4th Iolani Invitational
Hawaii Sept. 21
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Day 1 - Tuesday July 16

Detailed Results on Event Pages

Stories

Highlights

  • Men's 100 Quarterfinals. Darrel Brown guns for World Junior record
    The favorites stepped it up in the second round of qualifiers, winning the four heats as follows: Brendan Christian ANT 10.23 +1.6, Willie Hordge USA 10.25 +3.9, Marc Burns TRI 10.32 +2.6, and Darrel Brown TRI 10.17 +1.4. Rashaad Allen USA was second to Brown in 10.34 to advance to the semis. Brown's was the fastest junior time in the world this year even while shutting down in the last 15 meters. After the race, he told the Jamaica Observor that he is gunning for the world junior record of 10.06. Semis and finals are Wednesday night.
  • Men's Shot Put final. Sean Shields (right) won the Team USA's first medal of the meet by placing second at 20.54 67-4.75. Edis Elkasevic of Croatia won with a throw of 21.47 70-5.25. Elkasevic already led when he produced his best on his last throw. Jonathan Silverman USA was 12th at 18.38 60-3.75.
  • Decathlon.Donovan Kilmartin started off well, improving on his US Junior Nationals scores in four of five events. Kilmartin led all competitors in long jump with a personal best 7.27 23-10.25 and he was second in high jump at 6-8.25. After the first day, Kilmartin was in third place with 4061 points, which is 112 points higher than his first day score at US Jr Nat.
  • Men's 800 meter prelim. Frank Francois 1:50.10 and Richard Smith 1:50.17 advanced for Team USA, but they were among the four slowest qualifiers. The other 12 qualifiers were all under 1:50, led by Alex Kipchirchir of Kenya 1:48.26.
  • Men's 400 meter hurdles round 1. Team USA won two of the five heats: Kenneth Ferguson 50..38 and Bershawn Jackson 51.29. Louis Van Zyl RSA 50.60 was the second fastest qualifier and Jackson third.
  • Men's 400 meters round 1. Team USA won two of five heats with Darold Williamson 46.72 and Jonathan Fortenberry 47.16. Fastest of the round was Wilan Louis BAR 46.46 as seven runners were under 47 seconds.
  • Women's 100 first round. Team USA's pair won their heats -- Marshevet Hooker 11.65 -0.4 and Lauryn Williams 11.69 -2.9 -- but the fastest heat winner was Olga Fyodorova of Russia in 11.51 -0.6. Vida Anim of Ghana, one of the pre-meet favorites with the fastest time in the world this year, did not start.
  • Women's 400 first round. America's last two HS 400 meter record holders had the fastest times of the session -- Monique Henderson 52.81 and Sanya Richards 53.14. The other two heat winners were Tatyana Popova RUS 53.46 and Sheryl Morgan JAM 54.14.
  • Women's Triple Jump qualifier. Team USA's entrants did not advance from a very tough qualifying round, with Sheena Gordon 12.81 42-0.5 and Brooklyn Hann 12.76 41-10.5. Best of 12 qualifiers for the finals was Mabel Gay of Cuba at 13.67 4-4-10.25.
  • Women's Javelin qualifier. Lindsay Johnson USA 50.87 166-10 was the fifth best of 12 throwers advancing to the finals. Best was Andrea Kvetova CZE 54.65 179-3.
  • Men's 100 Heats: Team USA sprinters Rashaad Allen 10.48 +1.5 and Willie Hordge USA 10.59 -0.3 advanced to the second round. Brendan Christian of Reagan Austin TX high school, running for Antigua, was the fastest qualifier, winning heat 1 in 10.36 +0.7. Marc Brown TRI 10.45 +1.7 in heat 9 was the second fastest qualifier. Brown's Trinidad & Tobago teammate, world #1 ranking Darrel Brown, won heat 6 in 10.49 -0.1.
  • Men's Shot Put Qualifying Round: USA's Sean Shields 20.35 66-9.25 and Jeremy Silverman 18.77 61-7 advanced to the Tuesday night finals. Shields was second to Mika Vasara of Finland 20.43 67-0.5. Vikas Gowda of Frederick MD and U-North Carolina, competing for India, advanced with 19.05 62-6.
  • Women's Pole Vault Qualifying: Lacy Janson USA advanced to Thursday's final by clearing 3.90 12-9.5 on her first attempt. She stayed alive at 3.80 12-5.5 on her third attempt. Julene Bailey USA 3.70 12-1.5 did not advance.

 

Jim Spier's Event by Event Report on Tuesday evening

100m - Quarterfinals
Heat 1: Two false starts charged to others didn’t hinder Brendan Christian’s speed. He ran a fast 10.23 (+1.6), the fourth best US high school performance of the year. Christian is the US leader at 10.20 and now owns 2 of the top 4 times for the season.
Heat 2: A good start by Willie Hordge afforded him the victory at 10.25w, though just barely. He raised his arm in victory as he crossed the finish line and almost got caught by Daniel Ward of the Netherlands (10.27w).
Heat 3: Marc Burns, the “# 2” Trinidadian, handled the field in easy fashion, running 10.32w. Roman Smirnov (Russia) gained steadily near the finish to take second in 10.38w.
Heat 4: Wow! Darrel Brown (believe it not) running easily, sped to the fastest Junior time in the world this year, 10.16 (+1.4). Barring anything unforeseen, he should be the gold medalist at this time tomorrow.

