Collegians Set To Take Part In USATF Junior Outdoor Championships

NEW ORLEANS — This weekend the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships will be held inside Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California and collegiate athletes will comprise 326 of the entries.

Among those entrants is former Texas A&M standout Donavan Brazier, who earlier on Friday was named a finalist for The Bowerman Award after a sensational one-and-done year with the Aggies. We say "former standout," because Brazier — the NCAA champ and collegiate record holder at 800 meters (1:43.55) — recently decided to pursue a professional career.

Brazier is just one of eight finalists from the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships trying their hand on the campus of Buchanan High School.

Four of those are women — Arkansas’ Devin Clark (3000m SC), Texas’ Asa Garcia (triple jump), Southern Cal’s Margaux Jones (long jump) and Wisconsin’s Haley Showalter (hammer throw) — to go along with three other men — Ohio State’s Nick Gray (200), Houston’s Amere Lattin (110 hurdles) and Michigan’s Taylor McLaughlin (400 hurdles). Both Gray and Lattin are entered in multiple events, as the former will contest in the 100, 200 and 400, while the latter tests his might in the hurdle races.

Another athlete to keep an eye on is Missouri’s Kahmari Montgomery, who swept the 400-meter titles in the SEC this year. Montgomery didn’t reach the indoor or outdoor NCAA final, so the big-race experience can only help the rising sophomore.

When it comes to entries by program, Texas leads the way and it’s not even close. The Longhorns send 13 entries to California, compared to Nebraska’s nine. Three programs have eight entries and three others own seven.

Action inside Veterans Memorial Stadium starts Friday, June 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET with the start of the men’s decathlon. The meet runs through Sunday, June 26 with the men’s 1500 wrapping things up at 10:54 p.m. ET.