Shaquera Leach, a rising senior at Briar Woods High School and a member of Special Forces Track Club, delivered an All-American sixth-place finish in the 400-meter run at the 2011 AAU Junior Olympics, contested July 28 through Aug. 6 in New Orleans.

Leach set a personal record in the 400 with a time of 55.06 seconds in the semifinals to earn a spot as the second seed in the final. Leach posted a time of 56.02 in the final.

Leach also teamed with Jessie Rolle, Kaylin Simmons and Britt Savage to set a team record of 3:55.89 in the 1,600-meter relay, good for 17th place out of 42 teams. Leach ran a 55-second split in her portion of the relay.

Special Forces coach Nick Savage said of Leach’s performance, “Shaquera Leach returned from two weeks competition as a national contender and top notch recruit for 2012, receiving notice from some of the top schools in America.”

Several other Special Forces athletes turned in strong efforts at the Junior Olympics. Christian Pelenda (2:06), Darron Coley (2:15) and Bryson Riddick (2:51) produced respectable national times in the 800 run, as did Anthony York (4:53) and Michaela Hoskins (5:47) in the 1,500, and Maansi Mehta (13:45) in the 3,000 run. 

Hali McFadgen placed 14th in the 100 hurdles and 18th in the 400 hurdles with times of 15.06 and 1:06, setting team records. Mark Melbourne blazed the 200 dash in 27.5 seconds and Beau Everett ran the 400 in 1:06, another team record.

Galissia Cause led Special Forces in the throws, producing a ninth-place finish in the shot put and an 18th-place effort in the discus.

Savage noted that more than 20 national records were set at the Junior Olympics with nearly 20,000 athletes competing.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” Savage said. “They came to compete and win. It’s the pursuit of excellence that’s important. We definitely saw a ton of excellence this past week. Our kids included.”