How Will These Six Athletes Fare At Nationals This Weekend?

With only 30 U.S. athletes making the trip to Kobe, Japan, for the world championships in May, expect there to be stiff competition throughout this weekend’s U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Nationals Championships.

Taking place at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, this year’s national championships will serve as the qualifying event for the upcoming world championships. That added incentive means the field of athletes at this year’s meet is stacked with Paralympic champions, world-record holders and ambitious newcomers.

Nationals also sets the stage for a busy summer that will also include the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in July and then the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 starting in August.

Here are six athletes to keep an eye on this weekend.  

Jaydin Blackwell

Blackwell was the breakout star from the world championships in Paris last summer. In his first international competition for Team USA, the Oak Park, Michigan, native competed in two events — the men’s 100- and 400-meter T38 — and won gold in both.

Blackwell did more than just win the races, though. In his first race of the meet, the semifinals of the 100, he set a new world championships record when he crossed the finish line in 10.87 seconds. Then in the 400, Blackwell set an Americas record in the semifinals before smashing the world record by 0.84 seconds in the final.

Blackwell, who turns 20 on Saturday, is set to compete in the same two events this weekend.

Sam Grewe and Ezra Frech

The last time high jumper Grewe competed in a significant international meet for Team USA was three years ago at the Tokyo Paralympics. On a rain-soaked track, Grewe cleared 1.88 meters with his final attempt to leave Japan with his first Paralympic gold medal.

Before Tokyo, Grewe had won silver at the Rio Games and gold in the three previous world championships. After becoming a Paralympic champion, the Middlebury, Indiana, native took time away from competing to focus on pursuing a medical degree at the University of Michigan.

While Grewe was studying, Ezra Frech emerged as the new star of the high jump T63. Last summer in Paris, Frech broke Grewe’s old world record of 1.90 meters and set the new one at 1.95 on his way to the world title.

Now 25, Grewe will go head-to-head with Frech, 18, in the high jump this weekend for the first time since the Tokyo Paralympics, where Frech finished fifth. Frech is also slated to compete in the 100-meter and long jump this weekend.

Derek Loccident

After making his Para track and field debut at nationals last year, Loccident made a strong first impression on the international stage in Paris. Despite training for the event for less than a year, he earned a silver medal in the men’s long jump T64 with a leap of 7.39 meters.

The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, native also competed in the 100 T64 in Paris, where he barely missed a spot in the final.

Two events weren’t enough for Loccident though, as he expanded his training after Paris and will now compete in six events at nationals — 100, 200, long jump, high jump, discus and javelin.

Considering he won a silver at worlds with less than a year of training in the long jump, there’s no telling what could be in store for the 25-year-old in any of his new events.

Noelle Malkamaki

The women’s shot put F46 has become a showcase event for Malkamki. Every time she competes in it, a record seems to fall.

Two years ago, the Decatur, Illinois, native made her nationals debut and set an Americas record with a toss of 12.18 meters. In 2023, her throw of 12.63 meters at nationals set a new world record in the event. But that didn’t last for long either.

Essentially competing against herself at the world championships, Malkamki broke her own world record three times and set the new mark at 13.32 meters.

Now in her final year competing for the DePaul track and field team, the 23-year-old has surpassed her world-record throw multiple times this collegiate track season. Could we see her set another record this year at nationals? 

Brianna Salinaro

Competing in major international championships is nothing new for Salinaro, as she made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo. However, she did so as a taekwondo athlete, making her the first U.S. woman to participate in the sport at the Paralympics.

After her taekwondo classification was removed for the Paris Games, the Massapequa, New York, native switched her athletic focus to track and field. That decision has been a fruitful one so far. In her first international track meet, she won gold — and set new competition records — in the women’s 100 and 200 T35 at the 2023 Parapan American Games last November. 

We’ll see what the 25-year-old has in store for her first trip to nationals.

Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.