Sunday Highlights In Myrtle Beach Include 400H/400 Double for Tamaal Myers II, Victory In The Mile For Gavin Sherry

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

On a day when windy conditions made running fast times dificult, Roisin Willis of Stevens Point, Wis., had no difficulty powering through an elite 400 meters. 

Willis, better known for her national-class 800-meter performances, dropped down to the one-lap race and got through it in 53.87 seconds for a strong season-opening performance at the NSAF USA Meet of Champions in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"This is probably the most competitive 400-meter race I've ever run, so I had a lot of people to chase (on my outside) and it reallly helped," Willis said. "Even coming into the homestraight, there was no one near me but I could feel the pressure."

Willis and the rest of the field weathered the oncoming wind on the backstretch and then she emerged with the lead off the final turn and extended her lead on the home straightaway. 

MEET VIDEOS | RESULTS | PHOTOS by Natasha Swanson

Margaret Conteh of Philadelphia was second in 55.13 and Lauren Tolbert from Belmont, N.C. was third in 56.22. 

Tamaal Myers II of Farmington Hills, Mich. pulled off a tough double, winning the boys 400-meter hurdles in 54.03 seconds and then coming back to the track at the end of the meet to win the flat 400 meters in 49.37. 

Gavin Sherry from West Hartford, Conn. recovered from a draining effort in the 2-mile Saturday and won the boys mile in 4:11.05. He finished with a 58-second closing 400. 

Tristian Merchant of Anchorage, Alaska was second in 4:13.32. 

In the girls mile, Addison Wiley of Huntington, Ind. and Heidi Nielson of Katy, Texas dueled over the final lap after passing leader Audrey DaDamio of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 

Wiley, a junior, won it in 4:48.23 after coming back from a second-place finish Friday in the 5,000 meters (17:16.15). 

Nielson was next in 4:48.50, also running a personal best, with DaDamio third in 4:50.77.

Autumn Wilson of Liberty Hill, Texas completed a sweep of the sprints. She won the 200 meters in 23.64 seconds (+2.0w), edging out Taejha Badal of Tomball, Texas. 

Nyckoles Harbor from Washington, D.C. won the boys 200 in 21.36 seconds after placing second in the 100 meters on Saturday.

Allison Johnson from Mount Gilead, Ohio paired a 62-second opening 400 with a 67-second close for 2:09.22 and victory in the girls 800 meters. She won by seven seconds.

Darius Kipyego of Warwick, R.I. outclassed the field in the boys 800 meters, running evenly split 57-57 to come home in 1:54.58. 

Riley Ammenhauser from Naperville, Ill. completed a sweep of the horizontal jumps by going 20-2.50w (+3.6) in the fourth round. A day earlier, she won the triple jump (40-9).

Carson Lenser of Vilonia, Ark. won the boys pole vault with a clearance at 16 feet, three-quarters of an inch (4.80m).

Renny Murphy from Berwick, Pa. won the girls javelin with 143-6.

Sydney Lake of Timber Creek, Fla. won the girls hammer with her third-round mark of 166-9. Leah Moore from New Haven, Ct. was second with 164-2 and Alexandra Payne from North Kitsap, Wash. was third with 160-6.

Matthew Prebola from Tunkahannock, Pa. threw four times over 190 feet in the javelin, including a winner that traveled 199-8. Collin Burkhart of Nazareth, Pa., doubling back after winning the hammer on Saturday, was second with 193-3.

Kinetic TC NY (Saratoga Springs) placed first and fourth with its 'A' and 'B' teams in the girls 4xmile relay. Alycia Hart, Mackenzie Hart, Emily Bush and Ella Kurto combined for 20:45.18. 

Later, Kinetic returned to the track and dominated a distance medley relay that was contested with just two other teams, with Kurto anchoring the team to 12:15.41.

Bryanna Craig of Lubbock, Texas won the girls heptathlon title with 5,117 points to establish a new personal best. Shaina Zinter was second with 4,898 points.