Sophomore
Dakota Peachee of the High Point University men's track & field team finished first in the steeplechase with a time of 9:03.43 at the 2010 USA Track & Field Junior National Championship in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.
“This is a great win for Dakota,” said head coach
Mike Esposito. “He raced to win not just to get a fast time which is what you do in a championship setting. We are really pleased that he was able to pull out the win and become High Point's first junior national champion.”
Competing in the faster of two heats, Peachee began the race in the middle of the pack and maintained his positioning between second and fourth throughout the majority of the race. In the final lap, Peachee moved into the lead briefly before being passed by Jared Berman of Virginia Tech on the back stretch. Coming out of the final turn he used a strong closing burst to move back past Berman and into first.
With the win, Peachee qualifies for the 2010 World Track & Field Junior Championships which will be held in Monctan, Canada on July 19-24.
Peachee, who entered the race as the second seed, had never run the steeplechase before his fourth-place finish at the Big South Championship in a time of 9:25.38. After that, he had a huge breakthrough at the Georgia Tech Invitational, placing second in 8:59.62 to set the HPU record. He then bested that performance, running a time of 8:58.72 to place 23rd at the first round of the NCAA Championship on May 29 in Greensboro, N.C. Peachee finished second among freshmen in that race.
Sophomore Joshua Pelletier also competed in the USA Track & Field Junior National Championships, finishing 12th in the javelin throw with a top toss of 164-10 on Friday.
The USATF Junior National Championship typically features the top collegiate freshmen as well as the top high school athletes from around the country. Athletes must be 19 or under in 2010.