Local trio eager to learn from Junior Olympics

Corpus Christi eighth grader Jack Keathley-Helms takes off in the 13-14 year-old 400-meter dash prelims on Friday at the USATF National Junior Olympics at Rock Chalk Park. Keathley-Helms finished with a personal-best time of 54.71 to earn 28th place.

Corpus Christi eighth grader Jack Keathley-Helms didn’t achieve his goal of qualifying for finals in the 13-14 year-old prelims of the 400-meter dash on Friday at the USATF National Junior Olympics at Rock Chalk Park, but that did not take away from his experience this week.

Keathley-Helms clocked in at 54.71 — which was good for 28th place, and more importantly to him, his third personal record in as many days.

“It feels good because I don’t think I qualified for that, but setting PR’s — that’s good enough for me,” Keathley-Helms said.

The Corpus Christi eighth grader also set personal records in the 800 meters on Wednesday and the 1,500 meters on Thursday. Keathley-Helms knew a third PR was in the cards after he felt strong for the first 300 meters, but he had to find an extra gear down the home stretch to solidify it.

“I felt pretty good, but at the final 100 my triceps started getting really weak,” Keathley-Helms said. “It hurt to pump my arms, but I just kept on going.”

Along with feeling privileged to run in front of his friends and family members, Keathley-Helms wanted to give a shoutout to a few more people who helped make it possible for him to compete in his first Junior Olympics.

“My coaches, Tom Rupp especially, he’s in the stands right now. He’s my cross country coach and he ran at KU,” said Keathley-Helms of Rupp, who was a member of Kansas’ 1953 national championship cross country team. “My track coaches through my middle school years — Jesse Williams and Rochelle Tramp — they’re always there pumping me up and getting me ready for the race. I just wanted to thank them.”

Seratte finds motivation from Junior Olympics

Lawrence High junior Evann Seratte knew she wasn’t in peak shape going into the Junior Olympics, so the main goals for her were to not psych herself out and give it all she had.

Seratte rounded out the Junior Olympics by running in the 15-16 year-old 400-meter dash prelims, and finished with a time of 1:00.27 to take 34th place.

“Once you get to this point, physically, there is nothing that you can do. Physically, I felt unprepared going into it so I tried to step up mentally to make up for that,” Seratte said. “I knew that it would obviously be tough competition. I just tried to focus on what I could do and not worry about what everyone else could do.”

While the 800-meter time and Friday’s 400 weren’t quite as fast as what Seratte was hoping for, the meet served as some motivation to put in some more work in order to be more competitive against some of the best runners in the nation.

“It gives me a sense of how much preparing you have to do. I mean, these athletes prepare all-year round. If you want to succeed at this high of a level, you just have to give it your all, really prepare and be serious about it,” Seratte said. “Every race, it’s a chance to qualify for something. You just have to go into every race thinking, ‘I have to win this one and take it race by race.'”

The open 400 and 800 were supposed to make up half of Seratte’s workload for the Junior Olympics, but there was an unexpected change of plans prior to the meet. Seratte was scheduled to run in the 4×400 and 4×800-meter relays with Hot Feet Track Club. The Lawrence High junior joined the Kansas City-based track club this summer, but was ruled ineligible to run with the team for the Junior Olympics.

Despite the disappointment from not being able to run on the relays and not running the times she wanted, Seratte said that the overall experience of the Junior Olympics was a positive one — especially with getting to compete in front of her loved ones.

“It means a lot to me knowing that even when I don’t do my best or even when I do do my best that I have friends and family that want to support me. It’s really special, and having it here in Lawrence is great,” Seratte said. “I couldn’t ask for a better town to race in. I’ve had friends and family texting me all this week just telling me good luck. It really means a lot when you know you have those people supporting you.”

Lawrence High transfer Stewart wraps up first meet at Rock Chalk Park

After competing in the hammer throw on Monday and the shot put on Wednesday, Lawrence High sophomore Ella Stewart rounded out the Junior Olympics by placing 37th in the discus with a heave of 93 feet, 5 inches.

Out of the three events, the discus is Stewart’s favorite.

“I guess it just fits my body type more,” Stewart, who is a transfer from Shawnee Heights, said. “It’s just more natural to me.”

While the discus was the event that Stewart was looking forward to the most, she didn’t do as well as she would have liked.

“I was actually pretty far off of my PR. I don’t know if it was nerves or what happened,” Stewart said. “I’m happy I made it here. I just wish I would have done better.”

This week marked the first meet at Rock Chalk Park for Stewart, but it was not her first Junior Olympics experience.

“When I was in sixth grade I went to the one in Iowa, but ever since then I haven’t gone to regionals to try to qualify,” Stewart said. “This year I did because it was in Kansas.”

As Stewart prepares to move to Lawrence next week, she is looking forward to making a lot of good memories with her new LHS teammates. If they are anything like what Stewart experienced this week at the Junior Olympics, she’ll be happy.

“There are so many good people here — like the most talented in the nation,” Stewart said. “I wish I would have done better, but I’m happy I made it here.”

Track and field

USATF National Junior Olympics

Friday at Rock Chalk Park

Event winners

Girls 17-18 Triple Jump: Alonie Sutton, 42-2.

Boys 15-16 High Jump: Trey Tintinger, 6-10.75.

Boys 13-14 Javelin: Diego Maestas, 163.

Girls 15-16 Discus: Shelby Frank, 161-2 (Junior Olympics record).

Girls 9-10 Shot Put: Elise Horne, 27-8.75.

Girls 17-18 Pole Vault: Becky Arbiv, 13-1.5.

Boys 17-18 Triple Jump: Jakobe’ Ford, 51-7.75.

Boys 11-12 High Jump: Miles Roberts, 5-1.