Free State sophomore Auna Childress lunges through the air during the 15-16 year-old triple jump competition on Thursday at the Junior Olympics at Rock Chalk Park. Childress placed 31st with a jump of 34 feet, 10.5 inches.

Free State High’s Auna Childress made a name for herself by setting the school record in the triple jump in her freshman season, but she was quick to admit at the USATF National Junior Olympics on Thursday at Rock Chalk Park that she has plenty of room for improvement.

One of the things that Childress struggled with during her freshman campaign was remaining calm in big meets. While Childress enjoyed her first Junior Olympics experienced, she acknowledged that her nerves did get the best of her after she finished 31st in the triple jump of the 15- to 16-year-old division with a mark of 34 feet, 10.5 inches.

“I could probably be more calm and relax more because I was kind of over-working myself,” Childress, who was competing for Team United Stars, said. “I was kind of like, ‘I have to do this, stretch, work out.’ That’s all I can take away is just to calm down and relax.”

Childress said the meet felt a lot like KU Relays, which was also held at Rock Chalk Park. With three years of high school track and field still ahead of her, Childress is looking forward to competing at more top-tier meets like KU Relays and the Junior Olympics.

“It’s just when it comes to regionals I do so phenomenal, but then like here it’s just like a lot of pressure,” Childress said. “But I feel like out of this, I at least know what to look forward to next year, maybe. I want to come back here.”

The Free State sophomore’s best jump came on her first attempt, and then she followed it up with a leap of 34 feet, 9.75 inches on her second. While Childress was consistent on her first two attempts, she said that they could have both been better had she not made a split-second decision before taking off.

“It could have been a really good jump, but I just looked down,” Childress said of her second jump. “I just know not to look down at the board.”

Childress then scratched on her third and final attempt when she stepped over the board.

Despite being frustrated in her performance, Childress cracked a few smiles as she bonded with the other jumpers before finals started. The friendships Childress was able to make were among her favorite things about the meet.

“I feel like there are a lot of people from like Georgia and they are like, ‘Where are you from?’ I’m like, ‘I’m from here,'” Childress, who was one of the youngest competitors in her age group after turning 15 last week, said. “They’re like, ‘Oh my God. Wow.’ I’m just like, ‘That’s cool.’ They added me on social media.”

Baldwin High freshman makes Junior Olympics debut

Battling nerves can be an issue for freshmen athletes as they transition to competing at the high school level, but for Baldwin High’s Ambrynn Stewart, that won’t likely be the case.

Stewart laced up her spikes for the 15- to 16-year-old division prelims of the 1,500 meters, and enjoyed the aspect of running against a large and competitive field. The Baldwin High freshman placed 27th with a time of 5:10.21.

“It was actually really exciting,” Stewart said. “I was pretty excited because at regionals I said if I don’t make it, it’s fine. But then I made it, and I was pretty excited.”

Aside from wanting to run in some drier conditions, Stewart said she wouldn’t have changed too much about her first Junior Olympics meet. The 1,500 meters is one of Stewart’s favorite events in track and field, but she will jump at the chance to run at any race, regardless of the distance.

“Track is actually really fun for me. It doesn’t matter what I do,” Stewart said. “I’ll do the 400. It’s whatever my coach will put me in.

“I’ll be like, ‘Who cares? I like track.’ At one of our meets, I did a 100 just because I wanted to do it. I had never done that.”

Along with gearing up for the Junior Olympics with the Ottawa Track Club, Stewart has been preparing for the upcoming cross country season with her new Baldwin High teammates.

“I’m really excited because we already started cross country (summer conditioning), so I kind of know a lot of people,” Stewart said. “I’m really excited because I’ll get to meet new people that I’ve never got to meet before.”

Keathley-Helms notches another PR

The start of the boys 13- to 14-year-old division prelims of the 1,500 meters started off a little rocky for Corpus Christi eighth-grader Jack Keathley-Helms, but he was able to dig deep to set his second personal record in as many days at the Junior Olympics.

Keathley-Helms clocked in at 4:37.94, which was a personal-best mark by nearly three seconds and good for 28th place. The Corpus Christi eighth grader also PR’d in the 800-meter run on Wednesday.

“I kind of got really badly tripped up on that first curve, and I started hurting on the third lap. Mentally I was like, ‘I want to give up. I want to give up,'” Keathley-Helms said. “But there was another guy in my head saying, ‘Just get the guy in front of you and then you can give up.’ I kept on doing that and then on my final kick, I was in pain and I stopped right there (at the finish line). All of that pain was gone.”

The 1,500 was the second of three events for Keathley-Helms this week, as he will run in the 400-meter dash prelims at 10 a.m. today. Keathley-Helms acknowledged that the 800 meters is his favorite event, but he likes to run the 1,500 to improve his endurance.

Even though Keathley-Helms did not feel his best throughout the 1,500, he enjoyed getting the chance to race against other high-caliber runners in his hometown.

“I’ve got friends and family in the stands cheering me on so it feels good to do that in front of them,” Keathley-Helms said.

Keathley-Helms is hoping that his third and final event will be the charm when he steps onto the track today for the 400 meters. The mid-distance runner has set the goal of qualifying for finals, which would mean a top-eight finish in the prelims.

Track and field

USATF National Junior Olympics

Thursday at Rock Chalk Park

Event winners

Girls 17-18 Long Jump: Kynnedy Flannel, 20-5.25.

Boys 9-10 High Jump: Maceo Rivers, 4-5.

Boys 11-12 Shot Put: Julien Moutome, 46-9.25.

Boys 17-18 Discus: Joshua Sobota, 186-2.

Girls 9-10 Javelin: Cameron Chapman, 105-2.

Girls 15-16 Pole Vault: Mia Manson, 13-4.25 (national age group and Junior Olympics record).

Boys 15-16 Long Jump: Samuel Sommers, 23-4.

Boys u8 Shot Put: Jordan Carraway, 27-3.25.

Boys 13-14 High Jump: Reid Nelson, 6-2.75.

Boys 9-10 Javelin: Jared Lockhart, 117-0.

Boys 15-16 Discus: Jordan Johnson, 172-8.

Girls 13-14 Triple Jump: Macayla Wells, 38-2.

Girls 11-12 Shot Put: Layla Mcgee, 42-11.

Girls 15-16 Triple Jump: Jasmine Moore, 42-8.

Records

Boys 13-14 100 prelims: Quaron Adams, 10.93 (Junior Olympics record).

Boys 15-16 100 prelims: Kennedy Lightner, 10.49 (national age group and Junior Olympics record).

Girls 9-10 200 semifinals: Tarrianna Jackson, 26.32 (national age group and Junior Olympics record).