Posts by dAllison | Phoenix Flyers Track Club

Three Young Flyers Make Their Mark in Kansas

August 11, 2017 by dAllison

“Isa” Allison – National Champion in 8U Mini-Javelin

Weather was all-over the map in Lawrence Kansas, the site of the 2018 USATF Junior Olympics National Championship from July 24-30. There was lightning, thunder, flash flooding, wind and sunshine over the four days our three young Phoenix Flyers were competing. Our kids represented both the Flyers and the Arizona USATF Association quite admirably and should be proud of their amazing accomplishments.

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus flew in style to Kansas and made the most of his first trip to the USATF National Championship meet. He took 19th out of 42 athletes and threw a solid 16.35 meters. As stated previously, weather conditions were all over the place that Wednesday afternoon and so PRs were pretty hard to come by. Max seemed to enjoy the moment and being with his fellow teammates for this momentous achievement. Now that Max has this experience under his belt, we know he will be ready in the years to come for future JO Championship events, which he will be participating in most assuredly.

Isa Allison, the #1 ranked 8U thrower in the U.S. this year, wanted to first make All-American (top-8 athletes) status for the second year in a row (and more importantly get those “cool” All-American caps). Isa came out throwing fire and was leading after the first two rounds. She briefly lost the top spot in the third round when Meredith Banner threw 17.49 meters, but Isa being the competitor she is got up to the runway and immediately answered that assault with a 17.79-meter dart on her third throw, which would end up solidifying her top place for the remainder of the event. Isabella took 6th place in last year’s JO National Meet and this year joins her brother Charlie (National Champion in 11-12 Javelin in 2016) as our Flyers’ second National Champion – congrats Isa!

Isa did show us she was mortal by taking 29th in the long jump on Friday, which she shook off quickly knowing that the following day was an all-day adventure at Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.

11-12 Division

Jake Blair has never missed qualifying for the JO Nationals since joining the Flyers in 2014 – that’s an amazing accomplishment in itself. Last year Jake was a bit disappointed in his 12th place finish and had his eyes at a top-8 (All-American) result in 2017. He was the number 3 ranked thrower at the meet and had been throwing quite well in practice over the past few weeks. Jake’s first throw was an absolute missile, but unlike anytime this year, the javelin drifted to the right and out of the sector making it a non-legal throw. Jake tried to dust off this rogue throw, but the torrential rains would be muddying up his plans and he was unable to crack the top-8 with his next two tosses. Jake ended up taking 12th overall and although he was broken up by this result, we know that next year will be his year and that walk up to the podium will be one that will have been extremely well-earned and oh-so-sweet.

Proud of All Our Flyers

Another year is in the books for the Phoenix Flyers and Coach Todd and I are so very proud of what our kids have been able to accomplish over these past 5 seasons. Every year we get a bit better as a team and we always seem to find new athletes who join us that are not only good competitors, but more importantly, amazing young people. We look forward to the 2018 season (registration is already open!) and wish you all a great fall and winter.

Flyers Make Their Presence Known at Region 10 Meet

July 20, 2017 by dAllison

8 Flyers Qualify for National Meet in Kansas

Temperatures were in the triple-digits on July 8-9 in Mesa, Arizona, the site for the Region 10 USATF Championships, but there was nothing hotter that weekend than our own Phoenix Flyers. 8 of our 9 athletes who competed qualified for the National Championship Meet in Kansas due to placing in the top 5 in their respective events.

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus after a week away at camp was not as sharp as he has been all season, but the competitor inside of him found a way to make it into the top-5 with a 5th place throw of 15.83 meters. Isa Allison, the #1 ranked 8U thrower in the U.S. this year, had a slow start with her first few attempts, but tossed a season’s best, club record and PR with her final throw of the day of 18.37 meters, which was also a new Region 10 Championship meet record. Isa also had a PR and club record in the long jump with a great mark of 3.28 meters, which got her 2nd place and another ticket punched to JO Nationals.

11-12 Division

Jake Blair is getting the hang of this aero-javelin. He once again set a new club, personal and state record in this inaugural season of the 450-g aero-javelin, with a great throw of 36.04 meters. Jake took 1st place and has him currently ranked #5 in the U.S. Maddox Moses in his first season with the Flyers had a very gutsy and hard fought race in the blaring heat. He ran 12:44.43, which didn’t get him into the JO National meet, but we know great things are on the horizon for Maddox in the 2018 season.

15-16 Division

Kenya Coburn, Coach Todd’s sensational sophomore superstar, qualified for the JO national meet in the long jump (5.04 m – 2nd), triple jump (10.55 m – 4th) and she also ran a strong 100 meters as well (12.86 seconds). While Kenya won’t be traveling out to Nationals, she has had a very successful sophomore year and her junior season should bring her even more success with her continued focused work ethic.

17-18 Division

Chynna Simmons set a couple of club PRs, a club record and qualified for USATF National Junior Olympic Championship meet by taking 3rd in the triple jump (11.26 m – PR), 4th in the long jump (5.18 m) and was on the second-place 4×100 team (50.54 – club record). Brittany Patterson, not to be outdone by Chynna, took 1st in the triple jump (11.62 – PR), 3rd in the long jump (5.45 m) and was also on the 4 x 100 meter girls’ team. Catera Lee was there to just run and run she did well by helping the 4×100 team take second place. Lastly, Nura Muhammad took 2nd in the triple jump (11.58 m) and was also a member of the qualifying 4 x 100 relay squad.

While only Max, Isa and Jake are heading out to Kansas for Nationals, all of the Flyers this season should hold their heads up high to a very strong 2017 season.

The National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championship will be held in Lawrence, Kansas on July 24-30. Max, Jake and Isa will all compete Wednesday in the javelin and Isa will long jump on Friday.

Good luck Flyers!

