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Discus record breakers Anastasia Jelmini of Shafter (Calif.) and Mason Finley of Buena Vista (Colo.) join decathlon star Curtis Beach of Albuquerque Academy atop USA TODAY's 2009 All-USA track and field team.
Beach, headed to Duke, grabbed the spotlight by breaking all of the high school decathlon records, although the 10-event competition is not regularly contested in high school. He shares boys athlete of the year honors with Finley, who broke the high school discus record and also set high school records with the slightly heavier junior international shot and discus implements.
Finley threw the high school discus 236 feet, 6 inches and put the shot 71-3¼. He is currently undecided about his college plans, having been released from his UCLA letter of intent after head coach Art Venegas was let go by the Bruins administration earlier this month.
Arizona State-bound Jelmini, the top girls discus and shot put combination thrower in high school history, is the girls athlete of the year. She is the first female high school athlete to throw the discus more than 190 feet (190-3). (Only two other American teenagers have ever thrown past 190 feet, both during their freshman seasons at UCLA and were coached by Venegas.)
Chase duo also sets records
The trio rank marginally ahead of two others who had the individual track and field event performances of the year — bettering tough high school boys records: USC-bound Reggie Wyatt of La Sierra (Riverside, Calif.) in the 300 meter hurdles (35.02 seconds) and Marquise Goodwin of Rowlett (Texas) in the long jump (26-10 ).
Texas-bound Goodwin (fifth) and Jelmini (seventh) were finalists last month in USATF national championship events won by Olympic gold medalists! Goodwin has met the "A" international standard for next month's World Championships in Berlin (for which he is a USA team alternate).
Hasay stars on track again
Oregon-bound Jordan Hasay of Mission College Prep (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) was again the top girls' distance runner, but didn't surpass her 2008 athlete of the year season — when she set the high school record for 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Hasay won her third straight USATF Junior 1,500 title
Ready to step-in is sophomore class mile record breaker Chelsey Sweinsson of Greenhill (Addison, Texas), who was fourth in this month's IAAF World Youth 1,500 meter final in Italy.
Three-time All-USA selection Ebony Eutsey, a junior at Southridge (Miami), was the USA's only individual girls gold medal winner at the Youth meet – in the 400 meters.
Undefeated sprinter Chalonda Goodman of Newnan (Ga.) won the 100 and 200 meters at the USATF Junior Championships (for athletes under age 20) and will join all of the other above college-bound seniors on the USA team for the Pan American Junior Championships in Trinidad and Tobago, July 31-Aug. 2.
ALL-USA TRACK TEAMS
The teams were coordinated by Fred Baer. Selections were made by Mike Kennedy and Jack Shepard, high school editors of Track and Field News.
Criteria included ranking on USA TODAY and Track and Field News national lists, the number of top performances and head-to-head competition during the regular season and in major postseason meets.
Athletes are listed alphabetically in each general event area. Running events in meters unless noted.
W — wind-aided (more than 2.0 meters a second)
I — performed indoors
* — returning All-USA performer
Girls
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