Omaha July 23-28

36th USATF
Junior Olympics

Day 6 Sunday (Closing Day)
Kenneth Ferguson MI and Kerron Clement TX go head to head in both hurdle finals. Sub-40 YM 4x100 final looms with teams lead by Willie Hordge, Aaron and Ashton Collins, Donnell Diggs, Brandon Johnson, Antonio Freeman, and Darrus Joseph going under 41 seconds in heats and 10 more teams under 42 seconds.

Day 5 Saturday
Lots of familiar names win gold. Alondra Cooper FL 2:11.07 edges Selena Sappleton NY 2:11.69 for 800m gold and also leads 100H qualifiers at 14.38 +0.0.

YG: Elizabeth Olear CA 24.00 -0.6 200m winner (DeAna Carson CA and Bianca Knight MS 24.37).
IG: Jessica Onyepunuka AZ 23.74 -0.3 200m winner (Courtney Champion GA 23.78). Kim Oguh TX 19-6.25 +3.9 LJ winner.
YW: Chauntae Bayne TX 23.84 +0.0 200m winner. Evelyn Dwyer PA 2:09.21 800m final (Jennifer Hunt TX 2:10.21). Dawn Harper IL 13.83 -0.4 100H qual. Music City TN 9:09.65 4x800 final. Jenny Green NE 12-5.5 PV final (Sara Young SC 12-5.5). Yvette Lewis VA 41-8 +3.5 TJ final. Michelle Carter TX 51-1.75 SP final. DT winner Abby Emsick IA gets second gold in JT at 129-6.
IB: Lionel Larry CA 21.48 +0.0. Christopher Woods GA 1:52.78 edges Michael Haddan CA 1:52.90, with both beating old IB 800 meter record set in 1985 (Michael Remigino CT, 1:53.37). Frankie Gaston LA 47-3.5 TJ final.
YM: Chauncey Harris AL 21.24 +0.0 200m final (Marguel Russell TX 21.41). Pablo Solares TX 1:51.19 800m final (Brandon Dixon TX 1:51.62). Kenneth Ferguson MI 13.76 -0.4 and Kerron Clement TX 13.77 +0.0 win 110H heats (Lorenzo Mallette MI 13.84 -1.6). Track Houston TC (with Willie Hordge) 40.06 and Road Runners TC (with Aaron and Ashton Collins) 40.38 win 4x100 heats, with three more teams under 41.0. Lynx Elite (Michael Grant, Russell Brown, William Seidel, and Harry Norton) 7:49.82 4x800 winner. Keith Moffatt VA 6-10.75 HJ winner. Chase Shealy SC 15-5 wins PV on fewest misses over four more at 15-5.

Day 4 Friday
Rain disrupts program. Shaton Palmer NC 10.46 edges World Jr bronze Willie Hordge TX 10.47 in YM 100m heats. Other top 100m quals are 8th grader Elizabeth Olear CA 11.92, Jessica Onyepunuka AZ 11.76, Mary Ann Erigha GA 11.83, Derrick Jones CA 10.67. 400m quals include Reggie Witherspoon GA 47.26 (Ashton Collins LA 47.28), YG Bianca Knight MS 55.87, Christina Hardeman CA 54.13. Priya Hoze WI 19-11 LJ. Abby Emsick IA 163-5 DT. Kerron Clement TX 52.35 and World Jr silver Kenneth Ferguson MI 52.68 win 400H heats. Gavin Ball WI completes throws double with 60-0.25 SP.