Saving the Best for Last

June 13, 2017 by dAllison

14 Flyers Qualify for JO Region Meet – 18 PRs Set – 9 Club Records

All things being equal, the weather for the 2017 Arizona Junior Olympics meet this past weekend was pretty fair for Phoenix standards. And with this good AZ climate came performances from our Flyers which were quite impressive; as the majority of them who competed over the weekend managed to qualify for the Region Junior Olympics meet that will be held on July 6-9 at Mesa Community College. Teams from El Paso, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona will all be there competing to make it to the Junior Olympics National meet in late July.

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus managed to make it once again to the finals of the boys 400 meters and in the process set a new club record of 1:20.52, which got him 7th place. After an extremely long day/evening, Max came back bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Sunday morning to capture the mini-javelin title with a strong throw of 17.56 meters. Emerson Rhodes competed like a champion and made it to the finals of a very competitive 8 & Under long jump group. While she didn’t PR, she took 7th with a long leap of 2.88 meters. Emerson also competed in the 100 m (19.94) and 200 meters (39.98). We know Emerson will be back better than ever in 2018 to build upon her already amazing leaping prowess. Isa Allison finally managed to find the board in the long jump, which allowed her to set a new club record, PR and a third place medal with a mark of 3.15 meters. Isa also set a new PR in the javelin and is inching closer to a state record with her 1st place throw of 18.23 meters. Isa also had a PR and new club record in the 200 (36.52) even though her “chicken wing” left arm started flapping in the last 80 meters of the race. Isa will be competing at the JO Region meet in the javelin and long jump.

9-10 Division

Micah Newkirk had an amazing meet. He dropped his 1500 meter time by 8 seconds (5:37.54) and took 3rd place to qualify for the JO Region meet. He also ran another PR in the 800 meters the following day (2:45.38), which he narrowly missed qualifying in by taking a well fought 5th place finish. Simon Reynolds, even though his father was sure he had run a sub-6 minute time in 1500 m before, Simon hadn’t reached this mark until Saturday where he shredded his old best time of 6:06.16 to a new personal record of 5:53.05. Simon also ran the 800 meters on Sunday with a strong showing of 3:03.36.

11-12 Division

Lucy Arana finished up her 2017 season very focused as she ran two great races this past weekend. Lucy just missed a PR in the 1500 m on Saturday by running 5:48.21; but Sunday she was calm and poised and unleashed a stellar 800 meter race (2:48.39), which beat her old PR by over 3 seconds and also broke one of the team’s older club records in the process. Gael Pacheco also finished strong for the 2017 season. He had very good personal showings in the 100 m (16.16) and 200 m (34.73), but this weekend was made for the 400 m. Gael took nearly 2 seconds off his previous best to now have a top time of 1:15.72 Ava Clegg competed hard in her last meet of the season, but came up just a bit short in attaining any new PRs for herself. All of her times and marks were very solid; she ran 16.8 in the 100 m, jumped 3.34 m in the long jump and got over 6 meters in the shot put (6.06).

Benjamin Geist one of the hardest working kids on the team, didn’t find a new PR in the two events he ran but definitely went for it in the 800 m, where he unfortunately ran out of gas at the end to run a 3:01.32. He also ran a 1:16.94 on Saturday in the 400 meters. Jake Blair set a new club, personal and state record in this inaugural season of the 450-g aero-javelin, with a great toss of 31.05 meters, which got him 1st place and qualified him for the JO Region meet. Jake also PR’d in the discus (16.84 m) to take 5th place and skimmed 2-seconds off his 800 meters to cross the line in 2:53.35. Macy Baerman had never had as good of a weekend in track and field as she did this past Saturday and Sunday. Macy crushed her 400 best time by running 1:15.72, she squeaked out a new PR in the 200 meters (34.13) as well and tied her best long jump ever for the unteenth time (3.52 m). Braden Lolli ran a perfect race on Saturday, but sometimes perfection doesn’t manifest into a victory. Braden ran a very gutsy 1500 meters and took 2nd place by only .19 seconds with a great time of 5:15.50. Although Braden qualified for the JO Region meet, due to his “rock star” travel/vacation itinerary, he is forced to slum it in Antigua and Chicago this summer with the common folk and thus won’t be in town for the Region meet. Maddox Moses with bad foot and all found a way to qualify for the Region meet in the 3000 meters with a time of 12:29.66. Maddox seemed very determined to reach this goal and it showed in his effort in the latter part of the race.

13-14 Division

Charlie Allison knowing he was going to be taking a month long sabbatical in Honduras this summer for a myriad of reasons, knew this meet would be his last for the 2017 campaign. He performed admirably with a 1st place throw in the javelin (38.33 m), a new PR in the long jump (5.19 m) and managed to get over 10 meters again in the triple jump to take 2nd place (10.02 m). Sebastian Arana showed us all that he really has teeth as he managed more than once to reveal his pearly whites and smile this weekend. His smiles may have something to do with him setting two new PRs for himself – 6.28 meters in the shot put and 20.67 meters in the javelin – or it may have to do with the fact the season is over…We are hoping it’s for the two PRs. Peyton Burnside put in a good effort and did manage to qualify for the JO Region meet in early July. While Peyton was not thrilled with her time (12:43.55), we know her desire to be a strong runner will continue as her running focus will now be aimed at the high school level as she enters Corona this fall.

15-16 Division

Maddy Shoemaker came back to the Flyers and competed in the 1500 after getting over a bad knee. She ran tough and took 2nd to qualify for the JO Region meet with her time of 5:33.47. Kenya Coburn set a new club record in the 100 m (12.59) and placed 2nd overall. Kenya also managed to win the triple jump (10.42 m) and place 3rd in the long jump (4.88 m) to round out a quite successful weekend.

