Does AAU track prepare athletes for the Olympics?
The 100 meter dash is the most popular event in all of track and field because if you win that event at the highest level, you can earn the title as the fastest man in the entire world. The AAU Junior Olympics has allowed youth athletes to compete in all the major track and field events long before a child is ready for college. They crown a champion in each of them, but most people pay very close attention to who ends up winning the 100 meter dash. So what really happens to the fastest boys at the Junior Olympics? Do they go on to become NCAA champions and Olympic medalists? Finishing in the front of the race is a very big deal, but nobody will really remember it if you can’t figure out how to stay out in front when you get older.
To answer this question, I looked at AAU Junior Olympic Champions in the 100 meter dash at the youth level which really means the 14 and under age division. Not to be confused with the USATF Junior Olympics, which is technically a separate championship event. What I found is that they all fit in to 3 categories. These are the “contenders” who are actually legitimate sprinters who will show up on television later in their careers. Then there are the “athletes” who never saw track is their biggest priority anyway, because after all, football is king. Finally there are the opportunists. No disrespect intended, but they were never all that good to begin with. They were likely in the right place at the right time to become a Junior Olympic champion. TO be clear winning the Junior Olympics for any boy is not a great predicter of your track and field future, especially at 14 years old. The truth is that whichever kid knows how to sprint, and has already gone through puberty is likely going to win. There’s almost no way to know where those athletes will end up years later. So the answers I’m about to give are likely going to shock you from here on out.
The Contenders
Some of the sprinters who dominate the Junior Olympics are actually legit. They may not win an NCAA championship, but they will always be a threat to win on any track unless you are world class level, and bring your “A game” to beat them. Marcellus Moore in 2016 is proof of this because he tied the youth record at the Junior Olympics running 10.81and went on to Purdue University and later transferred to the Texas Longhorns. He was the state record holder in Illinois and an NCAA championship finalist. At the collegiate level he is actually the school record holder in the 60 meter dash at Texas, a program where that actually means something.
He is not the only one, Kennedy Lightner in 2015 won the junior Olympics and started his college career as a JUCO All American. Shortly thereafter he transferred to the SEC winning conference medals for the Kentucky Wildcats and threatening to score points at the NCAAs. Vincent Saucer in 2009 was not quite as good as either of them in high school but still proved to be a legitimate college sprinter winning a Big Ten championship at Iowa in the 60 meter dash. It is also worth pointing out that 14 years old is a long way off from college so a lot of things can derail a young athlete’s career. Xavier Atkins from 2010 was really good after winning the Junior Olympics at 14. But after one season as a JUCO All American, never ran track for any four year school, which is a shame because he ran 10.18 seconds in his only JUCO season.
An honest assessment shows that not every talented 14 year old even wants to run track in college. Amir Rasul from 2012 continued on to break 10.5 as a high school sprinter, but decided not to run track in college at all, and played football for Middle Tennessee State in Division 1. Which is nothing compared to Hakim Ruffin from 2014, who was a state champion in Louisiana and kept running track afterwards, but not for any college team, not even in junior college. He has continued running even into 2023 but runs about as fast as he did in high school which was 10.48. That is good, but nowhere near fast enough to compete at the USA championships so most people don’t even notice him when he runs unattached. All these men are good, but not good enough to run at the actual Olympics, or even the USA championships, they are basically that next level below it, where their Junior Olympic championship might still be their greatest accomplishment.
The Athletes
Athletes also dominate the Junior Olympics who honestly never really had their heart set on track and field anyway. They were good, but really wanted to play football at the college level, above all else. Some of those men were incredibly talented because both Marcellus Moore and Amir Rasul who were also “contenders” were football players at the college level. But only Marcellus actually ran track in college, and had way more success doing that then he ever did on the field.
Croix Stewart in 2018 followed Amir’s example and decided to leave track alone at the college level. They were both 3 star football recruits, and Croix chose UCLA where he even touched the field during his freshman season. Taj Griffin however is the craziest example of them all, because unlike the other three football players to win the Junior Olympics, he never even ran much at all after that. He did not even compete in high school. He became a 4 star football recruit who played for the Oregon Ducks, although he didn’t play all that much. He then went on completed his football career at NCAA division 2 Central Oklahoma University, and even at that level he was not the star of the team. So you have to wonder what he could have done on the track, if he actually took the sport seriously for even one season.
The Opportunists
At 14 years old, many track and field athletes will still lose interest like Taj, but many others who will likely become their biggest competition aren’t even on the track at all. Erriyon Knighton is proof of this because he did not compete at the Junior Olympics until he was 16. This phenomenon is why predicting the future of a junior Olympic athlete might as well be rolling dice. Which brings me to the final group of champions, the opportunists. Sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Even though he was a football player, that is exactly what Taj Griffin was. A fast kid who never took the sport that seriously because he quit immediately thereafter, while he was ahead.
Rashaad Pollard did the exact same in 2013. He was good don’t get me wrong, but never broke into the First Team National Elite list in high school. He ran 10.61 in high school, went on to NCAA Division 2 Alabama Huntsville, and never ran faster than that in college. He actually ran for 3 seasons but did succeed in helping them get to the Division 2 championship final in the 4x100m relay, which is to some degree a success. However, the most unlikely champion of all has to be Galen Johnson in 2017 because he barely broke 11 seconds during his high school career, not much faster than what he had run when was 14. After that he went to Albany State at the D2 level, where he barely competed before disappearing from the track, perhaps for good.
The Bottom Line
The AAU Junior Olympics are a great track and field event for young athletes to prove themselves, but that is really all it is at the younger ages. At 14 years old these boys proved that being the best is only as good as your competition. You can only race whoever shows up to the meet, and at the NCAA level and beyond, some of the best sprinters in the entire world will be on the line. Those sprinters who will not be intimidated by anything that happened when you were 14 years old. I’m not saying that it does not matter who wins the Junior Olympics, but I am saying it doesn’t really matter how well you start your career, as much as it does, how well you finish.
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