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Tuesday,
August 8th, 2006 - Eugene, Oregon |
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RESULTS ARE IN!!! CLICK HERE Team USA's 43.29 4x100 Women's World Jr. Record and
You could tell it would be a good night for US Junior athletes when the press box officials were scrambling to pull up a webpage labeled IAAF Application for World Junior Record before the National Anthem had even been sung. The two 4x100 meter races—assembled to prepare the Junior squads for stick-carrying duties in Beijing—were so low-key that they were relegated to a pre-meet timeslot and never announced to the media. Arriving fans were still settling into their seats and enjoying the late afternoon sun when first the Junior men, and then the Junior women, ran Red vs. Blue races with the available relay pools. Willie Perry drew some attention anchoring the Men’s USA
Red team (Dennis Martin, Gordon McKenzie, Chris Dykes, Willie
Perry ) to an impressive 39.43 win over a Blue team consisting
of Evander Wells, Odell Harris, Arthur Wims and Brandon Myers
(40.29), but nothing prepared the crowd for what came next.
When St. Anthony’s, NY senior-to-be Walter Henning (below
left) stepped into the Hayward Field hammer ring for his final
throw of the evening—distinctive red-and-white-striped
socks hiked to his knees—he was working at a slight disadvantage. His
own hammer had been mangled in a cage collision on his errant
second toss, which left him swinging borrowed equipment for his
last attempt. It didn’t matter. Henning settled
into the ring, began a tight rotation, let out a primordial yell
and unfurled the hammer into the descending twilight. Lessons in the Long Shadows - by Dave Devine AJ Acosta (right) knew he was in over his head. He’d
heard discussions leading up to Tuesday’s 1500m that the
pace would go out in 1:54 for the first 800. The previous
night, he’d let it be known that if the leaders hit that
mark, he’d be nowhere near the front. Dealing with an Unfamiliar Distance - by Dave Devine Running 300 meters on an outdoor track in the middle of the
summer was a curveball for almost everybody in the field. Karjuan
Williams, normally a half miler, but known to drop a
fast relay split from time to time, was certainly out of his
element. “I don’t run sprints a lot,” he
said, “and I’ve never run a 300 before.” More stories to come throughout the day!
*Photos by Open Photo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We want to pack Hayward Field with fans to give the U.S. Junior Team a proper sendoff to Beijing and support the exciting elite athletes who always compete so well in Eugene," says Vin Lananna, co-chairman of the Eugene Local Organizing Committee and University of Oregon associate athletic director/director of track and field. “This meet represents the local organizing committee's commitment to its partnership with USA Track and Field and the Athletes Advisory Committee to provide high-performance meets in the U.S. during the summertime.” The meet will benefit the Professional Athletics Association (PAA), which was established to ensure that the rights of its professional athletes are protected and that everything possible is being done to help athletes maximize their opportunities and achieve their goals on and off the track. This inaugural Mid-Summer Classic will feature many of America's top track and field athletes who will be competing for $200,000 in prize money. Elite athletes already committed to compete in the meet include Allen Johnson, Olympic 110-meter hurdles gold medalist; two-time Olympic silver medalist, in the 110-meter hurdles, Terrance Trammell, will run the 100-meter dash; 2005 World Outdoor 400-meter hurdle champion Bershawn Jackson; 2006 world shot put leader Christian Cantwell and 2005 World Outdoor shot put champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson; and 2005 discus national champion Ian Waltz. In addition to the elite athletes, the U.S. Junior National Team will be competing in the meet, marking the end of their training camp in Eugene before leaving for the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships August 15 through 20 in Beijing, China. The Junior team features the nation’s best up and coming athletes, including the University of Oregon's Rebekah Noble in the 800 meters and future Duck distance runner A.J. Acosta of Oceanside, Calif. The two hour meet is expected to be televised nationally and will feature 20 events. There will be many opportunities for young fans to participate and meet athletes, get autographs, run a half-lap race and much more. The meet is sponsored by Nike and the Eugene Local Organizing Committee for the 2008 U. S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, in partnership with the Professional Athletics Association (PAA), USA Track & Field (USATF) and its Athletes Advisory and High Performance Committees, the University of Oregon, and the Oregon Track Club. The Olympic Trials will be held in Eugene at Hayward Field, June 27 through July 6, 2008. 6:25 p.m. Women’s Pole
Vault |
Bianca
Knight led
off a Women’s Blue
team that included Jeneba Tarmoh on the second
leg, Elizabeth Olear on third, and emerging
superstar Gabby Mayo (right) on anchor. Knight
injured her hamstring on the leadoff, but still managed a clean
exchange to Tarmoh, who ripped down the backstretch past a grandstand
still unaware of what it was witnessing. By the time Olear
got a crisp exchange to Mayo at the top of the homestretch, Mayo
was clear of Red team anchor Alexandria Anderson and ready to
power home. Power she did, to a new World Junior
Record of 43.29, taking down the seven year-old mark
of 43.38 set by the USA in 1999.
When the gun went off, former US champion Jason Lunn shot to
the lead, stringing out the field and dragging it through splits
of 56.3 and 1:54.5. Acosta’s fellow Junior team member
Andrew Bumbalough—apparently either pacing or running a
workout—tucked in gamely behind, followed by Matt Tegenkamp,
Said Ahmed and Anthony Famiglietti. The pack split in two,
with Acosta near the back of the second grouping. “I
was hanging off the back end on purpose,” he said, “I
knew it was going to go out fast.”
400
meter specialist Bryshon Nellum was
in a similar boat. “This was my first time running
the 300 outdoors,” he said. “It’s different
coming off the straight. I’m used to coming out the
curve in the 400 or the 200.
