The athletes of PTE battled through another long day at this weekends Team Believe Developmental Meet. After a long delay with technical difficulties the athletes performed well. In the field events numerous athletes earn personal best led by Kolby Heinerikson in the shot put and discuss. Konnor Miles putted his longest throw of the year. Lanicia Parker wins her 4th long jump meet in as many tries again clearing 11 feet. One age up, Katelynn Young leaped to a new personal best. Kristen Birmingham remained steady winning another high jump competition clearing 4 feet 10 inches.

In the running events, Logan Arrelano continues to shine winning the 400m going away along with the 200m. Hannah Graves showed continued strides in the 80m Hurdles with a strong 2nd place finish.  Jayden Henry won a close race in the 9 year old 100m dash. Anderson Dial ran a great 800m race to finish second.

PTE returns to action this weekend with a split squad. Athletes will compete in three different locations, Saturday in Grandview, Sunday in Omaha, and Monday in Garden Plains, KS.

The Pure Talent Elite Track and Field team had a great showing in their second meet last weekend at Ruskin High School. The meet, hosted by Stride Ryte Track Club was very competitive with over 500 athletes in attendance. Numerous athletes earned personal best and many others took home medals. Some of the highlights of the day include Augustine Morgan winning three golds in the 14 year old 1500m, 800m, and Triple Jump. Orion Bowers won the 100m, 200m, and 400m. Lanicia Parker won her second consecutive long jump competition in the early season. Hannah Graves would win the 12 year old 400. Shelby Birmingham took home gold in the 13 year old 200m. All three 4x100m relays would take home first place in their respective races.

2015 Team Captain Caleia Johnson enters her 3rd season with Pure Talent Elite. Another one of the original members of the club she displays a tremendous work ethic. As a 6th grader at Plaza Middle School, she participates in long sprints and mid distance and plans to add the long jump to her list of events. A three time Junior Olympic participant she qualified last season in the 800, 4x400m relay, and the 4x800m relay. She expects a big season from herself in 2015!


* Fun Fact: Caleia's father, Clay Johnson was a member of the 1982 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers.

2015 team captain Kolby Heinerikson begins his 3rd season with Pure Talent Elite Track and Field. Kolby is one of the most decorated athletes in the short history of PTE, being named All-American 5 times. Kolby participates in the multi-events, currently being the Pentathlon (100m Hurdles, Shot Put, High Jump, Long Jump, 1500m). His primary expertise lies in the throws arena where he has thrown the javelin, discus and the shot put. At the 2014 Junior Olympics Heinerikson captured medals in the pentathlon and javelin. He looks forward to continuing his success in 2015. 

Every year you can expect Pure Talent Elite to return from the Junior Olympics with a medal in the throws department. Of course it takes some skill but no doubt great coaching helps. Leading this area is PTE throws Coach Lee Heinerikson. Coach H called by so many athletes will enter his third season with Pure Talent Elite and was vital in getting the program off the ground. "When I finally decided to pull the trigger to start the program after numerous conversations, Coach H was the first person I called", stated Head Coach Vernon Birmingham.  He went on to add, "He had been coaching his boys unattached and to get him to join on early was huge!"

Coach Heinerikson has numerous years of experience coaching throwers from youth through the college ranks. In his time with PTE you can say Coach H has left his mark in two short years. In his first season, 5 Pure Talent Elite throwers placed in the top 8 earning All-American honors. He also coached one athlete in the throws for the multi-events which led to the first PTE national championship. In year two he again coached athletes to All-American status.

When asked to describe Heinerikson in one word Head Coach Vernon Birmingham decided to use two, "Dedicated and Intense". "In youth sports coaches have to display a sort of dedication and I love our coaches exhibit that trait", said Coach Vernon. He continued, "Lee spends all day with kids as a principal at an elementary school (Chinn Elementary, Park Hill District) and still makes as many practices as he can during the school year...I mean he will come to practice for 30 minutes and leave for a PTA meeting, who does that"? Intensity is something else Coach H brings to the table. "Even though we are dealing with kids in the throws as young as 8 and as old as high school seniors he wants the best out of the kids", added Birmingham. "He will not let you cut corners and demands hard work and paying attention to the details when he is working with you and I love that", Birmingham concluded.

Look for the throwers of Pure Talent Elite to continue to shine under the tutelage of Coach Heinerikson in 2015.

 Patience and an extreme work ethic is what come to mind when you think of Pure Talent Elite's horizontal coach Milton Henry. Henry joined the PTE coaching staff prior to the 2014 season. During the 2014 season he introduced many athletes to the proper techniques and skills necessary to compete in the long jump.