400m - Round 1 (top 4 in each heat and those with next 4 fastest times advance to semi-finals).
Heat 1: Wilan Louis of Barbados, with a lifetime best of 45.91, won this heat in 46.46. Running in lane 7 he led for most of the race, powering over the last 50 meters to secure the win.
Heat 2: It was almost as if Darold Williamson had an out of body experience. He was, on one hand, running the race and, on the other, watching it. “Cruising” may be the operative word, as he totally controlled the race, winning at will. His time: a “relaxed” 46.72.
Heat 3: One could feel the pressure on the local kids. Jermaine Gonzales, one of the Jamaican medal hopefuls, ran a tentative first half of the race, then finished strongly to hold off a surging Brice Pinel of France, winning with a time of 46.86.
Heat 4: Stuck in lane 1, Jonathan Fortenberry of the US struggled for 200 meters, then finished strongly, winning in 47.16.
Heat 5: In a race that seemed like it could go to anyone, Young Talkmore Nyongani of Zimbabwe, bested a group of five battling for second. Nyongami won in 46.82 . Only .23 separated second through sixth (47.24 through 47.47).

800m - Round 1 (top 2 in each heat and those with the next 6 fastest times overall advance to the semifinals).
Heat 1: Tactics is the name of the game in these races, especially in the earlier heats. Antoine Martiak was the leader at 400 meters in a pedestrian 55.01. Then the race began. Three sprinted at the end to get the 2 automatic qualifiers, with Adam Abdu Adam Ali (Qatar) besting
Heat 2: Alex Kirchirchir (Kenya) put on a show for the fans with a 51.64 opening 400m and 1:19.20 600m on his way to a 1:48 win. His 1:45.5 earlier this season makes him the favorite for one of the medals.
Heat 3: David Fiegen (Luxemburg) showed a great kick in winning this race in a relatively slow time of 1:49.86 . (He has a seasonal best of 1:45.96). Frank Francois of the U. of Tennessee nipped at the “wire” to gain auto status with a second place finish in 1:50.10.
Heat 4: Salem Amer Al-Badri (Qatar) edged Ismail Ahmed Ismail (Sudan), 1:49.63 to 1:50.13, with only 2 qualifiers coming from this heat.
Heat 5: A race marred with contact, incidental and otherwise, saw several athletes falter during the race with one ultimately falling and putting himself out of contention. Richard Smith, the American, one of those who lost his balance near the end of the first lap, could not stay with the sprinters at the end and finished fourth, barely advancing on time (1:50.17).

5000m - FINAL
Sound familiar? The voice of Scott Davis, the English language public address announcer, saying, “Here we go ... with 2 laps to go - 2 Kenyans and 2 Ethiopians ... “. The second Kenyan, Solomon Busiendigh, was dropped from the lead pack of four with a lap to go, but the 2 Ethiopians, Gebre-egziabhe Gebremariam and Markos Geneti, and Kenyan Hillary Chenonge battled it out with several lead changes over the final 300 meters. Chenonge prevailed, pulling away with 20 meters to go. He promptly stopped his wristwatch as he crossed the finish line. Rod Koborsi of the US finished 11th in 14:24.91.

400m Hurdles - Round 1 (Top 4 in each heat and those with the next 4 fastest times advance to semi-finals)
Heat 1: A relatively easy win (51.29) for American Bershawn Jackson in a race where there was no problem hitting hurdles.
Heat 2: Marcin Joachimiak (Poland) led only for the last few meters (52.31) as four athletes, including World Junior leader Shibao Zhang (China, 50.07), qualified to the next round virtually together (second through fourth ran within .06 of each other).
Heat 3: Kenneth Ferguson ran a personal best 50.38, only .05 off the US high best for the season. Sensing the crowd was cheering for him, he ran a great second half of the race. In reality, the crowd was backing Jamaican medal hope Gregory Little who finished second (51.74).
Heat 4: Race favorite Louis Van Zyl (South Africa) won from lane 2 (50.59) with Kenyan Julius Bungei charging at the end to take second in a creditable 50.90.
Heat 5: Steven Green of Great Britain (51.68) bested Finland’s Jussi Heikkila (51.96). Heikkila was the pre-race favorite, having run a seasonal best of 50.37 exactly one month ago.

Shot Put - FINAL
Edis Elkasevic (Croatia) dominated the competition, actually winning on his second throw (67-6.75), though improving with throws five (68-1) and six (his ultimate winning mark, 70-5.25). The 70-5.25 is a World Junior Record with the new (6 kilogram) shot. He had 3 fouls as well. Sean Shields (USA) moved from fourth to second on his fifth throw, getting the silver with a throw of 67-4.75. The finals:

1. Edis Elkasevic Croatia 70-5.25
2. Sean Shields USA 67-4.75
3. Mika Vasara Finland 67-3.25
4. Michal Hodun Poland 67-0
5. Bertrand Vili France 66-0.25
6. Dmitriy Sivakov Belarus 65-6.25
7. Yasser Ibrahim Egypt 63-11.5
8. Vikas Gowda India 63-4
9. Taavi Peetre Estonia 61-5
10. Khalid Habash A-Suwaidi Qatar 61-2.75
11. Chris Meisner Canada 60-10
12. Jeremy Silverman USA 60-3.75

Decathlon - Shot Put
Tanel Turk (Estonia) was the leader at 49-10.5. Donovan Kilmartin could manage only 44-7 for 13th overall.

