American Ebony Collins (© Kirby Lee The Sporting Image)
Ebony Collins100/400m
Long Beach Wilson High (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This sophomore stand-out earned four gold medals and ran the fastest prep time in the nation this year in the 300-meter hurdles at the CIF State Track and Field Championships…In addition to winning the hurdles, she finished 1st in the 100m (11.50) and helped Long Beach Wilson win the 4x100m and 4x400m relays…She has a chance to become the first girl ever to win three state titles in the 300 hurdles…Her blazing time of 40.10 seconds broke the 18-year-old California High School state record of 42.26.
Brandi Cross – 400m
Fort Bend Marshall High (Missouri City, Texas)
Achieved a personal best of 52.46 in the 400m in May… Cross, competing in her first Texas High School state meet, preformed at record-breaking speed to beat last year’s champion, Katie Baker of Westside High. From the sound of the gun, it was a two women race. Coming down the backstretch, Baker got out fast to take the early lead. Around the final curve, Cross kicked it into another gear and finished strong, bringing in a new Texas High School state record of 52.46.
Desirae Gonder – High Jump
Stockdale High (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Cleared 1.77m/5-10 in the high jump last spring…2004 California High School State Championships high jump runner-up (1.72m/5-8)…3rd at State Championships two years ago.
Kamorean Hayes – Shot Put
Harding High (Charlotte, N.C.).
Scored 4th-best winning mark in Nike High School Indoor Nationals history with a fourth-round 14.90m/48-11…This throw, so far this year the best in the nation, is a national sophomore record that Hayes achieved even after undergoing shoulder surgery six months earlier...Her ritual is to point to where she wants the shot to go.
Elan Hilaire – 400m
Park School (Owings Mills, Md.)
Runner-up in the 400m, losing by only .02 of a second at the highly competitive Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho…The only freshman at the meet, she earned the “Most Promising Newcomer Award” for her performance in the 55-meter dash (7.04 seconds) at the Colgate Women’s Games in NYC…Named “one of the fastest 14-year-olds in the country” in the July 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids.
Katie Subach for the IAAF
