Rosie, Lauren, Zach Qualify for Junior Olympic's National Championships

Sat, Jun 23rd - Oaks Christian played host to the USATF Junior Olympics Region 16 finals which is the final qualifying step to the national championships. Over 800 athletes from age 7 to 18 participated in their respective age groups; added to the number of coaches and parents Thorson Stadium had over 4500 people past through and it was bursting with a festival type energy. All the athletes had to qualify for this meet and are the finest track & field athletes in Southern California (from Riverside, San Bernadino, Orange, L.A., Ventura and Santa Barbara counties)

A few events were not contested at OC having determined the qualifiers two weeks earlier. Lauren Radke had already won the USATF Regional title in the pole vault, the first for an OC athlete and qualified for the national championships. Roseanne Fleming and middle school student Zach Bornstein had already qualified as members of 4x800 relay teams.

Saturday Roseanne added the 800m to her list as she ran the fastest 800m ever on the Ashton Family Track by an OC girl with a time of 2:16.49, also a season best time for Rosie. Zach ran the 800m and Shannon Armstrong contested the high jump, but placed out of the qualifying positions. Oaks Christian will have three students participating at the national champs in late July.

There were 22 high school stadium records set on the day, plus 11 more elementary and middle school records. There were multiple CIF SS and State champions and finalist in attendance. It was most competitive meet ever held at OC, and easily the largest event to ever occur in Thorson Stadium. But most importantly there was an overwhelmingly positive response by coaches and parents thankful for OC making the facility available, impressed with the campus and many asking about how to learn more. All in all it was a lot of work (I was on campus from 7 am until 10 pm) and required a bit of clean up, but well worth the publicity.