Women

100m - Quarterfinals (top 5 in each heat and those with next 4 fastest times advance to semi-finals).
Heat 1: A “no show” by World Junior leader Vida Anim (Ghana - 11.26) made life a bit easier for American Marshevet Hooker. She ran 11.65, with Bulgarian Iuliana Beltcheva second (11.81).
Heat 2: Lauryn Williams of the USA held off Jamaican Kerron Stewart, 11.69 to 11.81 .
Heat 3: Olga Fyodorova of Russia made it known that she would be a force with which to be reckoned, easily handling Jamaican favorite Simone Facey. Fyodorova (11.51) bested Facey (11.68) and surprise second placer Krysha Bailey of Canada (11.67).
Heat 4: Thatiana Regina Ignacio of Brazil started slowly and gained momentum as the race progressed, going from sixth to first in 50 meters and running close to her personal best (11.51) with a time of 11.61. Virgil Hodge of St. Kitts (and Washington Irving HS in New York City), led at 50 meters but ultimately finished third (11.80), being bested as well by Margarita Anisimova (Russia, 11.71).

400m - Round 1 (top 3 in each heat and those with next 4 fastest times advance to semi-finals).
Heat 1: An easy win for Russian Tatyana Popova at 53.46, running in lane 8. Local favorite Davita Prendergast of Jamaica entering with a seasonal best 52.24, struggled in lane 2, finishing fourth in 54.65.
Heat 2: Running totally under control, Jamaican Sheryl Morgan pleased the home town crowd with a convincing 54.10 win. Australian Rebecca Irwin, fifth with 100 meters to go, sprinted past all but Morgan to take second.
Heat 3: Monique Henderson of the USA led from the gun with a seemingly effortless 52.81 win.
Heat 4: “I hope they still like me,” was the quote in the morning paper, referring to her representing the US in her land of birth. They did. The crowd encouraged her as she easily won her heat. Blasting out of the blocks and leading for the first 100m, she coasted and seemed to watch her competition through the first half of the race. She picked it up from there, and won “going away” in 53.14.

3000m - FINAL
The heat certainly affected the time for this race but not the outcome. North African powerhouse Ethiopia again was victorious with Meseret Defar putting forth a powerful kick over the final 150 meters to win going away in 9:12.81. It was the first final of the competition. Sara Bei, the Northern Californian and one of two Americans in the race, finished 15th in 9:38.92, certainly commendable given the heat and humidity. Lindsay Zinn, the Purdue sophomore, finished 19th in 10:08.17. The leaders:

1. Meseret Defar Ethiopia 9:12.61
2. Mariem Al Aoui Selsouli Morocco 9:16.28
3. Olesya Syreva Russia 9:16.58
4. Tatyana Petrova Russia 9:17.83
5. Machi Tanaka Japan 9:19.95
6. Inna Poluskina Latvia 9:22.24
7. Peninah Chepchumba Kenya 9:22.38
8. Chemutai Rionotukei Kenya 9:25.89


Triple Jump - Qualifying
Mabel Gay of Cuba, the World Junior leader at 46-10.75, led the qualifiers with a jump of 44-10.25. Americans did not advance, with Sheena Gordon finishing 13th at 42-0.5 and Brooklyn Hann 15th at 41-10.5. The qualifiers:

1. Mabel Gay Cuba 44-10.25
2. Keila da Silva Costa Brazil 44-3.25
3. Arianna Martinez Cuba 43-11.75
4. Olga Saldukha Ukraine 43-6.5
5. Shaohua Yu China 43-5.75
6. Zita Ovari Hungary 43-0.5
7. Katja Demut Germany 42-11.5
8. Tatyana Bocharova Kazakstan 42-11.5
9. Kamila Rywelska Poland 42-8.75
10. Simona La Mantia Italy 42-6.75
11. Anniina Lindholm Finland 42-6.75
12. Athanasia Perra Greece 42-3.5

Javelin - Qualifying
The current top four in the world, all from China, are not present: Lili Liang (199-1), Juan Xue (189-6), Ning Ma (185-0) and Aihua Geng (182-6). Nonetheless, the competition was keen, as expected, with American Lindsay Johnson qualifying fifth (166-10). The other American, Rachel Walker, had an off day and could manage only 127-6. The qualifiers:

1. Andrea Kvetova Czechoslovakia 179-3
2. Linda Brivule Latvia 168-0
3. Volha Hamza Belarus 167-8
4. Stefanie Hessler Germany 167-7
5. Lindsay Johnson USA 166-10
6. Yuneisy Rodriguez Cuba 166-6
7. Ilze Gribule Latvia 163-2
8. Urszula Jasinska Poland 163-1
9. Kimberley Mickle Australia 162-11
10. Marta Alonso Spain 158-10
11. Elfje Willemsen Belgium 156-10
12. Krista Woodward Canada 154-6

