News release from Turnstone:
Turnstone athletes named U.S. Paralympic Track & Field High School All-Americans
(September 17, 2014) – U.S. Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, announced (September 15, 2014) the 2014 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field High School All-Americans. Now in its fifth year, the list honors the top high school track and field athletes who have a Paralympic-eligible impairment, based on their performances in the 2014 season.
From Turnstone both Noah Barbknecht along with Robert Burns earned the top honor.
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Robert Burns concluded his senior year earning All-American honors for the second straight season in the 800m wheelchair division improving his personal best by 18.56 seconds. He added the honor in the 400m and 1500m as well this season to further boost his resume. Burns plans to attend University of Arizona next fall to continue his education along with competing at the collegiate level of wheelchair track. In the meantime he’s attending North West State Community College and training with ASPO Paralympic sport club which is close to his home. Burns started playing wheelchair basketball with Turnstone in 2005 and then picked up competing in wheelchair track in 2012.
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This is Noah Barbknecht’s first year being named an All-American. Noah burst onto the scene in the shot put division this season as a sophomore at Northrop High School. Noah has two more years of High School eligibility. Noah also throws discus in High School along with javelin in his repertoire in both regional and national competitions.
“The class of 2014 is one of the best ever,” said Cathy Sellers, High Performance Director for Paralympic track and field. “It is a solid class from top to bottom. These athletes are performing at a high level and I expect quite a few to be able to bridge the gap of age and experience and make Team USA for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.”
Only two years after developing their high school Paralympic program, Ohio boasts the most athletes named to the All-Americans list with seven athletes. Other states with multiple athletes on the list include: Washington (five), Louisiana (four), Alabama (four), Texas (three), New Jersey (three) and Indiana (three). All of the states with multiple athletes have Paralympic programs embedded in their high school systems.
To be selected, criteria included looking at multiple performances by each athlete against the third best performance on the current world list, regardless of age. The ranking list is not a conventional list as the results are factored according to the level and type of disability. The general disability categories of athletes named to the All-American list are visual impairment (11-13), intellectual disability (20), cerebral palsy (33-38), dwarfism (40), amputation/limb loss (41-46) and spinal cord injury (51-58).
Download a list of the top 2014 U.S. Paralympic Track and Field High School All-Americans.
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