Hot In Houston: Several MD #1's & More All-Americans From AAU Junior Olympics!

A solid group of Maryland prep track & field stars went down to Houston, Texas this past week to compete at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.

One of the the leading performances came from Oxon Hill rising senior Aaron Robinson running a state leading time in the 400 with a 47.31 personal best clocking to finish fourth in the 17-18 year old age group finals. Also competing in the same finals with the 3A state champ Robinson was another outstanding rising senior in 2A state champ Thomas Alcorn of Westlake claiming 6th place with a time of 48.05 to medal.

Both Alcorn and Robinson had to run sub 48 to make the finals, which the previous state leader Alcorn had run a new PR of 47.79 in the earlier round. It will be exciting to see how both Robinson and Alcorn improve upon their AAU summer performances next year as seniors and returning state champions. 

Bel Air's Kieran McDermott had a strong double in the distance races for the 15-16 year old age group as he earned AAU All-American honors in both the 1500 and 800. McDermott, who owns a PR of 4:24 in the 1600 meter run, clocked a 1500 meter time of 4:07.37 to finish 3rd and medal at the AAU JO's. 

The UCBAC champion this spring in the 1600 and 800, McDermott knocked almost 3 seconds off his PR in the 800 this past weekend in Houston running a stellar time of 1:56.97 for fourth place in the 800 finals.

Bullis School rising junior Eric Allen Jr. continues his torrid summer tour of sizzling performances in the sprints. Allen Jr. was a double All-American at the AAU Junior Olympics including a runner-up finish in the 17-18 year old age group finals with a 21.27 clocking. Earlier this summer, Allen Jr. just missed dipping under 21 seconds with a 21.04 clocking. Busy travels for him as well coming back from the USATF Junior Olympics the previous week in Sacramento, California.

The state leader in the 100 meter dash (10.55), Allen Jr. was able to make it through the first two rounds of the 100 meter dash for the 17-18 year old age group and finish fourth in the finals with a 10.66 clocking. 4A state champ Tajh Gilchrist unfortunately just missed the 100 finals with the 9th fastest time in the semis at 10.79. However, Gilchrist did run on an All-Star relay which included Westlake's Will Moten and St. John's College's Eric Harrison to finish second in the 4x100 with a 40.80 performance.

Digital Harbor's Tylar Colbert had the highest finish among all the Maryland girls at the AAU Junior Olympic Games as the 4A state champion in the 300 meter hurdles was a runner-up in the 15-16 year old age group for the 400 meter hurdles with a PR of 1:01.50. Its been a great summer of races for the sophomore Colbert who won the USATF Hershey Championships in the 400 meter hurdles and was also a runner-up at the AAU Club Championships in the event as well. 

Maryvale Prep rising junior Cameron Hinton seems to thrive when it comes to racing in the summer months. Last year, Hinton finished her freshmen year running a PR of 55.15 to finish third in the 15-16 year old girls finals of the 400 at the AAU Junior Olympic Games. Hinton repeated the same end result to her long year of track dating back to December indoor meets as she ran the #1 time in the state of Maryland for 2016 with her 54.83 to place fourth in the 15-16 age group finals of the 400. 

• Results from AAU Junior Olympics
• State Leaderboard: Boys - Girls