Quotes and Commentary on Day 1 -
of Sean Shields, Sara Bei, Richard Smith, Kenya v. Ethiopia

by Mike Byrnes

“When you’re the captain, you kind of have to come through,” commented a smiling Sean Shields, silver medallist in the Men’s Shot Put. Shields, elected by his teammates, is taking his captaincy seriously. “Sometimes you have to ask guys to shape up a little but I don’t mind.” Asked how he liked the new 6kg shot he frowned before replying, “I don’t like it. You spend all year acclimating yourself to the college shot and then have to go back and learn the high school shot all over.” The 6kg implement weighs a little over 12 lbs. Shields seems to have made the transition rather well. Early in the competition his throw of 19.73 (64-08.75) put him in third but that didn’t last long. Entering the fifth round he’d dropped to fifth but the 20.54 put moved the Arizona frosh into second. “I started sweating out the Finn (Mika Vasara), he was only 4cm behind me and I knew he could get one out there.” But he didn’t and the USA had its first medal.

The other American entrant, Jeremy Silverman advanced to the finals with a throw of 18.38 (63-03.75) but failed to make the final group.

A rather exhausted Sara Bei got out well in the 3000m final but faded in the muggy Jamaican air. “With the World cross (country) it’s been a long season and I have to admit, I’m a little tired.” If you know Bei you know she’s not making excuses. And when you realize how many races she’s run and run well, it’s understandable she frankly admits to not being at her best. “It was also the roughest race I’ve ever been in. Being intentionally pushed and shoved surprised me.” Sara, welcome to the bigtime.

In the Men’s 800m two Virginians, Frank Francois (Lake Braddock, Burke, VA) came off the final turn flying and advanced to the final. But Richard Smith (South Lakes) couldn’t recover his composure after a near fall at the 500m mark and found his usual fast finish drastically slowed. “I got shoved and almost fell (at about the 500m mark) and it made my hamstring tighten up,” he said. But he slipped into the final and don’t be surprised if he’sright there at the finish.


The rivalry between the Kenyans and the Ethiopeans is a fierce one and not always friendly. Perhaps the greatest race I’ve ever seen took place in Seoul in 1988. Ismael Kirui opened up a huge lead over a young Haile Gebreselassie. Inevitably the pace slowed and the Ethiopean gradually closed the gap. With 400m to go they were even. As they entered the backstretch Geb made his move and opened a five meter gap. The race was over. But no, Kirui came back and going into the final turn went by Gebreselassie. An awesome comeback with Kirui taking the gold. No. Gebraselassie came off the final turn and raced past the exhausted Kirui. But the Kenyans never know when to quit. With 100m left Kirui made one last move that carried him to the front. The crowd was exhausted from screaming at the constantly changes over the final stanza. There could be no more moves, no more attacks, both men were beyond exhaustion. But, with less than ten meters to go Kirui staggered to lane two and Gebreselassie slipped by on the inside. A frustrated Kirui raised his fist and punched the Ethiopean in the back as they crossed the finish line. By .05 Geb had taken the gold, 13:36.06 to 13:06.11. There was some talk abolut a disqualification but saner heads took over and let the infraction pass. It was a good call. By the way, a well beaten third, 13:46.79 was a youngster who begged me to take his picture with the other two, I did and still have it. His name, Hicham El-Guerrouj.

The Opening Ceremonies

by Mike Byrnes

It’s a great sight. Kids representing 160 nations marching behind young Jamaicans carrying identifying placards. Each nation is permitted to send two athletes to march around the track. Albania leads the way. Andorra, Croatia, Eritrea, Fiji, The Gambia, Israel, Somalia, Latvia, Lesotho, Malta, Tonga, St Kitts and Nevis, Thailand and on they come. Some have more coaches, managers, doctors and hangers-on than they do athletes. The colors and pageantry are impressive. Not nearly as grand as the Opening Cere- monies for the OG but also not as ostentatious and overblown. It’s probably what the Opening Ceremonies were intended to be. Colorful and patriotic but subdued. Not a showcase for network rock stars, underdressed divas and barely disguised promos for next season’s sit-coms.

Now come the speeches and, hey, give them a break; these organizers have spent literally thousands of hours preparing for these championships. Give them their ten minutes in the sun; well, maybe eight. The speeches ended with those always stirring words, “I declare these Games open.”

US flag bearers
Colorful crowd

 

The athletes file off the field, the flags are lowered and furled and the performers march on. They look like grade school kids. They ARE grade school kids. In uniforms ablaze with reds and brilliant golds they set up their Maypoles…Maypoles? Where’s Jennifer Lopez, that great rapster FullaCrap, 37,548 extras trying to earn a few bucks before going back to waitressing and the car wash? Maypoles? What will they think of next! The kids are folk-dancing to a calypso beat. There must be 200 and every kid has more rhythm in their little finger than I have in my entire body. Jim Spier has the binoculars, turns to me and comments, “You should see these kids up close, they’re so cute.” I get my five seconds on the binoculars (I forgot mine, the ONLY think I forgot, honest.) and I’m blown away by the smiling faces. They must teach a class, “Smiling 102” in the schools here. Everybody greets you with a smile, a real fulsome teeth-bared smile. One can’t help but return it and your day is better because of it.