YG: Elizabeth Olear, a rising freshman at Louisville HS in Woodland Hills CA, led the Youth Girls (13-14) 100m qualifiers with a time of 11.92 +1.0. (Terra Evans AZ 11.96 +1.6). Bianca Knight MS 55.87 400m qual (Brandi Cross TX 56.01, Ebony Collins CA 56.19). Rachel Wittum MI 4:42.75 1500m qual.
IG: Jessica Onyepunuka AZ led the Intermediate Girls 100m qualifiers at 11.76 +0.0 (Courtney Champion GA 11.81, Kyra Sullivan MO 11.93). Lauren Austin FL 55.03 400m qual (Nicole Leach PA 55.16, Brook Turner OH 55.80, Brittany Washington TX 56.15). Nicole Leach PA 1:01.80 400H qual (Nyoka Norman SC 1:01.86, Sierra Hill GA 1:02.60). Jessica Trujillo TX 11-3.75 PV winner. Missy Faubus CA 143-3 DT winner (Rachel Talbert KS 142-6).
YW: Mary Ann Erigha GA 11.83 +0.4 led Young Women 100m qualifiers (Nina Mayes TX 11.85). Christina Hardeman, California and Golden West champion and World Juniors 4x400 gold medal winner, led 400m qualifiers in 54.13. (Jerrika Chapple TX 54.86, Kou Luogan MN 56.09). Celeste Tyson TX 4:41.38 1500m qual (Sarah Selby IL 4:41.91, Kristin McKnight TN 4:42.69). Lauren Tillman GA 1:02.1 400H qual. Priya Hoze WI 19-11 +1.0 (Kemesha Whitmire SC 19-1.25, Christina Taylor 19-0.). Abby Emsick IA 163-5 DT winner, US#8 this year.
IB: Derrick Jones CA 10.67 +0.0 led Intermediate Boys 100m qualifiers. Cedric Goodman GA 48.48 400m qual. Michael Webley NY 4:09.40 (Ryan Birkholz WI 4:09.80) and Michael Haddan CA 4:09.62 won 1500m heats. Jason Richardson TX 54.22 400H qual.
YM: Shaton Palmer NC 10.46 +1.2 edges World Jr bronze Willie Hordge TX 10.47 in Young Men 100m heats (Braylon Davis TX 10.52 +0.5). Reggie Witherspoon GA 47.26 400m qual (Ashton Collins LA 47.28, Arthur Davis AL 47.88). Pablo Solares TX 3:57.95 1500m qual. Kerron Clement TX 52.35 400H qual (Kenneth Ferguson MI 52.68). Richard Jones GA 23-6 +0.0 LJ winner. Gavin Ball WI 60-0.25 SP winner.

World Juniors Day 6 Sunday
Closing Day - 35,000 screaming fans

USA wins 3 of 4 relays

USA men run 38.92!
- new World Junior record

M 4x100: The team of Ashton Collins, Wes Felix, Ivory Williams, and Willie Hordge ran into the history books. They put down the home team Jamaica squad 39.15, led by 200 meter gold medal winner Usain Bolt, and Penn Relays champion Trinidad & Tobago team 39.17, led by 100 meter gold winner Darrel Brown. The silver and bronze teams both set new national junior records. The old world record was 39.00, set by USA at Colorado Springs CO in 1983. The new record was a 19th birthday present for Wes Felix.

USA men 3:03.71

M 4x400: Kenneth Ferguson, Darold Williamson, Ashton Collins, and Jonathan Fortenberry held off Jamaica's national junior record 3:04.06. Japan 3:05.80 won bronze.

USA Women 3:29.95 !
W 4x400: Shaking off injuries to Sanya Richards and Allyson Felix, USA missed the world record but won the gold in US junior record time with Christina Hardeman, Monique Henderson, Tiffany Ross, and Lashinda Demus. Great Britain 3:30.46 and Russia 3:30.72 claimed the other medals in front of Jamaica 3:31.90. Lashinda Demus, the world record winning 400m hurdler, started the anchor lap with a slight lead but was caught by Great Britain and Russia before surging past Great Britain anchor Lisa Miller 30 meters from the finish line.

W 4x100: Jamaica 43.40, USA 43.66.

Antwon Hicks 13.42 wins hurdle gold for USA M 110 METRES HURDLES FINAL - Antwon Hicks USA completed his victorious march with a better PR each round by winning gold in 13.42 +2.6, comfortably ahead of Dongpeng Shi CHN 13.58. Kenneth Ferguson USA was fifth in 13.91 after hitting his knee on a hurdle.. photo by Joy Kamani, NSSF team

The big climax will come with the relays, and the stadium will be rocking because Jamaican teams are in contention, as are USA's. The Jamaica-USA rivalry will give it a Penn Relays air, except that this time almost the entire crowd will be roaring for Jamaica. World records are in jeopardy - keep these numbers handy:

The US women's 4x400 relay team has been hit by injuries that make the finals lineup problematic. Running the third leg of the 4x400 semis, Sanya Richards tripped over the railing after successfully handing off to anchor Lashinda Demus. Richards was taken off the track on a stretcher and has a strained ligament in her right ankle. Richards was running the semis after six rounds of open 200 and 400 races only because Allyson Felix and Tiffany Ross also have nagging injuries. That leaves only three of the six declared US 4x400 relay members healthy.

