Oak Harbor’s Adrianna Royal placed second in the 2,000 meter steeplechase at the USA Track Federation Junior Olympic national championships in Sacramento Tuesday, July 27.

The Whidbey Island Running Club’s 4×800 midget girls (11-12 year olds) relay team placed sixth in their section Wednesday, July 28. Kaitlyn Chelberg, Carly Crowther, Laura Rodeheffer and Carolynn Wicker ran an 11:42.28. A team from the Glenarden Track Club won the section in 10:43.03.

In the steeplechase, Royal rallied from fifth to second over the final 100 meters to finish in 7:21.8, a personal best by nine seconds. She was seeded third in the young women’s division (17-18) coming into the race.

Melissa Parks, running for Norfolk Optimist, won the race in 7:13.14.

Royal, who competes for the Federal Way Track Club, finished seventh (2:19.23) in her heat of the 800 meters today, July 29, and did not qualify for the finals. She will run in the 1,500 preliminaries Friday.

Christina Wicker, John Rodeheffer and Olivia Meyer of the Whidbey Island Running Club are also taking part in the meet and will compete later this week.

The national championship runs through Sunday, Aug 1.