Carey Jumps to World Record as Historic Para Nationals Concludes in Eugene

EUGENE – The first-ever combined USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships came to a close Saturday in dramatic fashion courtesy of a women’s long jump world record from Annie Carey (Boise, Idaho). The 2024 Paralympian broke her own T44 world record, setting a new standard in the event at 5.19 meters to highlight the third day of competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. 

Carey’s best jump came on her second effort, and in the mixed-class event she finished behind only Paralympic medalist Beatriz Hatz (Lakewood, Colorado). Hatz, a T64 athlete, had the farthest jump of the day at 5.35 meters. 

Para athletes are competing for roster spots on the U.S. team for the 2025 Para Athletics World Championships, which will be held in New Delhi, India, from Sept. 26-Oct. 5. The team will be announced Sunday morning. 

Remaining undefeated in men’s T54 racing this weekend was five-time Paralympic medalist Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland), who added two titles to his weekend haul in the men’s 1500m and 100m T54. The wins give Romanchuk his third and fourth victories of the weekend. In other wheelchair racing action, Paralympic champion Susannah Scaroni (Tekoa, Washington) captured the women’s 1500m T54 title, which was her third title of the weekend. Two-time Paralympian Hannah Dederick (Mead, Washington) was the champion in the women’s 100m wheelchair open, while Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Maryland) won the women’s 100m T54 race, edging the second-place Dederick with a time of 15.59. 

A sophomore at Wake Forest University where she competes at the NCAA Division I level, Samantha Heyison (Adamstown, Maryland) shone in the women’s discus F44/64 with a best mark of 37.00 meters, winning the event in which she took fifth in her Paralympic debut last summer. Paralympic bronze medalist Justin Phongsavanh (Des Moines, Iowa) won the men’s javelin F54 with a best throw of 29.17, and three-time Paralympic medalist Cassie Mitchell (Warner, Oklahoma) took her second title of the weekend in the women’s discus F51. 

In an afternoon session filled with short sprints – the final hour and a half of Para competition featured 13 100m races – USATF Tier athletes separated themselves from the competition. In addition to Romanchuk and McFadden’s sprint wins, Paralympians Hatz, Britnni Mason (Cleveland, Ohio), Taylor Swanson (Spokane, Washington), Desmond Jackson (Durham, North Carolina), Jaydin Blackwell (Oak Park, Michigan), Brian Siemann (Champaign, Illinois), Marshall Zackery (Ocala, Florida), Chelsea Stein (Spring, Texas) and Eva Houston (Omaha, Nebraska) won their respective 100m races. Blackwell’s time of 10.65 was .01 off his own T38 world record. 

Rounding out the three-day competition were some of the biggest names in jumps, with world record holders Ezra Frech (Los Angeles, California) and Roderick Townsend (Stockton, California) returning to the high jump pit for national titles in the men’s T63 and T46 contests. Both athletes are reigning Paralympic and world champions, and today Frech jumped a best mark of 1.83 meters and Towsend cleared 2.04 meters. Paralympic silver medalist Derek Loccident (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) won the men’s T64 high jump with a 1.83-meter jump, while five-time Paralympic medalist Lex Gillette (Raleigh, North Carolina) was the men’s long jump T11 champion with a best mark of 5.72 meters. Two-time Paralympian Isaac Jean-Paul (Grayslake, Illinois) had a strong showing in the men’s long jump T13, winning his class with a best jump of 6.95. 

The 2025 USATF Para World Championship Team will be announced to athletes Sunday morning at 8 a.m. PT. A public announcement will follow. Full results from this weekend’s competition can be found here.