17-18 Division

Chynna Simmons, who is 0ne of our four high school graduates heading out to college to continue their track and field journey next year, took 3rd in the triple jump (10.83 m), 3rd in the long jump (5.30 m) and was on the winning 4×100 team (51.46 seconds). Brittany Patterson, our second collegiate bound athlete, set two new club PRs for herself in the triple jump (11.36 m – 1st) and the long jump (5.36 m – 2nd). Brittany also rounded out her weekend by being on the winning 4 x 100 meter team. Catera Lee, was the last piece of the puzzle for the girls’ 4 x 100 and guaranteed success for the lady Flyers as they took first. Nura Muhammad, back from injury managed to jump 10.85 meters in the triple jump for a silver medal, jump 5.13 meters in the long jump and was also a member of the victorious 4 x 100 relay squad.

Good job Flyers!

The Region 10 Junior Olympics Meet, will be held at Mesa CC on July 6-9.

Max Goes Straight Thunderdome at State Meet

May 23, 2017 by dAllison

Emerson takes 2nd in Long Jump; Flyers Sweep Javelin

There were many great story lines for the Flyers at this past weekend’s USATF AZ State Meet at Mesa Community College (May 20-21). There were over 20 personal records for our young athletes and five new club records as well set under the sunny skies of Arizona.

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus had probably the most impressive day out of all our Flyers this weekend. Max threw a huge personal record in the mini-javelin (19.43 m) to both win the event and set a new PR. Max then shaved off some tenths-of-seconds in his 100 meters to set a new 100-meter club record with a time of 16.58. But, Max’s most impressive achievement was in the 400 meters. Max ran a 1:22.97 (a new PR) to qualify for the 400 finals later Saturday evening. And running way past his bedtime on Saturday seemed not to slow him down one bit. He took 4th overall and set another PR for himself with a 1:21.45 – knocking on the door of the Flyers 8 & Under club record of 1:20.89. Emerson Rhodes finally found the board in the long jump and it propelled her 3.10 meters, which was good for 2nd overall, a new PR and bettering her own club record. Emerson also found some jets for her shoes in the 100 meters, where she ran another PR (17.63) and did it again in the 200 meters with another PR (39.5 seconds). Isa Allison was one of four Flyers who won the javelin this past weekend, throwing a very solid 16.11 meters. Isa also took 5th overall in the long jump where she set a new PR for herself of 2.85 meters. Isa also ran a strong 100 meters in a time of 16.8 seconds. Alexis Calcote, seemed to have fun on Saturday by setting a new best time for herself in the 100 meters (20.45) and competed for the first time in the 200, where she ran 44.87. Charlotte Faltis ran a great 100 meters, dipping below 20 seconds and tying her best time ever with as finish of 19.26 seconds.

9-10 Division

Auggie Grimm, only ran one race on Saturday, but he definitely made it count by setting a new personal best time for himself in the 100 meters (15.39). Seth Henry had a great two days at the USATF AZ State Meet. He ran not one, but two 100-meters under 14 seconds. He ran 13.95 on Saturday to qualify for the 100-meters final on Sunday; and then on Sunday bettered that time to 13.94, which placed him 4th overall and improve his existing club record for 9-10 boys for the Flyers. Micah Newkirk, wanted to run the 1500 meters and a good decision it was for him. Micah ran a very impressive and hard 5:45.62 time, which garnered him a 4th place ribbon. Sunday Micah competed in the 800, but his legs still hadn’t recovered from his great run on Saturday and he crossed the line in 2:53.95. Zachary Esparza who I never see at the meet but miraculously appears on the starting line, ran a very fast 100 meters and a new PR for himself (15.13). On Sunday, Zachary got out hard and crossed the finish line of the 200 in a very respectable time of 32.2 seconds.

11-12 Division

Macy Baerman just missed a PR in the 800 with a strong time of 3:03.79. Macy had some bad luck in the long jump, fouling all three times and not getting a legal jump in. Macy did get aggressive in the 400 meters and found a time of 1:22.06 as she leaned at the end. Braden Lolli, in his second ever 3000 meter race, took 2nd place overall and skimmed off a second from his new former personal best for a new club record and PR of 11:31.42. The day before, Braden ran a very gutsy 1500 meters, where he just got out-kicked, but not before setting a new PR and club record in that event as well (5:14.09). Benjamin Geist was ever so close in setting a new PR for himself in the 800 meters. And by running with teammate Jake Blair Ben still got firmly under the 3-minute barrier in a time of 2:56.22. Ben also ran the 400 meters on Saturday with a solid performance of 1:15.44. Khaleb Henry unfortunately missed his shot put event on Saturday, but Sunday was ready to throw the discus and took 4th place and achieved a new PR for himself. Jake Blair was our third javelin winner for the Flyers with a nice mark of 27.69 meters. Jake also set a new PR for himself in the discus (15.35 m), which was good enough for 5th place. As mentioned earlier, Jake also ran the 800 m. His first time running and he managed a very solid time of 2:54.51.

Gael Pacheco put together another strong weekend for himself as he PR’d in two events and a solid performance in the third. Gael broke the 16-second barrier in the 100 for the first time all year (15.94), broke 34 seconds in the 200 for the first time as well (33.55) and ran a valiant 400 in 1:19.76. Ava Clegg jumped and ran as if she was ready for the summer to be here. Ava leaped a personal best of 3.47 meters in the long jump and ran her fastest time ever in the 100 (16.33). Ava also took 6th in the shot put with a solid mark of 5.58 meters. Lucy Arana looked like a beast in the first 800 meters of her 1500-meter race, but her stomach started to act up, which slowed her down considerably. But, being the fighter she is, still managed to finish the race in 6:08.31. Austin Schrader ran two spirited races. He finished the 100 meters just a tad off his best time ever with the stopwatch fixing on 15.9 seconds. He later in the evening ran the 200 meters and fought hard to cross the white mark in 34.68 seconds.