The next wave arrives. MORE kids. They look like little elves. The beat of the music is driving, foot-tapping and the kids run, spin, twirl, leap, roll and everyone in a rhythm that makes me realize what’s wrong with my golf swing.

They file off. The music ends.

The atletes file on, the trials of the Girl’s 400m are about to begin and I never missed JayLo.

When I was here a few months ago, the stadium and its environs looked as if they’d been abandoned several decades ago. The parking lot was filled with debris, the metal was rusting, the seats looked dangerous and the track itself was more like the Culpeper HS track than a championship venue. Then the Jamaicans went to work. The government invested close to a million dollars to bring the aging facility up to par for the championships.

When the Championships were awarded to Jamaica a call went out for volunteers. Three thousand were needed; over five thousand responded.

Sean Shields wins silver in shot, first US medal

USATF release

KINGSTON – Team USA men’s captain Sean Shields (Arizona) capped off an
exciting opening day at the IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships in
Kingston, Jamaica, winning the first medal of the competition for the U.S.,
a silver in the men’s shot put. “I got off one good throw all day, but it
was enough for the silver medal and I will take that,” said Shields about
his fifth round mark of 20.54 meters/67 feet, 4.75 inches following Tuesday’
s competition. Teammate Jeremy Silverman (UCLA) finished 12th in the final
with a mark of 18.38m/60-3.75.

The opening festivities also included a well-choreographed opening ceremony
with the traditional parade of nations and a welcoming speech from IAAF
President Lamine Diack.
Representing Team USA in the parade of nations was Wes Felix (flag bearer)
along Shalonda Solomon and Briona Reynolds. The three U.S. representative
were voted to march in the parade of nations by their fellow teammates.

Tuesday also saw several U.S. athletes turn in fast times and advance to the
semi-finals in their competitions. American Junior 400m record holder Sanya
Richards (St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) HS) and 2000 Olympian Monique Henderson
(UCLA) both won their respective heats in the women’s 400m dash. Richards
ran 53.14 for the automatic qualifier, while Henderson ran 52.81, the
fastest time of the day.

Donovan Kilmartin (Eagle (ID) HS) is in third place with 4061 points
following day one of the men’s decathlon. Kilmartin posted personal bests in
two of the five events he competed in on Tuesday. Kilmartin’s 10.99 in the
100m and 7.37m/24-2.25 in the long jump both bettered his previous bests.
Kilmartin finished off the day with a time of 50.82 in the 400m dash. In the
high jump, he was second in his group with a mark of 2.04m/6-8.25 and tossed
the shot put 13.62m/44-8.25. He will finish the 10-event competition on
Wednesday.

In the men’s 400m preliminaries, Darold Williamson (Baylor) and Jonathan
Fortenberry (South Carolina) both advanced to the Wednesday’s semis with
wins in their heats. Williamson, the number one ranked 400m junior in the
world ran a time of 46.72, while Fortenberry won his heat in 47.16.

Future teammates Kenneth Ferguson (Mumford (MI) HS) and Bershawn Jackson
(Central (FL) HS) also won their respective heats in the 400H. Ferguson and
Jackson, who will both attend the University of South Carolina in the fall,
ran 50.38 and 51.29 respectively.

On the homestretch, Team USA advanced all four of their 100m sprinters to
Wednesday’s semi final. For the men, 2002 U.S. Junior Champion Rashaad Allen
(CSU-Northridge) and Willie Hordge (Forest Brook (TX) HS) each ran two
rounds of 100m heats. Allen ran 10.48 in the first round and 10.34 in the
quarterfinals. Hordge won both his qualifying heats in 10.59 and 10.25
respectively.

For the women, Marshevet Hooker (Southwest (TX) HS) and Lauryn Williams
(Miami) advanced to Wednesday afternoon’s semi final. Hooker’s 11.65 was the
third fastest time of the day, while Williams ran 11.69 to win her heat.

Also advancing on Tuesday was American Junior pole vault record holder Lacy
Janson (Florida State). Janson cleared 3.90m/12-9.5 and will compete in
Thursday’s final at Kingston’s National Stadium. Teammate Julene Bailey
(Skyview (ID) HS) did not reach the final with a mark of 3.70m/12-1.5.

In the men’s 800m, Frank Francois (Tennessee) and Richard Smith (South Lakes
(VA) HS) both advanced to Wednesday’s semi final. Francois ran 1:50.10 and
finished second in heat three for the automatic qualifier. Smith finished
fourth (1:50.17) in an extremely fast heat and qualified on time. In the
women’s javelin, Lindsey Johnson (BYU) qualified for the final with a mark
of 50.87m/166-10. Teammate Rachel Walker (Benton (LA) HS) did not advance
with a final mark of 38.86m/127-6.

In other finals on Tuesday, 2002 U.S. Junior 3000m champion Sara Bei
finished 15th in a hot and humid competition. Bei ran 9:38.92 in the final,
while teammate Lindsey Zinn (Purdue) finished 19th in 10:00.37. Rod Koborsi
(Georgetown) finished 11th with a time of 14:24.91 in the finals of the men’
s 5000m, just after the women’s 3000m. In qualifying for the women’s triple
jump, Sheena Gordon (McDowell (PA) HS) and Brooklyn Hann (Kansas) did not
advance to the finals. Gordon just missed qualifying with a mark of
12.81m/42-0.5, while Hann was not far behind at 12.76m/41-10.5..

