Sports

Farmington Hills Teen Earns AAU National Champion, All-American Titles

James Weekley and the Waza Track Club had a good week at the AAU Junior Olympics.

Waza Track Club, which consists of athletes from around the Detroit metro area, achieved an exceptional level of success at the AUU Junior Olympics in New Orleans July 30-Aug. 6.

Nine athletes participated and eight either set personal records (PRs) or improved on their national ranking. Waza had one National Champion, James Weekley, 13, of Farmington Hills, who was honored as an All-American.

Weekley had an amazing week. On Monday, he set a new PR in the 800m, 2:15.17, and moved up in national ranking from 29th to 17th.

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On Thursday, he set a new PR in the 1500m, 4:37.57, and moved up in national ranking from 25th to 8th to grab the 8th place medal. For this performance, he was seeded in the second (or slower) heat in the competition, and at the start of the race, he was trapped behind a wall of runners and could only begin to move up after 200m into the race.  His final three 400m splits were progressively faster – 1:19, 1:16, 1:09 – to pass 20 runners the rest of the way and win his heat by about 50m. His time put him ahead of the 8th place finisher in the faster heat that followed.

In the 3000m on Saturday, Weekley ran a beautiful tactical race, set a new PR, 9:50.13, finished first and became National Champion. He was also awarded All-American honors. Last year, he was Waza’s first national medalist, this year he is the club's first National Champion and All-American.

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Here are the other team results:

Jordan Turner, 9, Highland Park: Improved her national ranking in the shot put from 16th to 10th with a new PR of 17’6”.

Rachel Toloday, 9, Livonia: Competed in the 1500m. 

Jordan Weekley, 10, Farmington Hills: Improved her national ranking in the shot put from 25th to 20th.

Melanie McDowell, 10, Novi: Set a new PR in the 800m, 2:55.15, and moved up in ranking to 55th from 66th. She also improved her national ranking in the 1500m from 42nd to 27th.

Alexis Lazarczyk, 14, West Bloomfield: Improved her national ranking from 43rd to 38th in the 1500m.

Claire Ford, 14, Huntington Woods: Set a new PR in the 1500m, 5:36.46, and moved up in national ranking from 46th to 26th. She improved her national ranking in the 3000m from 18th to 11th.

Rani Richardson, 15, Flint: After a disappointing end to her Heptathlon hopes because of a leg injury on Saturday, came back on Monday with a noticeable limp to match her PR in the javelin, 60’1”, and improve her national ranking from 51st to 36th.

Mirad Hadzialijagic, 12, Novi: Set a new PR in the discus, 56’4”, and moved up from 60th to 55th place in the national rankings.

Also in 2011, Waza 2006 alumna Lindsay Clark of Walled Lake received a track scholarship to Michigan State University.

The team will begin cross country training for youth athletes on Sunday Sept. 11. Watch the Waza Track Club icon on the Waza FC website for details.


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