13-14 Division

Robert Vloemans competed well in 3 events over the weekend. He threw a new personal best in the shot put (6.69 m), was just a smidgen off his best time in the 200 (running 33.54) and thew the discus 13.39 meters, a bit off his best season’s distance. Charlie Allison had some calf issues early on Saturday, which knocked him out of the 200 meters, but he was able to still PR and better his own club record in the long jump (5.12 m) to take 7th place overall. On Sunday he completed the Flyers javelin sweep, by taking first place with a throw of 35.42, which he basically did off of one foot. Sebastian Arana also competed in the javelin and had a huge day. He set a new PR for himself in this event by over 2 meters (20.64 m) and took 4th place overall. He later threw the shot put with a good effort, but a bit shy of his best all-time landing of 5.57 meters. Peyton Burnside looked quite strong in her 3000 meters early Sunday morning and her time reflected that fact. Peyton dropped nearly 15 seconds from her former best time and finished the nearly 2-mile race in 12:23.73.

17-18 Division

Chynna Simmons was back this past weekend with the Flyers after a high school season, which she was injured for the majority of the year. Chynna was able to set a new club PR for herself in the long jump (5.42 m) for 5th place and ran 13.19 seconds in the 100. Brittany Patterson who joined the club last year and made it all the way to Nationals, had her best club jump (5.36 m) on Saturday and was able to run 12.75 seconds in the 100 meters to round out her weekend.

It’s been a great season and many of our athletes will be hanging up their spikes as we move to the championship part of the year. Our next meet is on June 10-11: USATF Arizona Junior Olympic State Meet at Mesa Community College. The top 4 finishers in each event will qualify for the Region 10 Junior Olympic Meet, which will also be held at Mesa CC on July 6-9.

Pecheco & Allison Set 3 PRs Each at Phoenix Invitational

April 5, 2017 by dAllison

Henry Makes it to 100 meter Finals

Due to the NCAA Final Four being in town, other large track meets in the region and the Phoenix Invitational being a bit earlier this season, the number of athletes at “PIs” this weekend were lower than usual but the performances didn’t suffer one bit. Beautiful weather both Saturday and Sunday made for great times, throws and jumps across the board and the Flyers were definitely making their presence felt at Mesa Community College.

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus set a new club record in the 100 meters (besting his own time of a couple weeks ago) with a finish of 16.82 seconds. Max got very close to his personal best in the mini-javelin, where he took 3rd overall with a distance of 14.13 meters. Max also ran a strong 400 in 1:28.02 to round out his very impressive weekend. Isa Allison once again dominated the field in the mini-javelin and took 1st place with a toss of 16.51 meters. Isa had her best jump ever and made it to finals, where she took 8th overall (2.65 meters) and then ran a club record in the 100 meters (16.69), which was fast enough to get her invited to the ASU Sun Angel Invite this upcoming Saturday and compete against some of the fastest 8 and Under girls in that event. Emerson Rhodes was flying around the track this weekend. She crushed her previous best times in the 100 and 200, setting two new PRs for herself (18.01 and 40.52, respectively). Emerson just missed making it to finals in the long jump with a strong effort of 2.57 meters as well.

9-10 Division

Seth Henry had a very competitive weekend. He was able to make it to the finals in the 100 meters, which is no small feat. He took 7th overall and ran a new PR and club record in that distance (14.40 seconds). Seth also had a new best mark in the long jump, taking 6th overall (3.64 m). Seth ran a strong time in the 200 as well, where he clocked 30.68. Carter Bejar made his first meet and ran the 100 meters. He go out hard and crossed the line in a time of 17.34 seconds. Zachary Esparaza had those legs of his moving in Mesa. He was able to run a new personal best in the 200 (31.54) and then competed in his first 100 m of the year with a very strong time of 15.31 seconds. Robert Morris, like Carter, made it to his first meet of the year and ran the 200 in a solid 37.54 effort, but then felt a little under the weather and was not able to compete in the 100 meters later on in the day. Simon Reynolds loves that 100 meter race, and keeps knocking down his time with each attempt. He set a new PR for himself on Saturday with a 16.71 finish. On Sunday, Simon competed in the 1500, where he just missed a PR by a razor-thin margin with a very strong time for this part of the season (6:06.21). Auggie Grimm made it to Mesa Community College this weekend and we are glad he did. He was able to set a new personal record in the 100 meters, just missing the sub-16 second mark with an official time of 16.02.

11-12 Division

Gael Pacheco had a record breaking weekend with three new personal bests for himself. Gael started off his weekend by taking over 2 seconds off his 200 meter time (34.62). He then followed that up by taking .3 seconds off his 100 meter best (16.47) and then for a third encore came out on Sunday and nearly broke the 80-second mark in the 400 meter race, for a new PR (1:20.29). Khaleb Henry continues to improve in the throwing events. He bested his mark in the discus by .81 meters to take fourth place overall (17.77 m) and threw the shot over 7 meters again to take 7th in that event (7.08 m). Macy Baerman being away from practice all week due illness, was not going to let that deter her from competing at PIs this weekend. Macy managed to perform quite admirably with a 35.2 time in the 200, a 1:22.85 line crossing in the 400 and a leap of 3.36 m in the long jump. Braden Lolli took the lead in the 800 to push the pace in his heat and was able to muster a new PR of 2:37.09. Braden had a gutsy and strong finish in the 1500 meters to drop his time down to 5:14.86 and take 4th place overall. His legs were a bit heavy after two hard-fought races in two days, but Braden still was able to find a 1:08.95 time in the open 400 – less than two-tenths of a second off his best. Ben Geist seemed a bit out of sorts in the 800 meters on Saturday and finished in a time of 2:59.06; but on Sunday, Ben had a more confident vibe within and crushed his previous 1500 meter time by over 12 seconds to give him a new PR of 6:06.34.

