World Youth Championships - July 16-18, 1999 at Bydgoszcz Poland
USATF
Friday report
Georgia sprinter nearly grabs 100 gold on opening day of World Youth
Championships
SEARS SPRINTS TO SURPRISE SILVER
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland, July 16, 1999 -- Bryan Sears, a
tenth-grader from Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Ga., enjoyed the
best performance of his short track career here Friday on the opening day of the
inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships, romping to silver in the 100 meters
with a personal best 10.42 clocking. Sears, a two-time Georgia state champion in
the 200 meters, set personal bests in winning his first round heat at 10.57 and
his semifinal at 10.47, before nearly upsetting Mark Lewis-Francis of Great
Britain in the final. Lewis-Francis crossed the line at 10.40 for the gold. “To
come here and finish in the top three in the world is incredible,” Sears said.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I would do very well in the 100, since I am more
of a 200 runner. But, after the first two races I knew I was on. I was sort of
disappointed right after the final, but then I realized just how well I had
done.” The first-ever World Youth meet has drawn more than 1,000 of the world’s
top 15-, 16- and 17-year-old athletes to this provincial Polish city, 180 miles
northwest of Warsaw. Two other U.S. athletes set personal bests in finals on
Friday to highlight a solid first-day effort by the American team. LaShauntea
Moore of Akron, Ohio, missed the medal stand by the narrowest of margins,
clocking 11.66 to take fourth in the 100 meters. Her time was identical to the
third-place finisher, so officials had to go down to thousandths-of-a-second to
break the tie. In the 110-meter hurdles, Joshua Walker of Stone Mountain, Ga.,
dropped his lifetime best to 13.84 to place fifth. “This is only my second
year running the hurdles,” Walker said. “It was the best start I ever had,
and one of the best races of my life. What really helped was the support from my
teammates, who have been great all around.” Christopher Clancy of Portland,
Ore., was 24th with a time of 8:59.27 in the men’s 3000, the other final
contested today. Marquee performances in the qualifying heats were turned in by
Monique Henderson of Bonita, Calif., who demolished her rivals in the 400 with a
53.47 effort, and Ivory McCann of Houston, Texas, who won his men’s 400
section in 48.17. Teammate Travon Walton of Chino, Calif., also advanced with a
48.34 clocking. Four U.S. entrants advanced to the finals in the women’s shot
put and high jump to lead the way in field event action. Nebraska products Lisa
Beachler of Oakland and Emily Duran of Nebraska City eased into the shot final,
while Kaylah Burks of Mobile, Ala., and Na’Tassia Vice of Mesquite, Texas,
cleared 5-8.25 to move on in the high jump. That height was a personal best for
both jumpers. Others advancing to finals included: pole vaulter Paul Gensic of
Ft. Wayne, Ind.; long jumper Brandon Royster of Fairfax, Va.; javelin thrower
Leslie Erickson of Lacey, Wash.; and long jumper Jill Bell from Bellevue, Wash.,
who set a season best of 19-6.25.
NOTES ---Under the headline “No Poles in Poland”, the U.S.
vaulters faced their worst nightmare Friday -- their sticks were lost somewhere
in the, well, sticks. All four Americans who were competing in pole vault
qualifying found themselves sans personal poles after theirs were lost in
shipping. Team officials scrambled to find replacements, ably assisted by
translator Tomas Gaszynski, who contacted his cousin, a friend of ‘99 World
indoor heptathlon champ Sebastian Chmara. Chmara instructed local officials to
allow the U.S. quartet access to his stash of poles near the stadium, and the
problem was solved. ---Food has been interesting, to say the least, for the
American teenage squad, but Powerbar came to the rescue with a “care”
package. When a group of U.S. athletes were stuck at the stadium without access
to lunch, a team official sent four boxes of the energy-replacement bars in a
special taxi to soothe the youths’ hunger pangs. Powerbar supplied a large
assortment of their products to the team thanks to the efforts of American Track
& Field publisher Larry Eder.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (Top three in finals, plus American
finshers; for prelims/qualifying, leading qualifier plus Americans)
Men’s 100 Final: 1. Mark Lewis-Francis (Britain), 10.40; 2.