Kenyan Hillary Chenonge wins titanic 5000 in record 13:28.30

David Martin (PA) for the IAAF

16 July 2002 - Not unexpectedly the rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia acknowledged as the best distance runners in the world, provided the highlight of the first day's action in Kingston tonight.

Each nation have shared the 5000 metres gold medal on four occasions each. This year's ninth World Junior Championships predictably saw their ace teenagers again making it a two-horse race between the African nations.

Kenya's Solomon Busiendigh took an already broken-up field through a swift first kilometre in 2:36.89. Then virtually to the finish the tiny frame of Hillary Chenonge became the hare in front of his team mate and the Ethiopian's Gebre-egziab Gebremariam and Markos Geneti.

Maintaining a quickish pace, for no other reason than his determination in doing the hard work of 12 1/2 laps, Chenonge deserved his victory in a championship record time of 13:28.30 which sliced four seconds from his own personal best.

But over a ferocious final circuit when Busiendigh became the first casualty shortly after the bell, it seemed as if the double threat from his southerly rivals was going to see Chenonge wilt under the pressure.

But showing remarkable confidence he kicked with just under 200 metres remaining to stall the golden hopes of Geneti who clocked 13:28.83 and Gebremariam who fell away in the final sprint and finished in 13:29.13.

The women's 3000 metres race also went almost to the wire. Over the final lap it brought success for Meseret Defar the Ethiopian storming away for a relatively easy victory in 9:12.61.

Behind, the action was closer. Morocco's Mariam Al Aoui Selsouli won the day by 0.30sec in 9:16.28, both she and Russia's Olesya Syreva setting personal bests.

Edis Elkasevic produced only three valid throws in the shot put. But every one of the Croatian's efforts was in excess of 20 metres - the final effort flying out to a huge distance of 21.47 metres.

With the new six kilogram shot, the Croatian set a new world best performance easily outclassing his rivals. Runner-up Sean Shields threw 20.54m, the American's effort coming in the fifth round.

Third was Finland's Mika Vasara who stole the bronze medal from Poland's Michal Hodun with his last round attempt of 20.50m.

There should be something special in Wednesday night's 100 metres final. The "Trinidad Tornado" Darrel Brown ran 10.17 the fastest time this year by a junior, in his quarter final. Now he believes he can approach the world record of 10.06 if conditions are right.

First Gold Goes to Women's 3000 and Men's Shot Put

Meserat Defar and Edis Elkasevich first World junior champions in Kingston

It will be hard to determine who was actually the first world champion of this 9th edition of the IAAF/Coca cola World Junior Championships. A direct final, the women’s 3000m race ended as the last shot putter was unleashing his very last attempt.

On the track Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, a name well known among middle distance specialists, who won the title in 9:12.16.

In the field Croatia’s Edis Elkasevic waited for his last throw to establish the best performance of the day and a new world record of 21.47m – the junior implement being lighter since 1 January 2002.

The 3000m definitely was a tactical race, Defar remaining in the leading pack only to use her devastating final kick at 200 metres from the line.

“The plan was to attack with 220m to go and that is what I did. I am very happy today, it couldn’t have been a better race for me.”

Aged 19, Meseret has already experienced the senior one day meeting circuit. This year she finished 3rd in the 3000m at the Qatar Athletics Grand Prix of Doha behind Edith Masai and Leah Malot.

“I still have to compete in the 5000m at these championships so there will be no time for partying tonight”, said a delighted Defar after concluding her lap of honour. “And after that I will return to Europe and run some races, maybe in Hechtel.”

The diminutive Ethiopian resembles many of her more famous compatriots in her running style, in her attitude and in her pleasant smile.

“I admire Derartu Tulu and Gete Wami mainly. They have done so much for the country. I hope I will continue the excellent tradition of Ethiopian middle and long distance runners.”

In the history of this event at the World Junior Championships, three Romanians have claimed gold, the most famous of whom Gabriela Szabo in 1994; two Chinese (1992 and 1998); two Kenyans (1988 and 2000) and Switzerland’s Anita Weyermann in 1996.

Despite her nation’s great middle distance tradition, Defar is therefore the first Ethiopian to win the women’s 3000m world junior title.

 

THEY CALL IT THE JUNIORS BUT…

by Mike Byrnes

When I tell my friends back in Culpeper, the thriving metropolis where I reside, they smile and ask why I’m going to watch a lot of little kids run. Unfortunately, most people in the USofA feel much the same. “…a bunch of little kids…” Forget it. This is one of the best track and field meets in the world. Nothing tops the Olympics nor the World Championships and the US Olympic Trials ranks right up there but after than these “little kids” put on the best show in the world. And from this meet come most of the future OG gold medallists and world record holders.

Started in 1986 in Athens, the meet was an instant success. Each year the number of articipating countries grew partly due to the meet being one of the late IAAF Primo Nebiolo. This affable Italian was the genius primarily responsible for the enormous financial success of the sport. And he loved the Juniors. It is strongly suspected that in those years where the country-count appeared to falter, a few calls would be made to some of the smaller nations, checks written, air tickets provided and suddenly five more countries would fly in and the growth would continue.