Jake Blair competed in the discus for the first time and was able to manage a 6th place standing with a throw of 14.75 meters. Jake also threw the javelin, where he has much more experience and it showed as he found a new personal best (and club record) with a mark of 24.06 meters to take 4th place overall. Alas, the heat got to Jake in his 400 and he fought to the finish with a time of 1:23.78. Maddox Moses found a kick on Saturday as he turned on the jets with 300 meters to go in the 800 and won the heat with an impressive new best of 2:46.16. Sunday he may have even run better, as he ran a smart and strong race to a personal best time of 5:32.14, which would bring Maddox to under the 6-minute mile mark for the first time ever! Lucy Arana once she figured out how to navigate through the crowd of girls in the first 200 meters of her 800 meters race, she looked awesome. Lucy ran a speedy 800 and was able to drop her time down to 2:51.58. Like all our distance runners on Sunday, Lucy was able to run a season’s best time that day of 5:47.82, which also was a PR for her as well. Ava Clegg had a successful weekend, like many of our Flyers. She is closing in on that 3-meter mark in the long jump (2.95 m), where she garnered a new PR. And Ava’s speed is improving with each race – she cruised in the 100 meter event in a PR of 16.51 and then threw the shot 5.26 meters to round out her weekend.

13-14 Division

Sebastian Arana had many great throws in the javelin on Saturday, but due to a few foot fouls his best legal throw for the day was 17.62 m, which was over 1.5 meters better than his previous best mark in the 600 g spear. Sebastian also had a slight improvement in the shot put where he set a new high mark for himself with a toss of 6.24 m. Charlie Allison, had three personal bests this weekend on the ground, in the air and off his feet. Charlie took 5th in the long jump with a new best mark of 5.11 m. He won the javelin outright with a new best throw of 36.10 meters and is getting closer to breaking 27 seconds in the 200 as he ran out of steam down the stretch but still managed a PR of 27.2 seconds. Charlie is human and didn’t PR in the triple jump, but did take 2nd overall with his best sand landing being 10.03 meters. Robert Vloemans ran yet another personal best in the 200 (33.05), but also did some field events for the first time this year. He had solid marks in both the discus and shot put. He hurled the discus 14.45 meters and muscled the shot put 6.37 meters for a very satisfying invite.

Our next meet is in three weeks (April 22) down in Tucson.

Go Flyers!

West Siiiide Meet at Youngkers Good for Flyers

March 20, 2017 by dAllison

Ribbons, Club Records and PRs Abound at Youngkers HS

We thought the last meet was impressive for the Flyers, but on Saturday there were 18 personal records and 11 club records set at the March 18th USATF Regulation Meet at Youngkers High School in Buckeye. With it being so early in the season and so many great performances from our athletes, the future looks quite bright for the ladder part of the 2017 campaign.

8 & Under Division

Isa Allison feeling back to her old self had some impressive performances on Saturday. Isa crushed the competition in the javelin with a new best throw of 17.82 m, which would have been good enough for 2nd at Nationals in 2016. Isa also took 7th in the 100 meters with a new club record of 17.03 seconds and placed 5th in the long jump with a mark of 2.47 m. Charlotte Faltis, a new member to our team this year, competed hard in her first ever 100 meter race with a good time of 20.58 seconds. Emerson Rhodes has those hops, baby! She once again set a new club record in the long jump (beating her own one from two weeks ago) by taking 2nd overall with a jump of 2.79 meters. Emerson also ran the 100 meters in 18.78 seconds. Brooklyn Bowman improved her 400 time to 1:31.34, which was over 3 seconds better than her time from two weeks ago. Max Columbus had a solid day on Saturday. He placed 2nd in the javelin with a throw of 11.08 meters and ran a 1:28.3 400 meters in the sweltering heat.

9-10 Division

Simon Reynolds had a great meet on Saturday. Simon set a new personal best in the 100 meters (16.95) and then ran his first 1500 meters of the season with a strong effort of 6:18.51 to take 5th place overall. Seth Henry also had another strong outing on Saturday. Seth set a new PR (and club record) in the 200 meters (30.40) for 7th place, had a new farthest jump for himself of 3.5 meters to take 6th place and then ran his first 400 meters, which got him 4th place overall and a new club record as well! Diego Mendoza was able to make a meet and he did a great job. Diego ran a nice 1:25.93 in the 400 meters and then later in the hot sun crossed the line in the 200 meters in 37.48 seconds. Micah Newkirk held back a bit in the first 200 meters of his 800-meter race and it played out beautifully. Micah took fourth overall and slashed his best time by nearly 7 seconds with a 2:46.88. Micah also competed in the 400 meters later in the day and ran a strong 1:15.81, just missing another personal best for himself.

11-12 Division

Khaleb Henry is getting more and more comfortable in the throws. Khaleb took 4th in the shot put with a new PR of over 1.5 meters (7.70 meters) and a new club record. Khaleb started out his day with a 2-meter PR in the discus, taking 2nd, with a best throw of 16.96 meters. Macy Baerman running her first 800 meters of the season, ran a new personal best of 3:04.94, dropping 3 seconds from her previous best time. Macy was close in getting new two PRs in the long jump (3.47) and 200 (34.42), but was just a smidgen off of both. Braden Lolli had his wheels revving on Saturday as he set a new PR in the 100 meters (14.72), dipping under 15-seconds for the first time ever. He then ran his first 1500 of the year and demolished the competition after the 1000-meter mark, running a new personal best of 5:21.94, which got him 1st overall and a new club record. Ben Geist got off the line fast in the 100 meters and had a strong finish with a new personal best of 15.72 seconds. When it came to the running his first 1500 m, Ben put in a good effort but perhaps the sun was just too strong. He finished in 6:18.76, which doesn’t compute when you compare his other strong times this season. But we know Ben will bounce back being the determined kid he is.

