Star power
Past and present U.S. track and field stars shine in Albuquerque
Stars of both the present and the future delivered on the final day of the United States Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Sunday.
On one end of the spectrum was Michelle Carter, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the shot put. At the other was 19-year-old high jumper Vashti Cunningham.
Carter was making her first appearance of the 2017 season following a whirlwind tour that included myriad speaking engagements and a guest appearance on “The Bachelor.” That newfound celebrity has not interfered with preparing for what got her to this point.
“Training gets priority,” she said. “Throwing the shot put has allowed me to have these opportunities, so I can’t neglect what’s gotten me here. I always put in my practice and everything else fits around that if I’m able to or even have the energy to do it.”
It showed in Carter’s performance, as the “Shot Diva” won her signature event with a throw of 62 feet, 5¼ inches. Brittany Smith came in a distant second at 60-0¼.
“I’m a little off. Still a little slow,” she said. “We’re just coming out here and competing today and kind of letting it go wherever it does. But it was still a good meet with great competition, and I’m glad to get out with a win.”
While Carter is a current star, Cunningham could
be the next big thing. The 19-year-old daughter of former NFL star quarterback Randall Cunningham initially made her mark indoors at the IAAF World Championships in Portland, Ore., approximately one year ago and was similarly successful in her first meet of the current year.
“It’s good to be somewhere that you’ve been before, and I was already nervous here one time. It’s good to come back to remember how it feels,” she said.
If any butterflies were still present, they didn’t have a negative effect on Cunningham, as she cleared 6 feet, 5 inches to capture the title in the women’s high jump to best second-place competitor Inika McPherson by three inches. Cunningham also competed in Rio de Janeiro, but she did not medal.
Even with her famous father as her coach and seemingly boundless potential, Cunningham doesn’t feel burdened by expectations. For now she wants to keep improving while making the high jump a more visible event to fans.
“I don’t really feel like the pressure’s all on me,” she said. “I feel like this is my first time being with this type of competition. It’s my second year going into it and I have a little room to improve, and I can get better with it.”
Elsewhere, a highly-anticipated showdown in the women’s pole vault between 2012 gold medalist Jenn Suhr and 2016 silver medalist Sandi Morris failed to materialize when Suhr withdrew from Sunday’s event.
“Sadly I have chosen to stay home and not deal with the frustrations that are getting increasingly worse at U.S. Nationals,” Suhr wrote on her Facebook page. “…Championship meets need to be administered in a way that gives the spectators the best competition while providing ALL competitors a fair and equal playing field producing the best results. Our sport needs this.”
As a result, Morris took home first place when neither Katie Nagoette nor Mary Saxer could clear the bar at 15 feet, 5 inches.
In a men’s one-mile race that included five Olympians, it was 2016 Rio de Janeiro competitor Ben Blankenship that bested the field with a 3:59.22 finish, edging Cristian Soratos by 0.34 seconds. Blankenship surged past Soratos over the final 400 meters to claim victory.
LOCAL WATCH: Former Lobo and Hope Christian standout Aasha Marler placed eighth in the women’s triple jump with a distance of 41 feet, 11¼ inches. Former Lobo and Academy Charger Edwin Herring was eighth in the men’s 1000 meters in 2:23.71. Albuquerque resident Tony Clement was ninth with a time of 2:33.00.