Three Marshall County track and field athletes competed in last weeks AAU Junior Olympics at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Cade Flatt, Tori McCracken and Sam Lanham are members of the Kentucky Elite Team. This was Flatt’s second trip to the AAU Junior Olympics – he won silver last year at Eastern Michigan University in the 800 meters as a 14-year old.
Flatt had the fastest qualifying time of 1:58 in his semi-final race in the boy’s 15-16 division and third fastest overall behind O’Fallon, Missouri’s Brandon Miller. Miller, who holds the national record for the 15-16 age group (1:49.87) set in 2017, won the 800 meters in 1:50.14. Flatt went on to finish fourth in the finals with a time of 1:57.87, just one-one hundredths of a second behind third place and just six tenths of a second separated second through fifth place.
Tori McCracken finished 15th in the girl’s 15-16 high jump with 5-1. She is the reigning Class 3A state champion in the high jump. Sam Lanham and Flatt both ran on the boy’s 15-16 4 x 800 meter relay and placed seventh with a time of 8:34.
