Day 4 Afternoon Session
- W HJ pre - Sharon Day and Inika McPherson advanced to the finals with jumps of 5-10.5. Eight qualifiers cleared 6-0.
- W SP pre - US high school record holder Michelle Carter 51-2.75 was fifth and advanced to the finals.
- W Hep - Gayle Hunter CA is sixth after the first day with 3298 points.
- W 100H - U. South Carolina's Ronetta Alexander 13.28 wins, upsetting favored Sally McLellan of Australia, fastest in the semis and last year's World Youth champion at Sherbrooke Canada.
- W 200 final - Shalonda Solomon, anchor on so many Poly Long Beach CA relay national records the last 2 years and champion of AOC Raleigh last month, won gold in 22.82 -0.2, a meet record and US#4 high school all time (Allyson Felix 22.11, Marion Jones 22.58, Chandra Cheeseborough 22.77). Solomon pulled away from Anneisha McLaughlin JAM 23.21 after the turn. Penn State U.'s Shana Cox 23.63 was fifth.
- M 400H final - Another 1-2 sweep for Team USA: U. South Carolina's Kerron Clement 48.51 and UCLA's Brandon Johnson 48.62. Defending world junior champ Louis van Zyl was fourth in 49.06.
- M 200 final - Los Angeles born Andrew Howe of Italy won in 20.72, giving him two golds (LJ) for the meet.
- W 100H semi - U. South Carolina's Ronetta Alexander 13.42 -0.9 wins heat to set up showdown with other heat winner, Sally McLellan of Australia 13.38 -0.3. Shantia Moss FL, favoring a sore leg, faded to last in Alexander's heat in 14.16, well off her US HS season leading mark (13.39).
Women
200m Final
Shalonda Solomon (Poly, Long Beach, CA) met her old rival, Anneisha Mc Laughlin of Jamaica, with Solomon in lane 5 and Mc Laughlin in lane 6. They were together with the lead until the top of the homestretch when Solomon began to pull away. Mc Laughlin never challenged, and Solomon went on to win in a personal best 22.82 (-0.2), number 4 all-time high school. Mc Laughlin hung on for second, running 23.21, a seasonal best. The photo read for third seemed to take forever, with Nickeisha Anderson of Jamaica and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad vying for the bronze medal. It was Anderson over Baptiste, with both running 23.46.
800m Final
Kay Ann Thompson "made" the race, taking the lead at 400 meters (58.95) and 600 meters (1:29.94). Natalya Koreyvo sat on Thompson's shoulder until then and, at the top of the homestretch, burst by Thompson. From the middle of the pack came Simona Barcau to pass Thompson, but could not catch Koryvo. Koreyvo's winning time of 2:01.47 was a National Junior Record, while Barcau got a personal best, running 2:02.23. And it was a National Junior Record for Kay Ann Thompson, running 2:02.67 for third.
100m Hurdles - Semifinals
Semi 1 - The race favorite delivered here. Sally Mc Lellan of Australia, the 2003 World Youth champion and one of the favorites here, got a good start and won handily at 13.38. Not too far back were Sabrina Altermatt of Switzerland (13.45), Stephanie Lichtl of Germany (13.48) and Carolin Nytra of Germany (13.60), who qualified for the final. Keisha Brown of Jamaica, with the same time as Nytra, placed fifth and did not advance.
Semi 2 - One thing the Americans had in common: taped right thighs. Ronetta Alexander ( South Carolina; South HS, Williamsville, NY '03) was not hampered much by it, winning easily in 13.42, even letting up at the end. Alice Decaux of France (13.49), Christina Vukicevic of Norway (13.51) and Elisa Hakamaki of Finland (13.59) got the other qualifying spots. Alexander was with the pack through 5 hurdles, then burst ahead for the lead. Shantia Moss, seemingly quite effected by the apparent injury, faded to eighth running 14.16. Monique Morgan of Jamaica was fifth in 13.60, .01 behind Hakamaki. In other words, both Jamaican athletes finished fifth in their heats and did not advance. And, by a total of .01 seconds!
100m Hurdles Final
Never discount the American hurdlers. Sally Mc Lellan of Australia was the prohibitive favorite and got off to a great start, leading after 2 hurdles. But Ronetta Alexander, taped thigh and all, took off at that point and was never seriously challenged. Her time of 13.28 was close to her USATF Junior winning time of 13.22. Mc Lellan was caught at the end by Sabrina Altermatt of Switzerland (13.39) and Stephanie Lichtl of Germany (13.40), with Mc Lellan 13.41. Only .02 separated second from fourth.
High Jump Qualifying
Fourteen qualified overall - 8 over 6-0 and the balance over 5-10.5. Both Sharon Day (Cal Poly/SLO; Contra Costa, CA '03) and Inika Mc Pherson (Memorial, Port Arthur, TX) advanced to the final, clearing 5-10.5
Pole Vault Final
It was a battle between the Germans Elizaveta Ryshich, the 2003 World Youth Champion and Anna Schultze, and Yingying Zhao of China, the World Junior Leader at 14-5.25. Those three were the only ones left standing through 13-9.25, though Ryshich had 2 misses at 13-5.25. Schulze and Zhao made 13-11.25 on their first attempts, both clean through that height. Ryshich passed. Rhshich made 14-1.25 on her first attempt and Schultze missed all three times. Zhao missed her first attempt, then passed to 14-3.25. She missed on her first attempt at that height, as did Ryshich. Zhao then missed on her second attempt at that height (third overall) and Ryshich became the champion. Ryshich, who turns 16 this year, is eligible for the World Youth Championships in 2005 and the World Junior Championships in 2006. Jenny Green ( Nebraska; Central Catholic, Grand Island, NE '03) passed the opening height of 12-5.5 and missed three times at 12-9.5). Here are the medallists:
Elizaveta Ryshich Germany 14-1.25
(tie) Anna Schultze Germany 13-11.25
(tie) Yingying Zhao China 13-11.25
Shot Put Qualifying
Group A - There were four qualifiers who met the automatic standard of 51-6.25:
Christina Schwanitz Germany 53-11.25
Magdalena Sobieszek Poland 52-1.75
Irina Tarasova Russia 51-10.5
Hrisi Moisidou Greece 51-7.75
Michelle Carter ( Texas; Red Oak, TX '03) threw 51-2.75 for fifth overall and qualified for the final.
