Sigonella junior Rickalia Goss soared 16 feet, 11 inches to win the girls’ long jump at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Luke Jones couldn’t top his own European record in the 3,200-meter run Thursday, but the Wiesbaden junior still made the eight-lap slog around the track look easy.

Running out front by himself as a light rain fell, Jones still mustered an impressive 9 minutes, 37.98 seconds to win his second consecutive title in the distance at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships.

Jones’s 2023 record still stands at 9:26.3.

“Of course, I’m really pleased to have gotten first again,” Jones said after the race. “It means a lot, but I know I could have gone a lot faster.”

No European records were broken Thursday but runners, jumpers, throwers and hurdlers from across Europe will get a second crack at the record books on Friday. The second and final day of the championships at Kaiserslautern High School stadium starts at 11 a.m. with the remaining field events on tap first.

Jones is vying for the record in the boys’ 1,600. His personal best of 4:23 is two seconds shy of the European record, he said.

“I hope for a fast race,” he said.

Jones was the only individual to repeat as champion in the handful of finals Thursday.

New athletes to the sport or transfers to DODEA-Europe turned some heads, as did veteran competitors who fell short of a gold medal in years prior before now earning places on top of the podium.

Javier Harrington of Ramstein made a splash as a freshman with a runner-up finish last year to Stuttgart’s Jack Gruver in the discus throw. But after a year of stepping up his conditioning, Harrington unleashed a monster throw of 148 feet, 9 inches on his last attempt to surpass Gruver, now a senior, by just over 10 feet.

No one was more surprised than Harrington, who started jumping up and down when he heard he had won.

“I’m so excited,” he said. “I kept dreaming about this. This is what I put all those hours for in, and I’m just blessed to be here and to be able to do this.”

Another surprise came from Wiesbaden junior Natalia Bergdorf in the girls’ shot put. Throwing in only her third meet of the year, Bergdorf launched a winning toss of 32 feet, 3.5 inches to beat two seniors, Kaiserslautern’s Emma Arambula and Stuttgart’s Sophia Aybulut-Williams, both of whom also landed personal records.

Bergdorf, a hoops star for the Warriors, tried throwing “just for fun” about two weeks ago at a meet at Frankfurt, she said, and proceeded to qualify for Europeans.

“It’s really fun and I really like it,” she said of her new event.

Wiesbaden junior Luke Jones raises his arms in victory while crossing the finish line in the 3,200-meter run. Jones, the defending European champ, won the race in 9:37.98, in the first day of the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Stuttgart senior Tobin McArthur anchored the Panthers winning 3,200-meter relay team at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. McArthur held off Ramstein senior Frank Lozano en route to a winning time of 8:19.06. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein junior Aydriel Chambers clears the bar at 5 feet, one inch to win the high jump at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella freshman Isabella Lyon earned her first individual track title in the girls’ 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:29.10 at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Wiesbaden’s Zion Thompson hit 44-08.25 in the triple jump to win an individual title at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Wiesbaden junior Natalia Bergdorf, throwing in only her third meet of the year, won the shot put with a toss of 32 feet, 3.5 inches at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein sophomore Javier Harrington tossed the discus 148 feet, 9 inches to win a gold medal at the DODEA Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern senior Katharina Storch nears the finish line in first place in the 800 at the DODEA-Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Storch ran a personal record, 2:23.04, to edge Mazie Lorcher of Vilseck and Haley Mitchell of Brussels. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

On the track, the Stuttgart boys took the first title of the day in the 3,200 relay. The third-seeded team of junior Gavin Falquet, sophomores Jackson Balfrey-Boyd and Tony Parilli, and senior Tobin McArthur slashed 30 seconds off their qualifying time for the for the win in 8:19.06.

McArthur, a senior, held off Ramstein senior Frank Lozano, by just over two seconds. The Panther quartet ran together for the first time at Europeans, Falquet said, and ended up defending Stuttgart’s 2023 title.

“That was a totally different team,” he said. “We’re pretty pumped; definitely tired, but it was good.”

In the girls’ 1,600, Sigonella freshman Isabella Lyon earned her first individual European title. Lyon drafted off Hohenfels junior Malea Jobity for most of the race, saving her best for the final 200 meters.

“There’s always something left to give,” she said of her finishing kick. “It’s just whether or not your mind wants to give it up.”

Lyon ran a six-second personal best of 5:29.10.

The Jaguars grabbed a second individual title Thursday in the girls’ long jump. Junior Rickalia Goss’ fatigued legs had enough left for a winning jump of 16-11, squeezed in between the 100 and 400 preliminaries. Last year, Goss was third in the long jump.

“I’m so happy,” she said.

Kaiserslautern senior Katharina Storch didn’t even make the podium last year in the 800. On Thursday, she topped a strong field with a time of 2:23.04, a five-second personal best. Runner-up Mazie Lorcher of Vilseck and the next 10 runners across the line also clocked personal records.

Wiesbaden’s Zion Thompson and Ramstein’s Aydriel Chambers, both juniors, rounded out the list of first-place finalists Thursday.

Thompson, a transfer from Washington state, hit 44-08.25 in the triple jump to edge Baumholder’s Leo Kirkland, while Chambers matched her personal record of 5-1 in the high jump for her first title in the event.

“I feel good. I feel there’s more that I can do, though, so onto next year, more conditioning,” she said.