Mike Kennedy Event Summaries
WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS At Bydgoszcz, Poland MEN Finals 400 Meters If you looked at the way O’Neal Wilder of Mississippi St. ran the race you would have to ask yourself, “did he realize that this was a World Junior Championship final?” Just after the gun went off, Wilder, running in lane three, seemed totally unconcerned with the pace and had to have approached the 200-meter mark at close to 28 second. Meanwhile Kirani James of Granada, running in lane seven, had the lead at the half way point and pulled even with Marcus Boyd of North Carolina, in lane eight, at the 270-meter mark. Boyd despite having the less advantageous outside lane remained almost even with James until the final 100 when he displayed a burst of speed at the top of the straight and pulled away to win in a personal best and World Junior leading time of 45.53. James was second at 45.70 and Wilder, the previous World Junior outdoor leader at 45.54, could just never things together, was third at 47.00. 1,500 Meters Like many championship race this one started slowly with everyone in contention with two laps remaining, passed in 1:52.0. This pace picked up somewhat on the next lap and with one to go, passed in 2:54.0, James Magut and Fredrick Ngunge were running one-two for Kenya with Demma Daba of Etjiopia in third. Daba then began to bare down on the Kenyan’s and moved into second behind Magut. Ryan Gregson of Australia, Evan Jager of Wisconsin and Imed Touil of Algeria, were also in close attendance. Suddenly with less that 100 meters remaining Touil made his move going from fifth to first in the final 80 meters to win the race in the last five meters, 3:47.40 to 3:47.57, over Magut. Daba was third in 3:47.65 and Ndunge was fourth at 3;48.00. Yager, who had been as close as fourth with 150 meters remaining was eighth in 3;49.59. Decathlon Standings After First Day 1. Eduard Mihan, Belarus, 4,155; 2. Mihail Dudas, Serbia, 4,084; 3. Jan Knobel, Germany, 4.021; 4. Jacek Nabozny, Poland, 3,929; 5. Sveinn Eliasson, Sweden, 3,925. Others included: 14. Chase Dalton, BYU, 3,632; 15. Weston Lentz, North Dakota St., 3,622. 110-Meter High Hurdles Eduard Mihan had the second fastest time of the day at 14.54, worth 906 points, and a total of 5,061 to increase his lead from 71 points to 107 points. Mihail Dudas had the fifth fastest time at 14.83 worth 870 points and a total of 4,954 to maintain second place and Jan Knobel had the fourth fastest time at 14.81 worth 873 points and a total of 4,894 to remain in third. Weston Leutz had the fastest time of the day at 14.23 worth 945 points and a total of 4,567 to move from 15th to ninth place.. Chase Dalton was timed in 16.83 worth 642 points and a total of 4,274 to drop to 18th place. Discus Eduard Mihan had a throw of 145-9 worth 756 points and a total of 5,816 to remain in first place. Mihail Dudas had a best of 142-1 worth 732 points and a total of 5.686 that still left him in second but allowed Jan Knobel, who had a best of 144-3 worth 745 points to close to within 47 points of second with and a total of 5,639. Adam Bevis of Australia had the best throw of the competition at 158-7 worth 838 points and a total of 5,615 that left him in fourth place but drew him to within 24 points of third place. Weston Leutz had a throw of 139-11 worth 718 points and a total of 5,285 that left him in ninth place. Chase Dalton had the second farthest throw of the competition at 157-9 worth 831 points and a total of 5,105 that moved him from 18th to 15h place. Pole Vault Eduard Mihan set a personal best of 14-5 ¼, worth 731 points and a total of 6,547 that left him in first place with a 118 point lead over second place. Jan Knobel had the best vault of the competition at 15-1, worth 790 points and a total of 6,429 that moved him from third to second place. Mihail Dudas cleared