Jake Blair played soccer all morning and made it to Youngkers HS just in time to run the 400 m and throw the aero javelin for the first time in competition. Jake won his heat in the 400 m with a solid effort of 1:22.52 and then took 3rd in the javelin with a nice mark of 20.90 meters. Maddox Moses got some good turnover work first as he crossed the line in the 100 meters in a time of 16.6 seconds. Later in the day, Maddox hit the 1500 meters and ran to a 7th place finish in a time of 5:46.92, a good start to the early season. Landon Day made it out for his first track meet ever and did quite well. He jumped 3.86 in the long jump, which is a great start and then was looking forward to throwing the aero javelin for the first time as well; he competed quite admirably with a good toss of 13.62 meters, which got him 7th place overall.

13-14 Division

Sebastian Arana had a good strong throwing day at Youngkers. Sebastian PR’d in the shot put with a new best mark of 6.18 meters and then threw the real 600 gram javelin quite well with a best throw of 16.09 meters. Charlie Allison, competed in 4 events and found 4 club and personal records on Saturday. Charlie took 6th in the long jump (4.97 meters), ran 1:02.94 in the 400 meters (winning his heat), triple jumped a new best of 10.52 meters and won the javelin with his best toss of 33.77 meters. Peyton Burnside didn’t have the time she wanted in the 1500 m (6:04.72), but she ran valiantly to keep her focus. We know Peyton, with the work she has put in this season, thus far, will see her times drop in no time flat.

Our next meet is in two weeks (April 1-2) at Mesa Community College – The Phoenix Invitational. This is one of the biggest and most competitive meets of the season. It’s also a two-day meet. The Flyers will be ready to rock.

Go Flyers!

You Get a PR! …And You Get a PR! … And You Get a PR! | Rhodes Wins Long Jump!

March 14, 2017 by dAllison

Flyers Soar In Regulation Meet with Great Personal Results

There were 24 personal records and 7 club records set at the March 4th USATF Regulation Meet at Millennium High School in Goodyear. To say the Flyers had a good day would most definitely be an understatement. Let’s break down how our little Flyers fared.

8 & Under Division

Isa Allison had some medical matters that kept her out of the 100 meters and mini javelin, but She was still able to be part of the girls 8 & Under 4×100 relay team. The team took 2nd and also set a club record with a time of 1:19.81. Ellie Amsbaugh, also a member of the girls’ 4×100 relay team, managed to have two new PRs for herself as well. Ellie ran a 20.91 in the 100 m and also took nearly a full second off her 200-meter time (45.51) to round out a really terrific day. Emerson Rhodes another speed demon in the girls’ 4×100, also had a personal best jump of 2.68 meters, which got her 1st place overall in the event. Emerson also PR’d in the 100 meters with a time of 18.45 seconds. Brooklyn Bowman ran a great 400 meters with a nice opening time for the season of 1:34.89. Brooklyn also was a member of the record-setting 4×100 girls’ relay squad. Max Columbus had the trifecta with awesome personal results for himself. Max had a 2nd place finish in the mini javelin (14.27), a huge 400-meter PR (1:24.48) and a blazing 100 meters’ time to round out his day (16.96).

9-10 Division

Simon Reynolds, while we wouldn’t call him “speedy”, still managed a huge personal improvement in the 100 meters with at time of 17.29. Simon, later in the afternoon, feeling more in his element in the 800, found himself crossing the line with his second PR of the day, just missing the sub-3 minute barrier (3:00.85). Seth Henry, somehow with even a slow start out of the blocks, managed a 7th place finish and a new club record in the 100 meters with a clocking of 14.84 seconds. Seth also jumped 3.38 in the long jump and took 8th in the 200 meters, just missing a best time by .3 seconds (31.70). Sienna Amsbaugh, blasted out of the blocks in the 100 meters and grabbed a new PR with a time of 16.79 seconds. Micah Newkirk, while still figuring out this middle distance thing, ran two great times on the west side. Micah dropped 6 seconds in his 400 meters (1:15.70) and took 8th overall in a very competitive 800-meter race with time of 2:53.09.

11-12 Division

Macy Baerman found some wheels in the 200 meters and just missed a personal best with a strong time of 34.46. Macy was a bit off the mark on the long jump and found only a jump of 3.29 meters. Macy also ran the 400 in 1:21.40. Braden Lolli, showing more signs that we may not need to wait for next year to see great results, smashed his recent club record in the 400 by nearly 4 seconds (68.79) and already was nearing his PR in the 800 with a 7th place finish in 2:38.28. Benjamin Geist, not to be outdone by his middle-distance teammate had not one, but two new PRs at the meet. Ben shattered his 400 best time by almost 5 seconds (72.86) with a gutsy finsih and then broke his old 800 top time by over 5 seconds (2:55.92) to round out a very successful afternoon. Khaleb Henry finally got a chance to throw some implements and did quite well. He took 3rd in the discus (14.97 m), after borrowing Coach Allison’s shoes (No, you can’t wear spikes when throwing the shot or discus, Khaleb!) and then threw the shot put a good distance with a measurement of 6.18 meters.

Gael Pacheco put in some great effort in his events and after a long day in the sun was able to muster these solid times: 16.78 (100 m), 38.66 (200 m) and 1:24.9 (400 m). Ava Clegg, matched Max Columbus with the most PRs and club records set that day at the meet. Ava set a new club record in the shot put (5.73 m) taking 7th overall; and then ran some personal quick times in the 100 m (16.69) and 200 m (36.48) to have a strong Saturday out west. Lucy Arana had another strong meet with two new personal best times. In the 400 meters she bested her time to an impressive 1:15.82 and then began her season in the 800 with a strong 8th place finish in a great time of 2:54.55.

13-14 Division

Robert Vloemans traveled all the way out to Goodyear for one event, but he made it count. Robert high-stepped it to a PR in the 200 by over 1 second (34.18 seconds). Sebastian Arana, who is becoming on of our throwing specialists here at the Flyers, threw the shot put that Saturday and set a new PR for himself in the heavier weight class (4 kg), now that he’s in the 13-14 division, with a mark of 5.90 meters. Charlie Allison, like Sebastian, opened up his season at this meet, set two new PRs for himself – 13.36 (100 m) and 27.8 (200 m). Charlie also took second and set a new club record in the triple jump, launching himself across the runway in 9.97 meters.