Group B - Anna Avdeyeva of Russia was the only automatic qualifier here, throwing 54-7.5, the overall leader. Michaela Wallerstedt (Burke, Omaha, NE) could manage only 46-7.25 for 10th in this group.
Heptathlon - Day 1
The leader after the shot put (third event) was Viktorija Zemaityte' of Lithunia at 2645 points. Gayle Hunter had a poor shot put, but is keeping pace with her lifetime best score. She threw 32-2.75 for 518 points.
Jessica Ennis of Great Britain ran a fast 200m (24.23) to put her ahead after the first day. She has 3541 points. Second is Zemaityte' with 3490 points, and third is Kathrin Geissler of Germany with 3459 points. Gayle Hunter moved up somewhat. She is now in sixth, having run 24.97 in the 200 meters giving her 890 points for a total of 3298 after four events.
10000m Racewalk Final
Three seasonal bests for the medal winners: Irina Petrova (Russia) 45:50.39, Nan Zheng (China) 45:58.54; Vera Sokolova (Russia) 46:53.02. Maria Michta of the USA finished 22nd (51:52.95) and Catherine Hayes finished 25th (52:27.15)
Men
200m Final
We're not sure how Andrew Howe could top his big long jump win 2 days ago, but the Los Angeles-born Italian managed to do it in a big way in front of a partisan Italian crowd. His personal best in the heats 2 days ago was 20.86, then set a National Junior Record in the semis with 20.72. With lots of pressure on him here and in the local press, he burst into the lead early, followed closely by South African Leigh Julius. With a deafening roar from the crowd, he pulled away down the homestretch to a meet record 20.28 win. It was quite a scene. Julius was 20.88 in second for the silver, and the number 2-ranked Trinidadian, Jamil James, bound for the U. of South Carolina in the fall, was third at 21.00.
800m Final
Could a front runner steal the race? Selahuttin Cobanoglu of Turkey set the pace, leading at 400 (53.09) and 600 (1:20.48) and holding it to halfway down the homestretch. Trying to hold on, Majed Saeed Sultan of Qatar flew past Cobanoglu with Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya just to his outside. They both past Cobanoglu and Yego could not catch Sultan, with Sultan winning in 1:47.33, .06 ahead of Yego. Both times were personal bests. Cobanoglu's third place time of 1:47.71 was a National Junior Record.
400m Hurdles Final
We knew this would be fast with the likes of the two sub-49 Americans and the defending World Junior and World Youth champions. Brandon Johnson (UCLA; West Orange-Stark HS, TX '03) took the early lead as he did in the semi-finals, followed closely by Louis Van Zyl of South Africa, the defending champion. Kerron Clement ( Florida; La Porte, TX '03) took over the lead at the fifth hurdle and, though "chopping" hurdle 8, maintained his lead. Johnson held off a late charge by Ibrahim Al-Hamaidi of Saudi Arabia, who finished third. It was truly a great and fast race, with Clement running 48.51, #2 all-time World Junior and a meet record. Johnson, at 48.62 is now #3 all-time junior and Al-Hamaidi becomes #10. Defender Louis Van Zyl was fourth in 49.06, .17 off his 2002 World Junior Championships winning time.
Triple Jump Qualifying
Group A - Automatic qualifiers (having jumped 52-4 or better):
Viktor Kuznetsov Ukraine 53-9.25
Dzmitry Dzetsuk Belarus 53-3.75
Shujing Zhu China 53-0
Petar Ivanov Bulgaria 52-6
Paul Hubbard ( Wisconsin; Widefield HS, Security, CO '03) was 10th in 50-4 and did not advance to the final.
Group B - Automatic qualifiers were:
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena South Africa 52-6.5
Dennis Fernandez Cuba 52-6.5
Michael Whitehead ( Michigan; Norristown HS, PA '03) finished 9th in 49-10 and did not qualify.
Javelin Final
Aleksey Tavornov of Russia got the win on his first throw (248-10), then got the World Junior lead on his final one - 260-5. Second placer Lohan Rautenbach of South Africa got his medal on his second round throw of 244-2. The third place was up for grabs throughout the competition, with Julio Cesar De Oliveira settling it on his fifth throw of 242-4,
Hammer Final
Andrey Azarenkov of Russia set the tone early with the first legal throw of the competition. Though he would throw farther later, his 242-5 would be good enough to win. Two throws later he would throw what would become the winning throw of 243-1. Mohsen El Anany of Egypt had his big second place throw in the third round as well, with a 239-5 toss. And third place went to Kamilius Bethke of Germany with a throw of 235-11, also made in the third round.
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