Peek sets personal record, but misses Junior Olympics

Eureka's Kimberly Peek, No. 2, stayed ahead of the competition for a while in the regional AAU track meet at the UofA in Fayetteville on June 28-29. The 13-year-old competed against runners from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri, and just missed a chance to advance to the U.S. Junior Olympics in July. Contributed photo

[Click to enlarge]

The 13-year-old ran an outstanding 1500m race, recording a new personal best of 5:04:90, but that earned her fifth place. Fourth place was a 5:04:70, so she just missed qualifying for the U.S. Junior Olympics by two/one-hundreths of a second.

That time last year would have earned her a second place at regionals, and would have placed her eighth at last year's Junior Olympics. But the competition was tough, as the first-place time was a 4:51, and second a 4:54:50, both recorded by 14-year-olds.

Kimberly also ran the 800m race and placed sixth with a time of 2:31:98. She had run a 2:30 a couple of weeks ago, but it wouldn't have matter this time as a 2:23 won that race.

There is good news, though. Since the division is made up of 13- and 14-year-olds, Kimberly will get another shot next year.