year, Geist was impressive, getting into the mid-58s, taking 2nd at indoor state and 3rd outdoors – plus a 2nd at USATF JOs (15-16).  But this past winter he improved immensely, setting four PRs all the way to 66-0.75 and a US#3 ranking.  At NBNI, however, he managed just 61-7.75 – still not bad and good for 4th place – but hardly what he was hoping for.  Outdoors, Geist’s performances have shown he’s ready for bigger and better things and it could just be in Greensboro where he gets that first 70-footer!

Rai Benjamin – Unfinished business
Rai Benjamin came into the 2014 NBNO with some pretty strong creds.  Indoors that year he had smoked an amazing 33.84 300 on a flat track at the New York state meet, then taken 2nd in the NBNI 400 to Richard Rose.  Outdoors, he had won the Youth Olympic Trials and state meet 400 hurdles (51.86 PR), and had a 47.17 flat 400 as well.  But in Greensboro, he appeared to finish 3rd in the 400H behind Kenny Selmon and Robert Grant, then was DQ’d.  The talent and potential was evident in the 800 SMR, where he anchored his Mt. Vernon, NY team to a 1:30.05 victory – with a 45.93.  What Benjamin could do as a senior has been one of the more anticipated storylines of 2015.

The answer to that question is this:  A lot, but with still more to achieve and more to prove.  Indoors, he continued rocking the epic 300s, with a near-HSR and US#1 33.17 at the Armory Invite and breaking his NY state meet record with 33.29.  In the NBNI 400 prelims, he ran a US#1 46.59, then appeared to have gotten 2nd in a wild finish in the final – only to learn he was champion after Taylor McLaughlin was DQ’d.  He then settled for 3rd in an epic 200 behind Noah Lyles and Ryan Clark.  Outdoors, he’s run 200/400/400H PRs of 21.05, 46.19 and 50.45, but runner-up finishes at Carifta, Arcadia and the Penn Relays have kept him hungry.  NBNO, where he is the top entry at both 400 and 400H, is a chance to secure his legacy as an all-time great.

Donavan Brazier – Title defense will be tough
To say Donavan Brazier took his competitors by surprise in last year’s NBNO 800 – as well as prognosticators and pundits – would be an understatement.  As of May 15, 2015, his PR in the event was 1:54.91, on an oversized indoor track, and competing for a national title was probably the furthest thing from his mind – but then he ran 1:52.74 in his regional meet to become a top contender for a Michigan D1 title.  Two weeks later at state, he not only won, but ran a striking 1:50.24.  Suddenly he had the creds to run in the fast section at NBNO – though it still took some convincing for him to even give it a shot.  The rest is history as he kicked to victory in a fast, super competitive thriller in Greensboro in 1:48.61.

Many who watched Brazier closely and from the start were not as surprised – they could see the immense talent and potential.  But staying on the top of the deep pool of middle-distance studs hasn’t been easy.  Brazier won this winter’s indoor state title at 1:52.54, and ran a 4:09.32 mile on an oversized track, but was “just” 3rd in the NBNI 800 behind Brian Bell and early section winner Brandon McGorty.  He was relatively quiet outdoors – until a 1:51.58 800/4:07.15 1,600 in an early May invite.  Then at his region meet two weeks ago, he smoked a US#1 1:48.07.  At NBNO next month, he’ll sneak up on exactly no one this time, and have fellow 1:48-point standout John Lewis of Pennsylvania to push him to the limit.  Suffice to say, it will be more than a thrill to see if Brazier can defend his title! 

Make sure to check out NBNationals.com and NationalScholastic.org often for new updates and make sure to tune in to NBNationals.com on June 19-21 to watch all the action LIVE!