Bryan Sears (USA), 10.42; 3. Omar Brown (Jamaica), 10.43. (Duriel Laird (USA)
was 7th in Heat 2 at 11.13). Men’s 400 prelims: Leading qualifier - William
Nkosi (South Africa) 47.47; Ivory McCann (USA) was 1st in Heat 2 at 48.17;
Travon Walton (USA) was 3rd in Heat 6 at 48.34; both Americans advanced to the
semifinal. Men’s 1500 prelims: Leading qualifier - Cornelius Chirchir (Kenya),
3:48.66; Jared Scott (USA), 3:58.86, and Nicholas Schneider (USA), 4:02.60, did
not advance. Men’s 3000 Final: 1. Pius Muli (Kenya), 8:08.16; 2. Kenenisa
Bekele (Ethiopia), 8:09.89; 3. Anouar Assila (Morocco), 8:13.54... 24.
Christopher Clancy (USA), 8:59.27. Men’s 110 Hurdles (36-inch) Final: 1. Ladji
Doucoure (France), 13.27; 2. Nassim Brahimi (Qatar), 13.36; 3. Paul Whitty
(Canada), 13.59... 5. Joshua Walker (USA), 13.84. (Brandon Royster (USA) was 4th
in Heat 3 at 14.20). Men’s Pole Vault qualifying: Leading qualifiers -
Sebastien Homo (France) and Mikael Westo (Finland), 15-7; Paul Gensic (USA)
cleared 15-1 to advance to final; Sage Thames (USA) cleared 14-5.25, but did not
advance. Men’s Long Jump qualifying: Leading qualifier - Shang Yapeng (China),
25-2.75; Brandon Royster (USA), 23-0 to advance; Jonathan Lott (USA), 22-5.75,
did not advance. Men’s Shot Put (11-pound) qualifying: Leading qualifier -
Khalid al Suwaidi (Qatar), 64-2.25; Dan Taylor (USA), 57-8.25, and Rusty Price
(USA), 56-8.5, did not advance to the final. Men’s Javelin qualifying: Leading
qualifier - Alexandre Ivanov (Russia), 251-2; Justin McKnight (USA), 192-5, and
Jason Koch (USA), 175-0, did not advance.
Women’s 100 Final: 1. Veronica Campbell (Jamaica), 11.49; 2.
Lisa Sharpe (Jamaica), 11.52; 3. Adriane Lamalle (France), 11.66; 4. LaShauntea
Moore (USA), 11.66. (Khalilah Carpenter (USA) was 8th in Heat 2 at 14.16 and did
not advance. Women’s 400 prelims: Leading qualifier - Helen Opanachi
(Nigeria), 53.24; Monique Henderson (USA) won Heat 4 in 53.47 to advance to the
semifinal; Christy Fairley (USA) was 5th in Heat 1 at 56.27 and did not advance.
Women’s 800 prelims: Leading qualifier - Liliana Barbulescu (Romania),
2:07.77; Robin Mortel (USA) was 5th in Heat 2 at 2:12.86 and did not advance.
Women’s 1500 prelims: Leading qualifier - Chibiwott Kibet (Kenya), 4:21.35;
Jenny Liou (USA) was 12th in Heat 2 at 5:02.42 and did not advance. Women’s
400 Hurdles prelims: Leading qualifier - Jana Pittman (Australia), 58.43; Janine
Jones (USA) was 3rd in Heat 1 at 60.28 and did not advance; Raasin McIntosh
(USA) was 8th in Heat 2 at 63.54 and did not advance. Women’s High Jump
qualifying: Leading qualifiers - four at 5-10; Kaylah Burks (USA) and Na’Tassia
Vice (USA) cleared 5-8.25 to advance to the final. Women’s Pole Vault
qualifying: Leading qualifiers - three at 12-3.5; Angela Hilgers (USA) cleared
11-1.75, but did not advance; Jennifer Gregorak (USA) cleared no height. Women’s
Long Jump qualifying: Leading qualifier - Zhou Yangxia (China), 20-4.5; Jill
Bell (USA) jumped 19-6.25 to advance; Talise Manuel (USA) jumped 15-7 and did
not advance. Women’s Shot Put qualifying: Leading qualifier - Hong Mei
(China), 48-9.5; Lisa Beachler (USA), 44-6.25, and Emily Duran (USA), 43-7,
advanced to the final. Women’s Javelin qualifying: Leading qualifier - Inga
Kozarenoka (Latvia), 167-6; Leslie Erickson (USA) threw 144-7 and advanced to
the final. Women’s Hammer qualifying: Leading qualifier - Kamila Skolimowska
(Poland), 187-8; no American entrants.
