Tilmon leads local Jr. Olympians at NSU

Published 9:07 pm Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Jack Van Straten of Suffolk races in the 13-year-olds’ division of the boys' 1,500-meter run on Aug. 4 at Norfolk State University. He will be competing in a 4x800-meter relay on Aug. 7 and the 3,000-meter run on Aug. 8. (Lou Pollard photo)

Jack Van Straten of Suffolk races in the 13-year-olds’ division of the boys’ 1,500-meter run on Aug. 4 at Norfolk State University. He will be competing in a 4×800-meter relay on Aug. 7 and the 3,000-meter run on Aug. 8. (Lou Pollard photo)

A myriad of Suffolk athletes are currently competing in the track and field events of the 2015 Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games at Norfolk State University, and one brought home gold on Aug. 4.

Cierra Sheppard of Suffolk, center, flies through the air during the girls' 2,000-meter steeplechase in the 15- to 16-year-olds' division on Aug. 5 at Norfolk State University. She finished 17th with a time of 9:36.26. Behind her is Caitlynn Melanson of Carrollton, who took 25th with a 9:55.98 time. (Lynn Melanson photo)

Cierra Sheppard of Suffolk, center, flies through the air during the girls’ 2,000-meter steeplechase in the 15- to 16-year-olds’ division on Aug. 5 at Norfolk State University. She finished 17th with a time of 9:36.26. Behind her is Caitlynn Melanson of Carrollton, who took 25th with a 9:55.98 time. (Lynn Melanson photo)

Jazmine Tilmon won the girls’ 200-meter hurdles in the 14-year-olds’ division with a time of 27.06 seconds. She qualified for the final with a 28.28-second time in the preliminaries on Aug. 3, which was good for second behind Trinity Williams, of Marietta, Ga., who finished in 27.91 seconds.

The next day, it was Williams who finished second, despite cutting her time down to 27.41 seconds.

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Tilmon placed eighth in the prelims of the girls’ 100-meter dash 14-year-olds’ division on Aug. 3 with a time of 12.38 seconds, but she was not able to advance past the semifinals on Aug. 5.

Chase Osborne of Chesapeake, who practices in Suffolk, competes in the 14-year-olds division of the boys' 1500-meter run on Aug. 4 at Norfolk State University. He placed 36th out of 75 runners with a time of 4:41.85. (Lou Pollard photo)

Chase Osborne of Chesapeake, who practices in Suffolk, competes in the 14-year-olds division of the boys’ 1500-meter run on Aug. 4 at Norfolk State University. He placed 36th out of 75 runners with a time of 4:41.85. (Lou Pollard photo)

On Aug. 4, Christopher Blount of Suffolk took third in the 12-year-olds’ division of the boys’ 400-meter dash with a time of 54.52 seconds.

He also placed sixth in the prelims of the boys’ 200-meter dash 12-year-olds’ division the same day, qualifying for the Aug. 6 semifinals with a time of 25.15 seconds.

Blount is set for the Aug. 8 final of the boys’ 100-meter dash 12-year-olds’ division after finishing in 12.18 seconds in Aug. 3’s preliminaries, good for fourth, and then finishing in 12.32 seconds in Aug. 5’s semifinals, good for sixth.

Suffolk’s Tre’Breh Scott-McKoy was a standout during the girls’ outdoor pentathlon for the 14-year-olds’ division on Aug. 2. She took sixth place, compiling 2,681 points.

For the pentathlon, she competed in the 100-meter hurdles, placing fourth, the high jump, tying for sixth, the 800-meter run, placing 14th, the long jump, placing 20th and the shot put, placing 31st.

On Aug. 3, Asia Crocker of Suffolk finished in an 11-way tie for 15th in the girls’ high jump for 15- to 16-year-olds. She posted a jump of 4 feet, 11 inches.

Look on the sports page in the coming days for more Suffolk standouts from the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games, which continue through Aug. 8.