  A talented athlete in his own right, Milton Henry is arguably one of the most talented jumpers to come out of Kansas City, Kansas over the course of the last couple of decades. After graduating from Sumner Academy in 2005, he found success on the collegiate level becoming a two-time All-American. He competed under the guidance of legendary coach Al Hobson and jumped to a career best mark of 25 feet 5 and 1 quarter inch. 

 "The way Coach Henry joined the staff is pretty similar to the way Coach Faulk came aboard", states head coach Vernon Birmingham. "One of our athletes invited her cousin, which happened to be Milton to our informational meeting and she basically volunteered him to join our staff. I went home and like with Dexter, googled him and said welcome to the staff", laughed Coach Vernon.

 An area Pure Talent Elite wanted to become deeper was the horizontal jumps. In the area of field events they found success previously capturing national medals in the throws and high jump but just scratched the surface in the long jump. "We really have a desire to become a complete track program", says Coach Vernon. He went on to add, "We understand in this sport everyone won't be a runner or a thrower but if they have decent speed and will listen then Coach Henry can develop them into long jumpers".

 During the 2014 campaign, Coach Henry tutored a couple handful of athletes to success including District, Regional, and Junior Olympic qualifiers. This year he will have the opportunity to work with some aspiring triple jumpers. "He is one of the most patient coaches I've come across...I mean I watch him explain things over and over again to athletes and you never see an expression of frustration on his face", said Coach Vernon. 

 Coach Henry was also instrumental in the success of the 9 and 10 year old girls’ 4x100m relay team. This team won the Region 16 championship and finished in the top 25 in the nation. When asked what Coach Henry means to the team Coach Birmingham had this to say. "Milton is one of the most dedicated people I've ran across. This man works a full-time job overnight, would wake up to come to practice for two hours, run home to grab a couple more winks, then go to work...all for young athletes he desires to see get better. Those are the type of coaches I want on our staff."

You won't find many track teams in which you will find hurdlers as your deepest and most successful. In 2014, Pure Talent Elite sent 8 hurdlers to the AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, IA. One of the reasons...the addition of Coach Dexter Faulk.

Dexter Faulk is one of the most successful hurdlers in the world over the course of the last decade. Considering he didn't pick up track until the 10th grade in Atlanta, he quickly learned the sport and through his hard work found success. He used this as an opportunity to compete on the collegiate level traveling to Kansas and attending Barton County Community College.

Faulk became a known fixture in the hurdling world in 2009 where he clocked a 13.13 in the 110m Hurdles. He went on later that year to take the silver medal in the IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Championships. In 2012, Coach Faulk placed 5th in the USA Olympic Trials just missing an opportunity to compete for Team USA in London.

Coach Faulk joined the Pure Talent Elite coaching staff in 2014. "We were finishing one of our early practices and one of our athletes mother's mentioned in passing that if you needed more coaches my fiance' can maybe help", stated Head Coach Vernon Birmingham. She went on to add, "Feel free to Google him, he was really good." Coach Birmingham laughing added, "Of course you hear that often but later that evening I googled Dexter and the first thing that popped up was the video of the 2012 Olympic Trials and him placing 5th. I sent a text to his fiancee saying, yes we can use him!"

"One of the things I learned over the years is just because you were a talented athlete, it doesn't always transition into being a good coach", added Coach Vernon. Continuing, "The thing I love about Dexter is he is a great teacher of the sport as well. He focuses on every detail and has a gift of communicating with the athletes and getting their buy in on what he's teaching." If you ever head out to a Pure Talent practice you will pick out Coach Faulk right away. "He is always so full of energy, man", laughs Coach Vernon. "There are days he decides to practice with the kids and I feel motivated to jump in before I come to my senses". At the end of the day however Coach Faulk gets the most out of the athletes. "They respect him, they laugh with him, they love him...we are truly blessed to have him on our staff", said Coach Vernon.

Last summer Dexter tutored 4 girls and 4 boys into qualification for the Junior Olympics, with one earning All-American honors and a 5th place finish. In 2015 expect bigger things from Coach Faulk and his staple of hurdlers at Pure Talent Elite.

In it's second year, Pure Talent Elite was able to more than double the number of athletes to participate in the AAU Junior Olympics. 34 athletes qualified in a host of events while 33 were able to make the trip to Des Moines, IA the week of July 26th-August 2nd. 


