MIRAMAR, FLORIDA – World champions Ezra Frech (Los Angeles, California), Noelle Malkamaki (Decatur, Illinois) and Jaydin Blackwell (Oak Park, Michigan) set world records to headline the final day of U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Track & Field in Miramar, Florida.

The trio of athletes set the tone under a scorching Florida sun as U.S. athletes made a final bid to earn roster spots on the team that will compete at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The qualification process for Team USA is based on a factored system that takes an athlete’s time or distance in an event and compares it to the National A Team standard for that event. The percentages gathered from those results form a ranking list from which the Paralympic Team is selected. Full selection procedures can be found here.

Malkamaki shattered her own women’s shot put F46 world record – set in 2023 at her world championships debut – with a massive 13.60-meter best throw in Miramar. The recent DePaul University graduate’s record came after a hectic 24 hours prior to the meet in which she and her parents made the decision to drive from Chicago, Illinois, to Miramar to avoid the week’s flight disruptions caused by a technology outage.

The two-time world champion arrived in Florida at 8:45 a.m. Friday morning and responded with her world record mark. She said she plans to throw even further should she make the Paris team.

“Coming here today, I definitely wanted over 14 [meters],” she said. “That’s the training that we’ve been doing. I think my body was in shape to do 14 today, but the adrenaline took over pretty easily once I had that world record. I think I have a lot of work to do in terms of adrenaline in the middle of a competition and how you keep that calm so you can build on an already good mark. I absolutely plan on throwing over 14 in Paris.”

Blackwell, meanwhile, finally found the 100-meter T38 world record that had been eluding him in previous competitions. The four-time world champion already holds the 400-meter world record and today added the 100-meter record with a blistering time of 10.72.

“I was debating if I should break the world record or not, so I just decided to break it now and hopefully break it again in Paris,” Blackwell said. “It was really good that I got that personal best down. I’m going to build on what I’ve been doing but at this point it’s just really training hard, getting that dedication and work ethic down.”

Frech, like Malkamaki, broke his own world record in the men’s high jump T63, setting a new mark of 1.97 meters that topped his former record set at the 2023 world championships. The 19-year-old has had a huge weekend, also setting an Americas record in the long jump T63.

“It feels really good,” he said. “It’s moreso a feeling of relief because I knew that I’ve been capable of it for a long time. I never felt like 1.95 [meters] was indicative of the heights that I could go and 1.97 felt really nice today but I’m nowhere near content. I’m not going to kick my feet up and relax. I’m hungry.”

Teammate and three-time Paralympic champion Roderick Townsend (Stockton, California) won the men’s high jump T46.

Other standout performances on the day included Paralympic champion Mikey Brannigan (Northport, New York), Paralympian Joel Gomez (Encinitas, California) and Para newcomer Shea Foster (Cypress, Texas), who won the men’s 1500-meter T20, T13 and T38 competitions, respectively.

In throws, four-time Paralympic champion Jeremy Campbell (Perryton, Texas) and David Blair (Eagle Mountain, Utah) dueled in the men’s discus F64 competition, with Campbell coming out on top with a best mark of 62.17. Sixteen-year-old worlds silver medalist Arelle Middleton (Rancho Cucamonga, California) shone in the women’s shot put F64, edging teammate and two-time worlds medalist Samantha Heyison (Adamstown, Maryland) with an 11.79-meter result.

Paralympic bronze medalist Justin Phongsavanh (Des Moines, Iowa) put together a solid performance in the men’s javelin F54 with a 31.81-meter throw, which was more than two meters better than his final result at the 2024 world championships. Paralympic silver medalist Josh Cinnamo (San Diego, California) also bettered his mark from world championships in May, finishing the men’s shot put F46 with a 15.92-meter throw, while three-time Paralympic medalist Cassie Mitchell (Warner, Oklahoma) won the women’s discus F51.

In sprints, Paralympic champion Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) completed his sweep of the men’s T54 running events with victories in the 100-meter and 400-meter today. Similarly, three-time Paralympian Brian Siemann (Champaign, Illinois) swept the men’s T53 events as he attempts to qualify for his fourth career Games.

Siemann, who won his first world championships medal in 2023, said he has been carrying momentum into the Paralympic year.

“It gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I did what I’ve always wanted to do,” said Siemann. “It always put a little more pressure on me as well now I have a new expectation. When you haven’t medaled yet there’s always that goal of medaling and now that I’ve done that at a world championships, it’s really getting to the next step.”