just 14-4 ¼, worth 702 points and a total of 6,388 that dropped him from second to third. Weston Leutz had a best of 13-9 ½ worth 673 points and a total of 5,958 that dropped him from ninth to tenth place. Chase Dalton cleared 12-9 ½ worth 590 points and a total of 5,695 that left him in 15th place. Javelin The javelin is often the most difficult event for a decathlete to master but that certainly does not seem to be the case when it comes to Jan Knobel, who threw and event leading 217-5 worth 833 points and a total of 7,262 to move him from second, 118 points behind the leader Eduard Mihan, to 107 points in front of Mihan. Mihan, for his part threw a personal best of 168-3 worth 608 points and a total of 7,155 but dropped to second. Mihail Dudas remained in third with 6,996 point after throwing a personal best of 168-4 worth 608 points. Chase Dalton had the second longest throw of the competition at 212-3 worth 809 points and a total of 6,504 that moved him from 15th to 11th place. Weston Leutz threw a personal best of 153-7 worth 542 points and a total of 6,500 points but still dropped from tenth to 13th place. 1,500 Meters With just one event remaining Jan Knobel had an 107 point lead over Eduard Mihan, who was in second place. That translated into about a margin of 14 seconds. In a one race competition, Mihan, finished at 4:30.93 worth 739 points and a total of 7,894 and Knobel finished at 4:44.66 worth 739 points and a total 7,896 to give him the victory by just two points. Dudas finished at 4:42.11 worth 667 points and a total of 7,663 to secure the Bronze medal. Weston Leutz was timed in 4:40.37 worth 678 point and a total of 7,178 that moved him from 13th to 10th place. Chase Dalton was timed in 4:41.65 worth 670 points that left him in 11th place with 7,147 points. Preliminaries 200 Meters First Round First Two in Each Heat Plus Next Eight Fastest Qualify for Semifinals HEAT ONE—Antonio Sales of South Carolina, looking all-business after he had false started out of the 100-meter semifinals, took a small lead into the final 100 meters and expanded it to almost 10 meters before easing 30 meters for the finish to win in 21.27. Shehan Abeypitiyage of Sri Lanka was second at 21.57. HEAT TWO—Richard Kilty of Britain, running in lane seven and one lane outside of Ramone McKenzie of Jamaica, was out very fast, and along with Diego Marani of Italy, led the field coming off the turn. Marani prevailed on the run-in, 21.18 to 21.27. McKenzie, who has a best of 20.58, was third in 21.55 and advanced on time.. HEAT THREE—Seiya Hane of Japan, running in lane nine, had a small lead entering the straight but Christophe Lemaitre of France, who was next to Hane, pulled away for a convincing win in a personal best of 20.91. Adel Asseri of Saudi Arabia in the center of the track was also very impressive over the final 60 meters and finished second in 21.27. Hane was third and a time qualifier at 21.42. . HEAT FOUR—Patrick Vosloo of South Africa and Zwande Edwards of Trinidad, running in the center of the track, had the early lead but Po-Yub Pan of Taiwan and Javier Sanz of Spain, in lanes two and three and Frederic Mignot of France, in lane nine, all crossed the finish line at about the same time with Sanz winning in 21.69 and Pan second at 21.71. HEAT FIVE—Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica, in lane eight, ran a solid turn and the just pulled away from the field to win in 20.86. David Lescay of Cuba was second in 21.32 and Alexander Nordkvist of Sweden was a time qualifier at 21.38.. HEAT SIX—Masanori Kaji of Japan, in lane nine, moved from third to first over the final 50 meters to win in 21.34. Omar Al-Salfa of United ArabEmerits was second at 21.43 and Joven Toppin of Trinidad was third and a time qualifier at 21.56.. HEAT SEVEN—Christopher Clarke of Britain and Martin of Czech Republic, in the outside lanes, had