On day 1 PTE sent 9 athletes to historic Drake Stadium. Kolby Heinerikson and Jesse Kuykendall opened the morning participating in the 13 year old boys Pentathlon. While both athletes topped their point total earned in the Regional Championships, Kolby was able to secure 8th place in the competition and earn a medal. Also opening competition that morning was the trio of Londyn Cage, Aaliyah Carter, and Aumunique Johnson in the Triathlon. As with the boys, all athletes topped their point total from Joplin and Londyn Cage was able to earn a Personal Best in the high jump. Tyler Heinerikson later in the day took part in the boys Triathlon. The race-walkers also participated on day 1 where Kamree Davis earned the first medal of the games for PTE, taking home 4th in the 9 year old division while moving to a season best of just over eleven minutes. In the same race, teammate Lauryn Birmingham finished 9th. In the 11 year old race, Raquel Johnson walked a best time of 11:03 and finished 12th.


Day 2 featured only 1 PTE athlete, Kristen Birmingham competing in the 11 year old Pentathlon. She was able to come from over 200 points behind in the last event of the day to sneak up and grab the bronze medal by 2 points and bringing home the 3rd PTE medal of the games. While struggling in the long jump and shot put, she was able to get season best in the high jump, hurdles, and 800 to earn big points.


Day 3 featured the official start day for track and field events. Taylor Giger and Carly Wells would start the day off with 3000m run at 8am. Taylor would finish 11th in the nation just missing a spot on the medal stand. Carly Wells would smash her season best during the race going under 15 minutes. In the 11 year old boys,  Donovan Boyd would also run his best time of the season (11:43) to finish 22nd out of 46th competitors. Noah Slone, who fought back from a foot injury made his debut in the 3000 also finished 20th running a 11:42. The hurdlers of PTE would be on display on day 3 also. 6 hurdlers (Jordan Birmingham, O'Dia Johnson, Jesse Kuykendall, Austin Jones, Donovan Bustamante, and Payton Stanfield) participated in the 200m Hurdlers. While none would advance to the finals, each ran strong races. On the field side, Kolby Heinerikson would just miss getting his second medal of the game placing 10th in the 13 year old boys discus. Riley Wells would make her Junior Olympic debut in the 8 and under girls shot put. She would throw a season's best of 8 feet 1 inch. Jordan Birmingham would PR (Personal Record) during the 13 year old girls javelin throwing 56 feet 3 inches to finish 24th out of 46 competitors.


Day 4: Tyler Heinerikson would start the day for the field participants taking part in the 10 year old boys Shot Put. In a strong field he would finish 16th in the competition throwing over 24 feet. His older brother Kolby would find success in the 13 year old javelin. He would throw a PR of 126 feet to grab his second medal of the games, a Bronze! Aumunique Johnson would also compete in the shot put where she would PR throwing a best of 14 feet 2 inches. On the track, the 1500m runners of PTE would start the day. Kenadee Davis would start the day going under the 8 minute mark for the first time this year. A day after finishing 11th in the nation in the 3000m,Taylor Giger would again finish in this spot running a 5:24. On the boys side Donovan Boyd would go 5:28 to place 38th. The hurdlers would return to the track for the 100m Hurdles. Jordan Birmingham would finish with a time of 18.90 to place 25th out of 51 qualifiers. On the 13 year old boys side, Jesse Kuykendall went 18.14 for 22nd Place and Austin Jones placed 39th in a time of 19.43. For the 14 year old boys Bustamante would finish 36th (17.36) and Stanfield 40th (18.45). 


Returning to the field events, Kolby Heinerikson and Augustine Morgan would compete in the 13 year old boys High Jump. Morgan would jump to a season best of 5 feet to finish 11th in the nation. Heinerikson would go out after clearing 4 feet 10 inches to place 18th. On the track the last athletes of the day, Kristen Birmingham would compete in the 200m Preliminary round where she would not advance to the semi-finals. Maya Jones and Austin Bryant would finish the day for PTE in the 400m timed finals. Maya would run a time of 1:14 to finish 73rd. Bryant in his Junior Olympic debut would finish in a time of 1:09, good for 64th. 


Day 5: The two 80m Hurdlers of PTE would open up with the semi-final round. In the 11 year old race, Kristen Birmingham would finish second in her heat with a season best of 14.66, good enough for her to claim a spot in the finals that would take place on Thursday. In the 12 year old race, Kaia Seitz would smash her season best breaking the 17 second mark (16.81) and finishing 34th in the nation. The 800m runners would take the track for PTE. Kenadee Davis would again start off in the 8u division. She would break the 4 minute mark and earn her second PR of the games! Londyn Cage would run in the 9 year old girls race. She would also run a season best with a time of 3:11. Taylor Giger would again just finish outside the medal round taking 14th in a time of 2:36. Teammate Caleia Johnson, participating in her 3rd Junior Olympics would finish 40th running a 2:46. On the boys side, Donovan Boyd would run a 2:41, good enough for a finish in the 51st position. Noah Slone, competing at 12 year old division would finish 55th. 


