Event Recaps
Women
3000m Final
It was a four woman race with 2 laps to go. Jebichi Yator and Gladys Jepkemoi Chemweno of Kenya, Safa Aissaoui of Tunisia and Siham Hilali of Morocco. Aissaoui and Halali were battling it out on the backstretch with Yator seemingly falling back. But Yator put on a burst of speed with 200 meters to go, passing both and going on for the victory. Here time of 8:59.80 was a PB. Aissaoui held on for second, getting her country's national junior record at 9:02.47, and Hilali was third in 9:03.16, a PB.
4x100 - Semifinals
Semi 1 - It was the US in lane 2, with the team of Ashley Owens, Juanita Broaddus, Jasmine Baldwin and Cleo Tyson. It was not the usual quick start for Ashley Owens, but she handed the baton off well to Broaddus who brought the team into the lead well into her second leg. Two more decent handoffs followed, with the US increasing their lead. Their time of 44.00 is a World Junior Leader and number 8 all-time World Junior. Poland was second in 44.78 and qualified automatically.
Women's 4x100 |
Ashley Owens leads off
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US exchange
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Semi 2 - Trinidad had two perfect exchanges and a lackluster final one, yet still got their National Junior Record at 44.29. Australia, with great exchanges, was 44.86 and got their National Junior Record as well as the Area ( Oceania) record.
Semi 3 - France, coming into the competition with a time of 44.70, sent the message that they are not to be ignored, taking away the US's enjoyment of their World Junior lead. With very safe exchanges, they ran a world leading 43.85, #5 all-time. Germany, suffering from at least one uncharacteristically poor exchange, ran second in 44.58 thanks, in part, to anchor Mollinger's superb anchor leg. Jamaica, one of the favorites, had an injury-plagued anchor who limped across the finish resulting in a time of 45.14. She had to be carried away.
4x400 - Semifinals
Race 1 - The question is not if the US will win, but if they can set the world record. Their time of 3:30.13 is number 4 all-time World Junior and only .28 of the US Junior Record. The team of Nicole Leach (52.9), Alexandria Anderson (52.6), Deonna Lawrence (52.9) and Stephanie Smith (51.7) were never tested. Germany finished second in 3:36.90 and China was third (3:37.13) to automatically qualified.
Women's 4x400 |
Deonna Lawrence
to Stephanie Smith
Nicole Leach to Alexandria Anderson
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Race 2 - Russia, with Katya Kostetskaya anchoring, won handily, holding off a charge from Jamaica down the homestretch. Russia clocked 3:32.93 and Jamaica 3:33.28. For Jamaica, the splits were: Cole 54.2, Pinnock 53.5, Wisdom 52.9, Anneisha Mc Laughlin 52.7.
Long Jump Final
The gold and silver were decided early. Denisa Scerbova ( Czech Republic) got her big jump in the first round, 21-8.25. In round 2, Sophie Krauel of Germany jumped 21-2.75, which held up for the silver. Jacinta Boyd of Australia took over third in round 5, jumping 20-4.25, only to be eclipsed in round 5 by Veronika Shutkova of Belarus, who leaped 20-5. Amy Menlove (BYU; Alta, Sandy, UT '03) jumped well, getting 20-2.5 on her final jump, good enough for 6th place. Only 2 other Americans have ever finished in the top 6 in the World Junior Championships - Juliana Yendork, 1990, 4th, 21-3.25; Myra Combs, 1998, 6th, 20-7. Michelle Sanford (USC; Woodbridge, Irvine, CA '03) finished 11th with a jump 19-4.25.
Shot Put Final
Save the best for last! Michelle Carter ( Texas; Red Oak, TX '03) led the entire competition through the fifth round, having thrown 55-0.75 on her first throw. Anna Avdeyeva ( Russia), moved into second on her second throw, putting the shot 53-11.75. She stayed in second until the final round, when Christina Schwanitz ( Germany) took her place with a throw of 54-2.5. Avdeyeva and Carter were the last two throwers in round 6. Avdeyeva uncorked a big 56-2.5 to take the lead. Carter had to best that and did so in grand fashion, throwing an almost 2 feet PR, 57-7, and becoming the first ever American gold medallist in this event And that on the final throw of the competition! (This is only the second medal ever for the US in the shot put. Laura Gerraughty, winner of the recent US Olympic Trials, was third in Kingston in 2002 [54-6]. And only 2 total, other than Carter, have ever made the top 8: Seilala Sua, 1996, 8th, 49-4.25, and Gerraughty in 2000 (4th; 51-6.5) and 2002).
Heptathlon - Day 2
After 5 events (long jump):
Kathrin Geissler Germany 20-0.5 883 4342
Justine Robbeson South Africa 20-1.75 893 4298
Viktorija Zemaityte' Lithuania 19-1.25 795 4285
Gayle Hunter (North, Riverside, CA) is a solid fifth with 4138 points, having jumped 19-7, worth 840 points.
After 6 events (javelin)
Justine Robbeson South Africa 177-8 941 5239
Viktorija Zemaityte' Lithuania 139-5 716 5001
Julia Machtig Germany 130-10 665 4801
Gayle Hunter, throwing 110-11 in an event that is subpar for her, scored 549 points for a total of 4687, is in 8th place with one event (800) to go.