Six months after giving birth to her first child, Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku (Boston, Massachusetts) returned to the track in triumphant fashion with a win in the women’s 100-meter T64. Three-time Paralympic medalists Hunter Woodhall (Syracuse, Utah) and Kym Crosby (Yuca City, California) won the men’s 100-meter T64 and women’s 100-meter T13 competitions, respectively. Twenty-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden (Baltimore, Maryland) picked up a pair of victories in the women’s 100-meter and 400-meter T54 races, while Korban Best (Southlake, Texas) and Lindi Marcusen (Spokane, Washington) made bids for their first Paralympic Team with wins in the men’s 100-meter T47 and women’s 100-meter T63.

“It would mean everything, especially for my first year,” Best said of potentially making his first Games roster. “Representing my country, the people back home from my city – this is a wonderful experience and I’m truly blessed to be a part of this. I’m feeling great, feeling ready for Paris. This is right where I wanted to be so now it’s just going back to training and the drawing board to get better every day.”

Marcusen, meanwhile, is competing at her second Para trials. If selected, it would be her first international team nomination.

“My confidence has grown hugely as a person with a disability,” she said. “I remember being at Tokyo trials and not feeling like I was a part of it, and that I hadn’t totally accepted my new identity and what that was going to look like. I came in here more confident as a human being, and I think that showed in my performance, that I’ve done the work.”

The 2024 U.S. Paralympic Track & Field roster will be announced in a public naming ceremony Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the Miramar Cultural Center. Follow U.S. Paralympics Track & Field on Facebook, Instagram and X for updates and results from the weekend.

For media requests and photo inquiries, please contact Kristen Gowdy at Kristen.Gowdy@usopc.org.

Gold Medalists – Day 3

Lex Gillette (Men’s long jump F11)

Christy Gardner (Women’s discus throw F57)

Cassie Mitchell (Women’s discus throw F51)

Hunter Woodhall (Men’s 400-meter T62)

Isaiah Rigo (Men’s 100-meter T52)

Brian Siemann (Men’s 100-meter T53)

Daniel Romanchuk (Men’s 100-meter T54)

Eva Houston (Women’s 100-meter T34)

Tatyana McFadden (Women’s 100-meter T54)

Brianna Salinaro (Women’s 100-meter T35)

Jordan McGuire (Women’s 100-meter T36)

Taylor Swanson (Women’s 100-meter T37)

Catharina Guimaraes (Women’s 100-meter T38)

Marshall Zackery (Women’s 100-meter T35)

Samuel Winter (Men’s 100-meter T36)

Tucker McCrady (Men’s 100-meter T37)

Jaydin Blackwell (Men’s 100-meter T38) – world record

Desmond Hodges (Men’s 100-meter T44)

Korban Best (Men’s 100-meter T47)

Tanner Wright (Men’s 100-meter T46)

Rayven Sample (Men’s 100-meter T45)

Kym Crosby (Women’s 100-meter T13)

Brittni Mason (Women’s 100-meter T46)

Lindo Marcusen (Women’s 100-meter T63)

Annie Carey (Women’s 100-meter T44)

Femita Ayanbeku (Women’s 100-meter T64)

Lily Rosenthal (Women’s 100m T62)

Ezra Frech (Men’s high jump T63) – world record

Roderick Townsend (Men’s high jump T46)

Noelle Malkamaki (Women’s shot put F46) – world record

Alicia Guerrero (Women’s shot put F64)

Arelle Middleton (Women’s shot put F44)

Tatyana McFadden (Women’s 400-meter T54)

Daniel Romanchuk (Men’s 400-meter T54)

Isaiah Rigo (Men’s 400-meter T52)

Brian Siemann (Men’s 400-meter T53)

Jaydin Blackwell (Men’s 400-meter T38)

Joel Gomez (Men’s 1500-meter T13)

Michael Brannigan (Men’s 1500-meter T20)

Shea Foster (Men’s 1500-meter T38)

Annie Carey (Women’s 200-meter T44)

Chloe Chavez (Women’s 200-meter T64)

Brittni Mason (Women’s 200-meter T46)

Taylor Swanson (Women’s 200-meter T37)

Jeremy Campbell (Men’s Discus Throw F64)

David Blair (Men’s Discus Throw F44)

Josh Cinnamo (Men’s Shot Put F46)

Devin Huhta (Men’s Shot Put F12)

Hagan Landry (Men’s Shot Put F41)

Ben Foos (Men’s Shot Put F40)

David Brown (Men’s 100-meter T11)

Noah Malone (Men’s 100-meter T12)

Isaac Jean-Paul (Men’s 100-meter T13)

Justin Phongsavanh (Men’s Javelin F54)

Johnnie Williams (Men’s Javelin F56)

Khalid Jlidat (Men’s Javelin F57)

Beth Grauer (Women’s Javelin F34)

Hunter Woodhall (Men’s 100-meter T64)

Connor Pierce, Madeline Gustafson, Simon Detmer, Maria Velat (Mixed 4x100 Relay)

Blackwell, Frech and Malkamaki Conclude Para Trials in World Record Fashion

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