Kolby Heinerikson would compete in his 4th event of the games, taking part in the shot put. He would finish 19th, throwing a distance of 33 feet, 1 inch. To conclude the day, the 11-12 year old girls 4x4 relay team consisting of Maya Jones, Kailey Wallace, Kayla Thomas, and Caleia Johnson would run a season's best time of 5:00 to place 24th. Miles Pitts would make his games debut competing in the 14 year old boys javelin. He would finish 35th with a throw of 72 feet. 


Day 6: Damon "Jr." Southall would start the day off in the 1500m run. He would place 49th out of 97 athletes in a time of 4:37. Kristen Birmingham would return to the track for the finals of the 80m Hurdles. She would earn her 3rd hurdle PR of the week going 14.46, good enough for 5th and her second medal of the games. In the field, Lauryn Birmingham and Kamree Davis would compete in the 9 year old turbo javelin. Birmingham would throw a season best of 38 feet 2 inches, good enough for 9th and just missing the medal stand. Davis would throw 29 feet 1 inch to place 18th, putting two athletes in the top 20. L. Birmingham would then compete in the Long Jump and earn another PR of 10 feet 7 inches. 


Day 7: The day would begin with the 11-12 year old 4x800m relay team of Kailey Wallace, Kayla Thomas, Jordan Cousins-Fee, and Caleia Johnson. The team would run a team best of 12:03 to place 13th. The 9-10 year old girls 4x100m relay team of Londyn Cage, Ella Nelson, Aumunique Johnson, and Aaliyah Carter would take the track. They would run a season best time of 1:02.28 and finish 19th in the nation. On the field side, Riley Wells and Kenadee Davis would compete in the 8u girls Turbo Javelin. Wells would again PR tossing to a distance of 26 feet 1 inch and a 25th place finish. Davis would get it to 21-11 and a 33rd place finish. Diashonae Dixon would compete in her first Olympic Games in her first season. She would  place 17th in the 14 year old girls javelin with a best throw of 56 feet 8 inches. Kristen Birmingham would earn her 3rd medal of the games in the 11 year old girls High Jump. She would just miss tying the national record at 5 feet. She would finish with the silver, jumping a personal best of 4 feet 10 inches.


Day 8: The final day would have two athletes. Damon Southall would take part in the 3000m run. He would run it in a time of 10 minutes, 24 seconds. Tyler Heinerikson would compete in the 10 year old boys turbo javelin. He would just miss the medal stand, placing 11th.





AAU Junior Olypmics Participants

Riley Wells: Shot Put, Turbo Javelin
Kenadee Davis: 800m, 1500m, Turbo Javelin
Londyn Cage: Triathlon, 800m, 4x100m Relay
Kamree Davis: 1500m RW, Turbo Javelin
Lauryn Birmingham: Long Jump, 1500 RW, Turbo Javelin
Aumunique Johnson: Triathlon, Shot Put, 4x100m Relay
Kristen Birmingham: High Jump, 200m, 80mHurdles, Pentathlon
Taylor Giger: 800m, 1500m, 3000m
Caleia Johnson: 800m, 4x400m Relay, 4x800m Relay 
Carly Wells: 3000m, 4x800m Relay Alternate
Raquel Johnson: 1500 RW
Kailey Wallace:  4x400m Relay, 4x800m Relay
Jordan Cousins-Fee: 4x800m Relay
Kaia Seitz: 80mH, 4x800m Relay Alternate
Jordan Birmingham: 100mH, 200mH, Javelin
O'Dia Johnson: 200mH
Diashonae Dixon: Javelin
Aaliyah Carter: Triathlon, 4x100m
Ella Nelson: 4x100m
Kayla Thomas: 4x400m, 4x800m
Maya Jones: 4x400m, 400m


Tyler Heinerikson: Shot Put, Turbo Javelin, Triathlon
Noah Slone: 800m, 3000m
Austin Jones: 100mH, 200mH, 
Augustine Morgan:  High Jump
Kolby Heinerikson:  High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin, Pentathlon
Donovan Bustamante: 100mH, 200mH
Payton Stanfield: 100mH, 200mH, 
Jesse Kuykendall: 100mH, 200mH, Pentathlon
Damon Southall: 3000m, 1500m
Donovan Boyd, 800m, 1500m, 3000m
Austin Bryant: 400m
Miles Pitts: Javelin

33 Athletes qualify for the Junior Olympics!

In a weekend that started out with a bang, it ended on a high note with the athletes of Pure Talent Elite Track and Field qualifying 33 of 40 athletes to the 2014 AAU Junior Olympic Games scheduled to take place July 26-August 2nd at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. 