the early lead but Curtis Mitchell of Southwestern Junior College (Chula Vista, Ca.), had most of the field in his view and he pulled away in the final 80 meters to win in 21.21. Clarke was second at 21.70. HEAT EIGHT—Robert Hering of Germany was not the fastest person out of the blocks but by the time the field had entered the straight he was in first and had no trouble winning in 21.08. Ramil Guliyev of Azerbaijan was second at 21.33. Davide Manenti of Italy, at 21.50, Likourgos-Stefranos Tsakonas of Greece, at 21.56 and Tse-Ching Liang of Taiwan, at 21.60 all were time qualifiers. Semifinals First Two in Each Heat Plus Next Two Fastest Qualify for Final HEAT ONE (-0.9)—Antonio Sales of South Carolina got out very well and held a very slight lead at 100 meters before Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica moved ahead slightly and when Sales could not run down Ashmeade he eased over the final five meters and lost the second automatic qualifying spot to Ramil Guliyev of Azerbaijan, as both athletes were timed in 20.90. However, Sales did advance to the final as one of two time qualifiers as did Omar Al-Salfa of the United Arab Emirates, who was fourth at 21.02. . HEAT TWO (-0.3)—Curtis Mitchell of Southwestern Junior College (Chula Vista, Ca.), in lane seven, was a little cautious in the beginning but then felt the presence of David Lescay of Cuba, in lane six, and once the runners entered the straightaway, Mitchell exploded away from the field to win in a personal best of 20.76. HEAT THREE (-0.1)—Robert Hering of Germany, running in lane three, had the lead entering the straight with Jovon Toppin of Trinidad, in lane two, close behind. Hering lost none of his intensity in the final 60 meters but it was Diego Marani of Italy who caught the crowd’s eye when he moved from fourth to second in the final 50 meters. Hering was timed in 21.06 and Marani clocked 21.22. 400-Meter Hurdles Semifinals First Two in Each Heat Plus Next Two Fastest Qualify for Final HEAT ONE—Johnny Dutch of South Carolina took the race out right from the start and was never challenged, winning at 50.40. Amaurys Valle of Cuba was a clear second at 300 meters and finished easily in 51.17. P.C. Beneke of South Africa was third holding off David Gollnow of Germany, 51.46 to 51.48. HEAT TWO—In what looked like a re-run of the first heat, Jeshua Anderson of Washington St., running in lane four, reeled in the entire field by 200 meters and went on to an easy win in 49.90. Taras Schrerenko of Israel and Giacomo Panizza of Italy were two-three going into the final straight and they remained that way finishing in 51.60 and 51.75, respectively. HEAT THREE—John Wambua of Kenya ran a storming back straight to take the lead but Cornel Fredericks of South Africa would not let him go, running hard third 100 and the two entered the home straight about even. Fredericks, with better strength, pulled away for a 51.11 to 51.51 win.. 3,000-Meter Steeplechase First Round First Four in Each Heat Plus Next Four Fastest Qualify For Final HEAT ONE—Patrick Terer of Kenya, Benjamin Kiplagat of Uganda and Legese Lamiso of Ethiopia quickly broke away from the rest of the runners and treated the race as a training run. They would sprint down the back straight and then stride down the home straight for lap after lap sometimes opening up a 60 meter gaps on the field at one point and then allowing the field to close to with a few meters. Lamiso won the final sprint to the finish first in 8:48.61 with Kiplagat second at 8:49.17 and Terer third at 8:50.03. Dylan Knight of UCLA was among the leaders of the second group that started with six runners but by the final lap the group was reduced to three runners. Among those three, Alexandru Ghinea of Romania finishing fourth at 8:52.63, Luis Orta of Venezuela in fifth at 8:52.70 and Knight in sixth at 8:53.67. The latter two