After six days of sweltering heat the 2009 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships have come to an end. This year’s championship hosted in Greensboro, NC was the biggest championship in history. The Fuquay-Varina based Carolina Allstars Track & Field Team made its sixth appearance in six years at the National Championships.

Three members of the Carolina Allstars achieved All-American honors by placing in the top eight in the country. David Hamilton, Steven Bell and Jalen Ware all received the medals for the performance at the Junior Olympics.

David Hamilton, the 2009 USATF State Champion at 800 meters, finished seventh in the midget boys (ages 11-12) at the national championship. He qualified for the 800 meter final by running a personal best time of 2:17.84 in the preliminaries. His final time of 2:20.87 earned him All-American honors. Hamilton also qualified in

the midget boy’s 400 meter dash in which he finished fourteenth.

Steven Bell placed fourth in the young men’s triple jump (ages 17-18). Bell leaped to his personal best mark of the year with a jump of 48 feet 3 ½ inches. As a rising senior he will be the top jumper in North Carolina during the 2009-2010 school season. Bell was also the 2009 USA Track & Field State Champion in the triple jump.

Jalen Ware placed fifth in the youth boys high jump (ages 13-14) with a jump of 5feet 7 inches. He holds the Allstar team record at 5 feet 9 ¾ inches. Ware was the bronze medalist at this year’s state championship.

Also competing at the Junior Olympics were: Alexis Teel midget girls long jump (24th), Amara Bell youth girls high jump (11th) and pentathlon (16th), Kortney Pearce young women’s discus (23rd) and the youth boys 4x400 meter relay consisting of Jamaree Murray, Jalen Ware, Robert Williams and Cameron Snellings (10th).