On day 1 PTE sent 7 multi-event athletes to the stadium starting with 11 year old Kristen Birmingham in the Pentathlon. The reigning national champion in the triathlon earned an opportunity to defend her title winning it with 2005 points. Kolby Heinerikson and Jesse Kuykendall earned the next two spots grabbing the silver and bronze medals in the 13 year old boys Pentathlon. In the afternoon sessions, Triathlon veteran Tyler Heinerikson won the silver in the 10 year old competition. 3 PTE athletes took their first spin in the multi-events with success. In the 9 year old competition, Londyn Cage climbed to 3rd and the bronze after a strong 200m performance to end the day. PTE would then go gold and silver in the 10 year old Triathlon where Aaliyah Carter led the pack, with Aumunique Johnson not far behind.


The evening was capped off with three race-walkers earning births. 9 year old Kamree Davis easily took home the gold followed by teammate Lauryn Birmingham in the third position. Raquel Johnson would get the 10th PTE qualifier of the day winning 3rd in the 11 year old race-walk.


On day 2, Distance phenom Taylor Giger would start the day off winning the 3000m run. In the same race, Carly Wells would take 5th and earn her 2nd consecutive trip to the Junior Olympics. Donovan Boyd, Noah Slone, and Damon Southall all would qualify in the 3000m on the boys side. Day 2 was a day for the hurdlers of PTE. Every PTE hurdler qualified in at least one of their races paced by 2nd place finishes by Jesse Kuykendall and Kristen Birmingham. On the field side, Diashonae Dixon and Serena Saylor would qualify in the javelin. Kolby Heinerikson and Augustine Bryant move on in the high jump. The day ended up being delayed by storms.


Day 3 had more PTE athletes advancing. Taylor Giger would sweep the 1500 and 800. In the 800 her teammate, Caleia Johnson would help PTE go 1 and 3 in the race running a personal best. Londyn Cage would also advance in the 800. Kenadee Davis, Riley Wells, Kamree Davis, and Lauryn Birmingham would all advance in the turbo javelin. The girls 4x800 and 4x400 meter relay teams would qualify winning 4th and 3rd! The 9-10 year old girls 4x100m relay team would win in dominating fashion and qualify for Des Moines. Kolby Heinerikson would earn a few births earning medals in the javelin and shot put and placing 5th in the discus.





Advancing to AAU Junior Olypmics

Riley Wells: Shot Put, Turbo Javelin
Kenadee Davis: 800m, 1500m, Turbo Javelin
Londyn Cage: Triathlon, 800m, 4x100m Relay
Kamree Davis: 1500m RW, Turbo Javelin
Lauryn Birmingham: Long Jump, 1500 RW, Turbo Javelin
Aumunique Johnson: Triathlon, Shot Put, 4x100m Relay
Kristen Birmingham: High Jump, 200m, 80mHurdles, Pentathlon
Taylor Giger: 800m, 1500m, 3000m
Caleia Johnson: 800m, 4x400m Relay, 4x800m Relay Alternate
Carly Wells: 3000m, 4x800m Relay
Raquel Johnson: 1500 RW
Kailey Wallace:  4x400m Relay, 4x800m Relay
Jordan Cousins-Fee: 4x800m Relay
Kaia Seitz: 80mH, 4x800m Relay Alternate
Jordan Birmingham: 100mH, 200mH, Javelin
O'Dia Johnson: 200mH
Diashonae Dixon: Javelin
Serena Saylor: Discus, Javelin
Aaliyah Carter: Triathlon, 4x100m
Ella Nelson: 4x100m
Kayla Thomas: 4x400m, 4x800m
Maya Jones: 4x400m, 400m


Tyler Heinerikson: High Jump, Shot Put, Turbo Javelin, Triathlon
Noah Slone: 800m, 3000m
Austin Jones: 100mH, 200mH, 
Augustine Morgan:  High Jump
Kolby Heinerikson:  High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin, Pentathlon
Donovan Bustamante: 100mH, 200mH
Payton Stanfield: 100mH, 200mH, 
Jesse Kuykendall: 100mH, 200mH, Pentathlon
Damon Southall: 3000m, 1500m
Donovan Boyd, 800m, 1500m, 3000m
Austin Bryant: 400m