were time qualifiers.. HEAT TWO---Krystian Zalewski of Poland went right to the front and kept the lead until there were just three and one half laps remaining when Abdelghani Ait Bahmad of Morocco took the led and passed the finish line at 5:14 with three laps remaining. Bahmad was quickly joined by Dereje Abdi of Ethiopia and Jonathan Ndiku of Kenya but Zalewski did not lose contact and with one lap to go, passed in 7:40.o, it was a five person battle. That quickly changes as the Africans separated themselves from the rest of the runners with Ndiku winning at 8:42.32, Abdi in second at 8:42.46 and Zalewski in third at 8:48.05. Majed Besheer of Bahrain was fifth at 8:51.31 and Curtis Carl of BYU, who was never higher than sixth, was a time qualifiers in sixth at 8:55.28. Pole Vault Top 12 Advance to Final Both Maston Wallace of Texas and Joe Berry of Tennessee cleared 16-8 ¾ on their first attempts to advance to the final. In all 11 of the 13 qualifiers cleared at least 16-8 ¾ led by World Junior record holder Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany, who took just one vault, clearing 17-0 ¾. The two remaining qualifiers cleared 16-4 ¾. Anatoliy Bednyuk of Russia was the only other vaulter, other than Holzdeppe, who did not have a miss. Triple Jump Top 12 Advance to Final
Both of the U.S. jumpers, Austin Davis of North Carolina and Christian Taylor of Sandy Creek (Tyrone, Ga.) found themselves in similar positions. They each had just one jump remaining and neither had qualified. Davis, who had two fouls, was jumping first and he stretched out to 51-8 ¼ to make him the equal sixth farthest qualifier in the competition. A little later, Taylor, who had one fair jump at 50-0 that was far short of qualifying, came through with a 51-5 effort that made him the eighth qualifier. Four jumpers reached the automatic qualifying distance of 52-2, Henry Frayne of Australia at 53-9 ¾, Osviel Hernandez of Cuba at 53-5 3/4. Teddy Tamgho of France at 53-5 ¼ and Karl Hoffmann of Poland at 52-3 ¾.
Hammer Top 12 Advance to Final Conor McCullough of Chaminade (West Hills, Ca.) opened with a 238-11 that left him equal the second best qualifier along with Andriy Martynyuk of Ukraine behind Akos Hudi of Hungary at 239-0. For Martynyuk it was a case of do or die as he had fouled his first two throws. Walter Henning of LSU was in a similar position in that his best throw after two rounds was just 216-10 and that would not advance him to the final. Realizing that he came up with a final round throw of 234-4 to make him the seven farthest thrower in the preliminaries. Markus Johansson of Sweden at 236-2 and Siarhei Kalamoets of Belarus, at 235-11 rounded out the top five.
WOMEN Finals 400 Meters Folashade Abugan of Nigeria, the World Junior leader at 50.89 who was running in lane five, and Jessica Beard of Texas A&M, who was running in lane six, were virtually even for the first 270 meters before Abugan pulled ahead slight before both entered the final straightaway. Beard was able to close the margin somewhat but it was not enough as Abugan went on to win in 51.48 with Beard second at 52.09. Susana Clemente of Cuba was third at 52.36 and Racheal Nachula of Zambia was fourth at 52.44.. 3,000-Meter Steeplechase Christine Muyanga of Kenya took the lead with five laps remaining and was never challenged in winning with a Championship record time of 9:31.35. Caroline Tuigong of Kenya set the old record of 9:40.95 at the 2006 World Junior championships in Beijing. Elizabeth Mueni of Kenya was in fourth place with a lap to go but passed Halima Hassen of Ethiopia and then caught Korahubish Itaa over the final water jump and went on to finish second in 9:36.50 Itaa was third at 9:37.81. All three set personal best as did Halima Hassen of Ethiopia in fourth at 9:38.44 and Sandra Ericksson of Finland in fifth at 10:00.87. High Jump Kimberly Jess of