Also of US interest are the men's 110 hurdles (Antwon Hicks and Kenneth Ferguson won the semis), men's 1500 (Chris Lukezic), and women's 5000 (Laura Zeigle and Lindsay Zinn).

Closing session
Time Event Round Status
18:00 M POLE VAULT FINAL - Ukrainian teammates Maksym Mazuryk and Vladyslav Revenko each cleared 5.55 18-2.5, with Mazuryk getting the gold by getting it on his second try to Revenko's third. The next four vaulters cleared 5.40 17-8.75.
18:10 W 100 METRES HURDLES FINAL - Anay Tejada of Cuba blew open the finals with a 12.81 mark that would be a new world junior record except for the +3.4 mps tail wind. Second was Agnieszka Frankowska POL at 13.16. Ashlee Williams USA was fourth at 13.36.
18:25 M 110 METRES HURDLES FINAL - Antwon Hicks USA completed his march through the meet with a better PR each round by winning gold in 13.42 +2.6, comfortably ahead of Dongpeng Shi CHN 13.58. Kenneth Ferguson USA was fifth in 13.91.
18:45 W 1500 METRES FINAL - The Kenya-Ethiopia distance rivalry played out once more as Viola Kibiwot KEN ran a personal best 4:12.57 to prevail over Berhane Herpassa ETH 4:13.59. Kibiwot took the lead at the 1200 meter mark in 3:25.48 after Lisa Dobriskey GBR set the pace through 400 meters in 1:07.09 and 800 meters ion 2:18.76. Dobriskey ended up fourth in 4:14.72, just missing a medal to Olesya Syerva RUS 4:14.32.
19:00 M JAVELIN THROW FINAL - Igor Janik POL 74.16 243-4.
19:05 M 1500 METRES FINAL - Chris Lukezic USA got another PR at 3:46.01, but it was only good enough for 11th in the rarefied air of the world finals. Yassine Bensghir MAR 3:40.72 won gold, taking the lead late from Isaac Songok KEN, who led through 800 meters in 2:03.60 and 1200 meters in 3:00.57.
19:25 W 4 X 100 METRES FINAL - Jamaica 43.40 (Simpson Sherone, Stewart Kerron, McLaughlin Anneisha, Facey Simone) edges USA 43.66 (Williams Lauryn, Williams Ashlee, Solomon Shalonda, Hooker Marshevet), just missing the world junior record by 0.02.
19:45 M 4 X 100 METRES FINAL - New world junior record for USA 38.92 (Collins Ashton, Felix Wes, Williams Ivory, Hordge Willie). National junior records for silver winning Jamaica 39.15 (Hutton Winston, Nicely Orion, Plummer Yhann, Bolt Usain) and bronze winning Trinidad & Tobago (Simpson Chevon, Burns Marc, Holder Kevon, Brown Darrel).
20:05 W 5000 METRES FINAL - Meseret Defar ETH 15:54.94 doubled (she won the 3000 earlier), with Ethiopia also getting silver with Tirunesh Dibaba 15:55.99. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya was third at 15:56.04.
20:40 W 4 X 400 METRES FINAL - Shaking off injuries to Sanya Richards and Allyson Felix, USA missed the world record but won the gold with Christina Hardeman, Monique Henderson, Tiffany Ross, and Lashinda Demus. Great Britain 3:30.46 and Russia 3:30.72 claimed the other medals in front of Jamaica 3:31.90.
21:00 M 4 X 400 METRES FINAL - Kenneth Ferguson, Darold Williamson, Ashton Collins, and Jonathan Fortenberry held off Jamaica's national junior record 3:04.06. Japan 3:05.80 won bronze.

See the Events Index for start lists, results, photos, and commentary. Everything about each event on one page. DyeStat has on-site reports and photos from the NSSF team of Jim Spier, Mike Byrnes, and Joy Kamani.

Lashinda Demus -- In the awards ceremony Thursday, they played video of her world junior record 400H and superimposed Lashinda watching the video.

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