And the final event and final point totals:
Justine Robbeson South Africa 2:35.20 629 5868
Viktorija Zemaityte' Lithuania 2:21.07 5810
Julia Machtig Germany 2:16.03 5679
Gayle Hunter, running 2:27.57 for 724 points, scored a total of 5411 points, #2 performer all-time.
Men
110m Hurdles - Semifinals
Semi 1 - Two false starts resulting in a disqualification of a Greek athlete did not deter the two Americans, Kevin Craddock and Aries Merritt. They both got off to good starts and ran in tandem for 7 hurdles, at which point Merritt began to pull away slightly. Merritt got the win in 13.65 and Craddock was second in 13.74, besting the National High School record of 13.76 set earlier this year by Jason Richardson. Also qualifying (the top four qualify automatically from each of these semis) were Eder Antonio Souza of Brazil (13.98) and Garfield Darien of France (14.03, a PB).
Semi 2 - This was a ragged race, very much unlike the first one. Lilu Liu of China came on strong at the end to nip Dayron Robles of Cuba, the early leader, 13.94 to 13.98. Rodrigo Pereira of Brazil (14.03) and Jens Werrman of Germany (14.18, a PB) were the other 2 qualifers.
| USA's Aries Merritt (894) and Kevin Craddock (870) are 1-2 in 110H semi |
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3000m Steeplechase Final
So what else is new? Kenya has won every World Junior title save for the first in 1986. And they've been first and second each meet since 1994. Not so fast! Qatar was about to spoil the sweep. The two Qatarians and the two Kenyans separated themselves from the pack with 2 laps to go. It was Obaid Musa Amer and Moustafa Ahmed Shebto sandwiching Ronald Kipchumba Rutto and Nathan Kibet Naibei. Amer took the had the lead down the backstretch, followed closely by Rutto and Shebto, with Naibai falling back. Amer was leading at the final hurdle, but Rutto won the dash to the finish, winning in 8:23.32 and beating Amer back by .06. Shebto got the silver with a time of 8:26.04 with Naibai well back in fourth.
4x100 - Semifinals
Race 1 - Japan??? A near perfect execution yielded them a fine 39.59 and the World Junior lead. Jamaica was second in 39.90, #2 in the world this year and Botswana (!) third in 40.01, the #3 time in the world this year and a National Junior Record
Race 2 - .The US fielded a great team as usual. Trell Kimmons had a great start and gave the US the lead, passing off flawlessly to Demi Omole who had a great backstretch run. The pass to Ivory Williams was good (not great) and Ivory ran a great turn, extending the lead. But the final handoff was a near disaster. Ivory nearly ran Lashawn Merritt down but, once he got the baton, Merritt took off and never looked back. The time of 38.96 is the new World Junior Leader and only .04 off the World Junior Record. Poland was second in 39.95, with Germany getting a seasonal best of 40.04 in third.
Race 3 - Great Britain, one of the favorites, won as expected, though not quite as fast as they expected, running 39.72 for the winn. Cyprus got their National Junior Record in finished second at 40.44.
4x400 - Semifinals
Race 1 - Great Britain took the World Junior lead away from the US. The US team had run 3:06.79 in a meet last week. The Brits ran 3:06.52 thanks, in large part, to a 45.4 anchor by Davenport. In fact, the finish is the only place that Great Britain had the lead for the entire race, just nipping Brazil (3:06.55) at the line. Brazil's time is a South American Junior Record.
Race 2 - Well, that World Junior lead didn't last too long. The US team of Keith Hinnant (Bay Shore, NY - 46.9), Jason Craig (Rend Lake College; Wayne, Huber Heights, OH '03 - 45.9), Anthony Ramirez (Azusa Pacific; Royal, Simi Valley, CA '03 - 46.8) and La Shawn Merritt (Wilson, Portsmouth, VA - 45.7) took down that time with a 3:05.28 win. That time is #8 all-time World Junior. Japan was second in 3:06.72.
Race 3 - South Africa is not to be dismissed. The team of Grobler - 47-5; Gebhardt 46.6; Leigh Julius 45.7; and van Zyl 46.4, won this event in 3:06.29. Australia was second in 3:07.41. Trinidad finished last in this race, but the third leg, Stan Waithe, a student of U of Michigan and graduate of Loch Raven, MD HS in 2003, ran 45.8.
Pole Vault Final
Chip Heuser (soon-to-be Oklahoma; St. Xavier, Louisville, KY '03) had a good day, getting a personal best of 17-0.75 and finishing 7th. And there was a great battle at the top end, with Dmitry Starodubtsev of Russia beating German Chiaraviglio of Argentina. The Russian vaulted 18-0.5 to Chiaraviglio's 17-10.75. Starodubtsev cleared 17-10.75 on his first attempt, with Chiaraviglio making it on his second. Starodubtsev cleared the winning height on his second attempt after Chiaraviglio missed on his second. Chiaraviglio passed on his third attempt at 18-0.5, knowing that he would lose on fewer misses at the height, and went for broke at the next height, 18-2.5. He missed, and Starodubtsev became the champion. Feiliang Liu of China took third at 17-8.75.
10000m Racewalk Final
The Russians took 1-2 here in what was close to a photo finish. Andrey Ruzavin edged Vladimir Kanaykin, 40:58.15 to 40:58.48. The Koreans got their first medal of the competition with a third place by Hyun-sup Kim in 40:59.24, not far behind the Russians. |