Germany and Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria both cleared 6-1 ½ but Jess got the win with no misses while Demireva had one miss. Hannelore Desmet of Belgium and Lesyani Mayor of Cuba tied for third 6-1 ¼. Shanay Briscoe of Cypress Christian (Houston, Tx.) cleared 5-10 and that was good enough for equal tenth place.. Triple Jump Dailenys Alcantara of Cuba, leaped 46-9 in the first round and that turned out to be the leading Junior mark in the world this year and best jump of the competition. She also added jumps of 46-1 ½, 46-7 ¼, 44-2 ½, 46-1 ½ and 46-6 ¼. Paraskevi Papahristou of Greece was second after the first round at 45-1 and she stayed there until the fifth round when Josleidy Ribalta of Cuba jumped 45-4 ½ to move into second. Ribalta improved in the final round to 45-5 ¼. Shot Put Natalia Duco of Chile had a first round effort of 56-6 ½ and that turned out to be the farthest throw of the competition. She also had throws of 56-5 ¼ and 55-9 ¾. Alione Hryshko of Belarus was second after the first round with a throw of 53-6 ½. Melissa Boekelman of Netherlands took over second in the second round with a 53-11 and Qiao Ma moved into third with 53-10 ¼. Ma then moved into second with a third round effort of 54-3 ¾. Boekelman then threw 54-5 ½ in the fifth round to retake second place. . Javelin Vira Rebryk of Ukraine took the lead in the first round with a toss of 181-8 and then sat a World Junior and Championship meet record of 206-8 in the second round. The old World Junior record was 206-5 set by Juan Xue of China in 2003 and the old Championship meet record of 198-4 was set by Sandra Schaffarzik of Germany in 2006. Tazmin Brits of South Africa was in second after the first round of 181-7 and Nikola Ogrondnikova of Czech Republic moved into third with a 177-0 throw. Li Zhang of China threw 188-11 in the third round to take over second place. In the fifth round Lingwei Li of China threw 194-4 to move into second place and Tatjana Jelaca of Serbia threw 191-11 to move into third..
Preliminaries 200 Meters First Round First Three in Each Heat Plus Next Three Fastest Qualify For Semifinals HEAT ONE (wind +2.0)--Janelle Readhead of Granada, running in lane four, had the lead the entire way but Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth (Oakland, Ca.) stayed very close until the final 30 meters when she eased off. Readhead was timed in 23.66 and Purvis clocked 23.98. HEAT TWO (-0.9)—Tiffany Townsend of Baylor, running in lane three, had the entire field in her sight but really did not need the advantage as evidenced by her easy 23.70 win. Andreea Ograzeanu of Romania was second in 24.14. HEAT THREE (-1.5)—Meritzer Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis was an unknown sprinter in February when her best was just 25.2 but since that time she has improved to 22.96 and she demonstrated some of that talent in winning from lane nine in 23.64. Olivia Tauro of Australia was second in 24.09. HEAT FOUR (-0.1)—Shaunna Thompson of Britain had a slight lead over Trisha-Ann Hawthorne of Jamaica as the two entered the straightaway but it was Anna Kielbasinska of Poland that caught the crowds eye with a burst of speed over the final 30 meters to move from fourth to second behind Thompson, 23.85 to 23.89. Hawthorne was third at 24.12. HEAT FIVE (+1.8)—Souheir Bouali of Algeria had the lead entering the final 100 meters but could not hold off Nivea Smith of Bahamas, 23.67 to 23.81. Ruth Spelmeyeer of Germany was third at 23.88. HEAT SIX (-0.8)—Jura Levy of Jamaica, in lane seven, had the lead coming off the turn but Sade Greene of Barbados drew even with Levy midway down the straightaway before Levy was able to pull away for the win, 23.82 to 24.10. HEAT SEVEN (-1.4)—Sheniqua Ferguson of Bahamas made it look easy from lane three as she took the lead into the straight, eased off the final 70 