Our next meet is this weekend at Youngkers High School – 8 a.m.

Go Flyers!

Great Start for Flyers in ’17

February 27, 2017 by dAllison

The season is well on its way and the Flyers have been to three meets thus far. Let’s take a look at how our athletes have competed over these past 4 weeks.

8 & Under Division

Ellie Amsbaugh competed in her first track meet back in late January at Westwood High School, where she ran in the 100 and 200 meter races. Ellie competed hard and was able to land in the middle of the pack for both events with times of 21.21 seconds (100 meters) and 46.34 seconds (200 meters). Trenton Shirley entered his first track meet ever in early February in the 55 meters and crossed the line in a strong 11.00 seconds. Charlotte Faltis, yet another new member to our Flyer family this season, ran the the 55 meters as well in early February and streaked by in a time of 11.11 seconds. Isa Allison, the 5th year grizzled 8 and Under veteran, started her season up in Flagstaff this past weekend and was able to set two new PRs for herself, along with team records in the 55 meters (9.66) and 200 meters (36.71). Isa also took 6th place in the long jump with a mark of 2.31 meters.

9-10 Division

Auggie Grimm, a promising newcomer to the club, ran a very respectable 100 meters time of 16.34 seconds back in late January and then competed again the following week in the 55 meters, where he finished almost dead-center of the pack with a time of 9.28 seconds. Seth Henry, who we thought was a pretty fast kid when we met him at the beginning of the season, still has been able to surprise us with some very impressive early season times for his age. At Westwood High in January, he set a new club record in the 55 meter dash (8.53) and took 4th place overall. A week later at Millennium High School, Seth placed 8th overall in the 200 meters (31.43), and just missed the club record in that event as well. Micah Newkirk, an up and coming middle distance runner, started the season off right with a very strong 400 meter time of 1:21.91 back in January, and landed him 17th out of 45 athletes in his age group. Sienna Amsbaugh, the older sister to Ellie, who seems to have a perpetual smile on her face, ran two very solid times in January over at Westwood High School, where she ran 18.16 seconds in the 100 meters and a nice 38.67 finish in the 200 meters.

Zachary Esparza was a bit nervous last Sunday when he got on the line for the 55 m dash at the Skydome up in NAU. As the gun banged, Zachary exploded off the line with a very good performance of 8.84 seconds. Hours later, when he was getting ready for the 200 meters, Zach’s nerves started to creep up again; but he was able to focus that energy into a winning heat time of 32.38 second and a great start to the season. Simon Reynolds, one of our original cast members of the Phoenix Flyers and now somehow grew up to be in the 9-10 division, competed for the first time in Flagstaff. More as a warm up for Simon, he took to the 55 meter dash in 9.91 seconds and then later that day ran the 800 meters where he had a promising time or 3:13.51 at the 7,000 feet level.

11-12 Division

It’s always a good sign to see PRs from our returning athletes so early in the season. Macy Baerman has managed three new personal records for herself in the last two meets. In Flagstaff, Macy had a nice PR of 3.54 m in the long jump and a swift 34.24 finish in the 200 meters, which was also a PR for her. Two weeks earlier, Macy also ran a new PR in the 400 meters and for the first time dipped under the 80-second mark with a time of 1:19.22. Braden Lolli, another original Flyers athletic artifact, looks like he’ll be picking up right where he left off in his impressive 2016 national qualifying run. He blistered a 1:11.76 400 meters in mid-February at Millennium HS, which was a new PR for him, as well as having a strong 2:44.61 result in the 800. These times clearly shows you that age is just a number; and although Braden’s in the lower half of his new age group this year, he’ll still be pushing for many top finishes in 2017. Benjamin Geist is no neophyte runner anymore. In his second season with the Flyers, you can already see how his comfort level and confidence have risen since 2016. Benjamin ran a new PR in the 400, back in mid-February, in a time of 1:17.33, which should mean that his times will be dropping considerably. Khaleb Henry, Seth’s older brother, is waiting his time for the throwing events to begin, but back in February he did run the 55 meter dash with great effort and explosion off the line. Unfortunately, the clock that day malfunctioned and we have no official time for Khaleb in the race. Ava Clegg, yet another 5-year vet to the Phoenix crew, has definitely shed her little kid look and is right smack in the middle of “tweensville”. Ava, being a lot stronger and faster than last year, has already set two new PRs for herself in the 200 m (37.78) and 100 m (16.98) back in late January. Lucy Arana, after a brutal last season fighting off multiple bouts of various sicknesses, is back and better than ever! Lucy, a distance specialist, surprised maybe even herself when she tore off a time of 1:16.35 in the 400 meters, which shattered her old quarter-mile best by nearly 10 seconds!

Gael Pacheco, a quiet but determined new member to the Flyers, has been making great strides in meets this early season. Gael ran a 9.8 55-meters in mid-February and then ran three events up in Flagstaff, where he improved his 55 meters to 9.56 seconds and ran hard in the 200 m (37.02) and 400 meters (1:24.86) to fill out a long day up north. Another new 11-12 division boy who has joined our team this year is Austin Schrader. He has competed twice thus far in 2017. In the first meet of the season, Austin ran a solid 16.62 second 100-meter time. He then made the trek with his family up to the thin air of Flagstaff, where he ran a 9.58 second 55-meter race. Our last 11-12 to compete in the early part of 2017 is Maddox Moses. He’s a strong middle-distance runner, who was able to break 3-minutes in the 800 in late January (2:58.45). And we are hoping to put together our first 4×800 meter relay this year with the middle-distance talent we seem to be amassing with our 11-12 boys.

13-14 Division

Robert Vloemans, our only 13-14 athlete to compete so far this season, came out to the opening track meet to compete in the 100 and 200 meter races. With much improvement since his first day with us at practice, Robert was able to run a 16.89 and 35.44 in those sprints. Robert is looking forward to getting a chance to compete in the throwing events in the weeks ahead and focus more on the field side of track & field.