meters and cruised to a 23.74 win. Kimberly Hyacinthe of Canada was second at 24.00. Semifinals First Two in Each Heat Plus Next Two Fastest Qualify For Final HEAT ONE (-1.9)—Olivia Tauro of Australia in lane six and Jura Levy of Jamaica in lane seven came off the turn virtually even but it was Meritzer Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis, in lane four who made up a two-meter deficit and showed the best form in the final straight to win in 23.77 Levy was second in 23.92 and Shaunna Thompson of Britain was third at 23.95.. HEAT TWO (-1.1)—Kimberly Hyacinthe of Canada, in lane seven had an ever so small lead over Tiffany Townsend of Baylor, in lane six, but Townsend quickly took control of the race and went on to win in 23.65. Anna Kielbasinska of Poland, much like she did in the first round, ran a storming final straight to nip Hyacinthe at the wire, 23.80 to 23.81.. HEAT THREE -0.1)—Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth (Oakland, Ca.) got out very well and lead as the field turned into the home straight, but first Janelle Redhead of Granada and Shenique Ferguson of Bahamas and then Trisha-Ann Hawthorne of Jamaica passed her in the next 50 meters. Redhead and Ferguson went on to finish first and second in 23.47 and 23.49, respectively. Both Jamile Samuel of Netherlands at 23.57 and Souheir Bouali at 23.67 advanced as time qualifiers. Ashton Purvis was a nonqualifying fifth at 23.68. 100-Meter High Hurdles First Round First Four in Each Heat Plus the Next Four Fastest Qualify For Semifinals HEAT ONE (-1.3)—Teona Rodgers of Florida St. got out first and was never headed as she won in 13.53. Marika Partinen of Finland held off Agustina Bawele of India for second, 13.97 to 14.11. HEAT TWO (-1.8)—Cindy Roleder of Germany, after being charged with a false start, was still out well and had no trouble in pulling away for a 13.98 win. Asuka Terada of Japan was second in 14.09. Vashti Thomas of Mt. Pleasant (San Jose, Ca.) was seen limping Wednesday after she did not qualify for the triple jump final and that may have effected her in the hurdles where she was sluggish coming out of the blocks and quickly faded to sixth where she was timed in 14.39. HEAT THREE (-1.4)—Belkis Milandes of Cuba showed much better speed between the hurdles then did Natasha Ruddock of Jamaica and that was the difference with Milandes prevailing, 13.62 to 13.73. Aissea Diawara of France was third at 13.78. HEAT FOUR (+1.2)—Alina Talai of Belarus, in lane four, and Shermaine Williams of Jamaica, in lane eight, were even in the early stages of the race before Talai established a small advantage at the midway point only to see Williams close the margin over the final 20 meters. Talai won in 13.34 and Williams was second at 13.38. Jessica Alcan of France was third at 13.62 and Lisa Ureh of Switzerland was fourth at 13.70. HEAT FIVE (-2.0)—Krystal Bodie of Bahamas, in lane eight and Anne Zagre of Belgium in lane seven, staged their own private race with Bodie prevailing 13.66 to 13.72. Isabelle Pederesen of Norway was third at 13.93 and Kierre Beckles of Barbados, who has run 13.43, was fourth at 13.95. 400-Meter Hurdles Semifinals First Three in Each Heat Plus Next Two Fastest Qualify For Final HEAT ONE—Janeil Bellille of Trinidad, in lane five, and Nikita Tracey of Jamaica, in lane seven, were out fastest but it was Bellille who had a three-meter lead at 200. She maintained that advantage until the tenth hurdle when Meghan Beesley of Britain went from third to first to win in a personal best of 57.24. Bellille was second in 57.54 and Tracey was third at 57.84.. HEAT TWO—Takecia Jameson of Miami got out well and took the lead by 200 meters. She continued to press the advantage and finished strongly in 57.31. Laura Hansen of Germany and Hanna Titimets of Ukranine both closed well to finish second and third at 57.73 and 57.86. | 