Our next meet is this weekend at Millennium High School – 8 a.m.

Go Flyers!

First Day of Practice Tomorrow!

January 8, 2017 by dAllison

Track is back for 2017!

We hope you all had a great summer/fall and are ready once again for an enjoyable and exciting season with the Phoenix Flyers! This will be our 5th year and are looking forward to meeting and coaching all the new and returning young athletes.

We will meet at Mt. Pointe H.S. tomorrow, Monday, January 9th at 5:30 p.m. If there is a soccer game being played, then we will be on the upper practice field – just northwest of the track on the Mt. Pointe campus.

Practice this week and for the rest of January will be Mon, Tues and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to around 6:30. We won’t start breaking up into our various training groups (field, sprint and distance) until early February.

As of now, our online registration is being updated, so we can’t take any online payments or sign-ups until Friday, January 13th. If you have previously registered on our old registration site, don’t worry we have your info and payment (if you payed online).

No spikes are needed. Please hold off buying spikes until we have our team’s “Spike night” at Sole Sports sometime in late January or early February.

It’s still cool – so please dress appropriately and have water.

Come with a great attitude!

Coach Young, Todd and I can’t wait to get you running, jumping and throwing in 2017!

Go Flyers!

Training & Location Schedule

AZ State Meet Shapes Up Nicely For Flyers

June 4, 2016 by dAllison

20+ Flyers came out to compete in the USATF AZ State Meet at Mesa Community College on May 21-22. Many great performances were had by our athletes that weekend (even some of our older guys).

8 & Under Division

Max Columbus had three solid performances over the weekend. He ran 18.68 in the 100 meters, 1:35.13 in that long 400 meter race and then a 10.19 meter best throw in the mini-javelin. Emerson Rhodes made it out for the 100 meter race, where in a very windy day managed to blow by in 19.92 seconds. Isa Allison was able to throw a PR of 13.14 meters in the javelin to take a third place medal and then jumped 2.38 m in the long jump and ran 19.5 against the wind in the 100 meters.

9-10 Division

Ava Clegg keeps putting up PRs. Again this week, Ava jumped a personal best of 2.82 meters and then threw the shot put 4.32 m, for yet another personal record. Ava did get on the track and ran an 18.61 second 100 meter race as well. Braden Lolli ran like a man possessed in the 1500 meters and was able to out kick Do Right’s Justice Horace to win and set himself a new PR as well (5:35.76). Still trying to capture that 200 m 9-10 age group club record, Braden ran the 200, but fell a bit short of the mark with a time of 32.76. Braden also took 6th overall in the 800 with a time of 2:48.25. Benjamin Geist decided he wanted to see how fast his legs could take him in the 100 meters and he found out with a time of 16.46 seconds. Ben came back to run the 800, where he ran a very gutsy and tough 3:04.67.

Camila Cornejo-Farmer ran against the crazy winds in the 200 with a time of 35.05 and then also found a pretty good mark for herself in the long jump (2.89) to close out her weekend. Lucy Arana looked more like her old self with a very strong season’s best of 6.11.34 in the girls 1500 meters race. All systems were not go unfortunately for Levi Shoemaker this weekend and he needed to be scratched from the 400 meters. Levi did manage to throw 15.52 meters in the javelin and run a 17.75 in a strong head-wind in the 100 meters. Jake Blair leaped a personal best in the long jump with a 3.50-meter mark (8th place) and then took 2nd in the mini-javelin with a good showing of 27.03 meters.

11-12 Division

Sebastian Arana, due to a mess up with the javelin officials, Sebastian was unable to get his throws in, but he did do the shot put and found a great PR in that event with a toss of 6.05 meters. Charlie Allison, had a fantastic weekend: 1st in javelin – 44.71 meters (new PR), 2nd in long jump (4.90 meters) – new PR and made it for the first time to the finals in the 100 meters, where he took 6th with a strong time of 13.8 seconds. Taylor Pinteric, raced a very impressive 400 with a new PR of 1:16.94 and jumped a very solid mark of 3.21 meters. Macy Baerman did set a new PR for herself in the 100 m (17.27 seconds) and ran a solid 3:17.04 in the 800 meters.

13-14 Division

Nathan Lind, had no PRs this weekend, but raced and placed quite well. Nathan took 3rd overall in the 100 meters with a time of 12.39 and made the finals in the 200 meters with a qualifying time of 25.78. Carson Dada, found a new PR in the 400, as he dipped under 70-seconds for the first time with a 69.69 finish. Carson also competed in the 100 hurdles where he broke the tape with a time of 22.29.

15-16 Division

Kenya Coburn, one of Coach Todd’s high school girls, joined the Flyers recently and was able to take 1st place in the 100 meters (12.74), triple jump 9.7 meters (her first time competing in this event, I believe) and long jumping 4.72 meters as well.

17-18 Division

Chynna Simmons, took 2nd in the triple jump (11.03 m), 3rd in the long jump (5.26 m) and managed to make it to the finals in the 100 meters (13.63). Nura Muhammad took an impressive first in the long jump (5.53 meters) and another first in the triple (11.97 meters) for the double-win this weekend. Kayla Callendar also competed this weekend, but unfortunately no-marked in the long jump.

Masters (Aka “Old Man”) Division

Louis Clegg, more in a half-marathon frame of mind, did dip way down to the 400 meters, where he took first in his age-group with a time of 1:11.09. Coach Allison set two age-group state records (45-49) in the 800 (2:05.19) and in the 1500 (4:24.16), to close out the weekend.

The Flyers will have the Arizona Junior Olympic State Meet on June 3-4 at Mesa Community College. Many of our athletes have an opportunity to make it to the J.O. Region Meet in July in Albuquerque. Good luck Flyers!