The meet is usually awarded to a country with little chance of landing one of the major competitions. Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Lisbon, Portugal; Sudbury, Canada; Annecy, France; and Santiago, Chilefor insance. But a couple big-timers have slipped in, Seoul, Athens and Sydney. This year I’m sitting in Kingston, Jamaica. There’s a delightful breeze keeping my colleagues Jim Spier and Joy Kamani cool and alls right with the world.

This meet is the launching pad for most of our sports greats. For many Olympic and World champions as swell as world record holders, the World Juniors was their first major competition.


Take a look at what I mean.
DONOVAN POWELL, Jamaica; ATO BOLDEN, Trindad; ANDRE CASON, USA, former WR in the 60m indoors; one of the alltime greats over 400m, Cuba’s ROBERTO HERNANDEZ; four-time NCAA titleist ANGELA WILLIAMS and the greatest woman sprinter in history, MARION JONES all made their international debuts at the World Junior level. Interestingly, neither Williams nor Jones stood atop the victory podium.

The Kenyans have owned the distances virtually from the beginning. Names like JONAH BIRIR, BENSON KOECH, WILLIAM CHIRCHIR, WILFRED KIROCHI and PETER RONO: MOSES KIPTANUI, JULIUS ACHON all finished in the top two. But take a look at some of those who “merely” medalled. Ever hear of WILSON KIPKETER (4th), HEZEKIEL SEPENG, RSA (5th), PETER BIWOTT (5th), DAVID KRUMMENACKER (7th), NOUREDDINE MORCELI (2nd), FERMIN CACHO, (3rd), KEVIN SULLIVAN (4th), GABE JENNINGS (5th), ANDRE BUCHER (2nd) and a name familiar to every t&f fan HICHAM EL-GUERROUJ (3rd). The above reads like a Who’s-Who of distance running. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

Did JAVIER SOTOMAYOR ever amount to anything? What about DRAGUTIN TOPIC or MARK BOSWELL? Didn’t NICK HYSONG win the OG gold? ADAM NELSON won here and MIKE STULCE copped the silver losing to future Olympic champ ALEKSANDR KLIMENKO. ANDY BLOOM was 9th. US high school discus record holder NIKLAS ARRHENIUS competed for Sweden but couldn’t win taking silver.

Olympic champ ROBERT ZMELIK couldn’t win the WJRS nor could SUZIE POWELL.

So many greats and so many heartbreaks. I’ll never forget GABE JENNINGS sobbing on my shoulder after he made a mental mistake that took all of .3 but will last a lifetime. Jennings came to Annecy in 1998 convinced he could win and beat the Kenyans. In superb shape he breezed to victory in his heat in 3:47.76. In the final he ran beautifully relying on his terrific speed to win. But with 215m left he let himself be boxed for only an instant. That was all it took. The leaders started their sprint at exactly the same time and when Jennings broke out he gained but couldn’t catch the leaders.

Pardon me for too many names, I get carried away. Sorry.

What about times? Are the performances really world class? You be the judge.
44.66, 1:44.77, 3:37.94, 3:01.90 with 16-year old WILLIAM REED anchoring in 44.+; on the Girl’s side, what’s wrong with 11.12, 22.87, 50.62, 2:00.67 or 4:05.14?

Field Events? 7-09.25 TWICE!! 18-06.5; 55-11 in the TJ; for the Girl’s, 6-06.25; 47-11.75 (TJ), and the 223-11 discus by the great ILKW WYLLUDA.

This is a GREAT track meet. Wish you were here!

Jim Spier's Tuesday Morning Session Event by Event

Tuesday AM

Men

100m - Round 1
Brendan Christian, the Reagan HS (Austin, TX) recent grad, representing Antigua, opened the running portion of the meet with what turned out to be the fastest qualifier, running 10.36 (+0.7). Both U.S. entrants, Rashaad Allen and Willie Hordge, qualified easily, running 10.48 and 10.59 respectively. The pre-meet favorite, Darrel Brown of Trinidad, “jogged” to a heat winning 10.49. Here are the the leading qualifiers going into the quarterfinals:

10.36 Brendan Christian Antigua (Reagan HS, Austin, TX .. U of Texas)
10.45 Marc Burns Trinidad
10.45 Ricardo Pacheco Portugal
10.46 Winston Hutton Jamaica
10.48 Tamunosili Atorudibo Nigeria
10.48 Rashaad Allen USA (Cal State-Northridge)
10.49 Darrel Brown Trinidad
10.54 Marius Broening Germany
10.56 Fabrice Lapierre France
10.57 Denis Kondratyev Kazakstan
10.57 Adam Miller Australia
10.59 Willie Hordge USA (Forest Brook HS, Houston, TX

Shot Put - Qualifying (6kg)
This is the first year for the use of the new implement (6kg). It is about equivalent to the US high school 12 pound shot. Both Americans are among the 12 qualifiers, the final of which will be held tonight at 6pm:

1. Mika Vasara Finland 67-0.5
2. Sean Shields USA (Arizona St) 66-9.25
3. Edis Elkasevic Croatia 66-3.25
4. Bertrand Vili France 64-1.25
5. Michal Hodun Poland 63-1.5
6. Vikas Gowda India (U. N Carolina) 62-6
7. Dmitry Sivakov Belarus 61-11.75
8. Jeremy Silverman USA (UCLA) 61-7
9. Taavi Peetre Estonia 61-6.75
10. Yasser Ibrahim Egypt 61-4.25
11. Khalid Al-Suwaidi Qatar 60-8.75
12. Chris Meisner Canada 60-7.75


Hammer (6kg)- Qualifying
Like the shot, this new implement for the Juniors is 6 kilograms, or about 12 pounds (almost equivalent to the US high school weight hammer). There were no US competitors as none met the qualifying standard. Here are the 12 qualifiers for the final:

1. Aliaksandr Kazulka, Belarus 246-1
2. Werner Smith, South Africa 242-7
3. Ali Mohamed Al-Zinkawi, Kuwait 240-10
4. Kirill Ikonnikov, Russia 235-7
5. Lasse Luotonen, Finland 234-4
6. Frederic Pouzy, France 233-3
7. Mohamed Faraj Al-Kaabi, Qatar 231-8
8. Fabian Di Paolo, Argentina 231-2
9. Timothy Driesen, Australia 228-3
10. Guram Feroyev, Russia 228-0
11. Kamilius Bethke, Germany 221-6
12. Aleh Sinkevich, Belarus 217-10


Decathlon - 100m
Donovan Kilmartin ran decently, finishing in a tie for fifth in his heat at 10.99. That place held up among the 3 heats, garnering 863 points and, of course, a tie for fifth overall after the first event. The leader was Christopher Hallmann of Germany, the winner of Kilmartin’s heat in 10.75.

Decathlon - Long Jump
Donovan Kilmartin leaped to a personal best 23-10.25 (-1.5) to lead all long jumpers. He also jumped 23-7.5 (-2.1) and 23-5.25 (-0.2) for perhaps his greatest series ever. That performance moved him into second place after the 2 events, scoring 1741 points, a mere 12 points behind leader Angel Barreda of Spain (10.80, 23-5.25). In a very close race in the early stages of this event, Nadir El Fassi of France is third at 1720 (11.00, 23-7.25) and Christopher Hallman of Germany fourth (1712: 10.75, 22-8.5).

Women

100m - Round 1
Cancelled ... move to quarterfinals this evening

Pole Vault - Qualifying
There was mixed success for the US. Lacy Janson was among the 12 qualifiers at 12-9.5. Julene Bailey, soon to be a senior at Skyview HS in Nampa, ID, did not have a good day, jumping only 12-1.5 and missing the “cut”. She’ll be eligible to compete in this meet in 2004, however. The world’s top two, Floe’ Kuhnert (Germany) with a seasonal best of 14-5.75, and Yuliya Golubchikova (Russia) at 14-3.25 earlier this season, easily qualified. Here are the qualifiers for the final (auto standard was 13-1.5, or the top 12).

Qualifying at 12-9.5:

Natliya Belinskaya Russia
Yuliya Golubchikova Russia
Anna Huculak Poland
Floe’ Kuhnert Germany
Nataliya Kushch Ukraine
Karla Rosa Da Silva Brazil
Lacy Janson USA
Silke Spiegelburg Germany
Syrine Balti Tunisia
Janna Barer Israel
Dimitra Emmanouil Greece

Qualifying at 12-5.5

Kate Dennison Great Britain
Jirina Ptacnikova Czechoslovakia

IAAF release: Darrel Brown is impressive in 100 meter heats

16 July 2002 - The way he ran his morning heat tells it all. Trinidad and Tobago’s Darrel Brown, 18 years of age, clocked 10.49 to win heat 5 of the men’s 100m first round hardly pushing his talent. Indeed, he got out of the blocks with a decent reaction time of 0.149 and then just let his stride roll on the brand new Mondo track of Kingston’s national stadium. It looked as though he was simply warming down…

“That was the plan. To qualify as easy as possible for the next round,” said Darrell in the mixed zone.

Brown, who is already known by the international media for winning the 100m World Youth title last year in Debrecen, Hungary where he cruised to the line in 10.31, was already in the World Junior Championships final two years ago in Santiago.

Then only aged 16, he finished an excellent fourth behind Mark Lewis-Francis (GBR), Salem Al-Yami (KSA) and compatriot Marc Burns who is still eligible to compete in the Juniors ranks and easily won his morning heat in 10.42.

Brown was also part of the bronze medal winning 4X100m team in Edmonton where he anchored Trinidad and Tobago to a new national record of 38.58.

“Edmonton was a great experience, said Brown. It was my first time with the seniors and I learned a lot from it.”

In addition to Burns, who was second to Brown at last week’s CAC Championships, USA’s Willie Hordge could be the one to threat Brown’s quest for gold in Kingston. US Championships runner up, Texas based Hordge won heat four this morning clocking 10.59 into a 0.3m/s head wind. He also finished second to Brown last year in Debrecen.

But amongst Trinidad and Tobago’s delegation which includes, Brown’s father, older brother and aunt, there is no doubt.

“Darrell told me last night he just wants to win this race no matter what the time be, said his brother Darren, 20 years of age and also a 100m/200m runner. “Two years ago he aimed at making it to the final and he did it. This year he wants gold.”

The new kid on the block whose raw talent was praised last year by Olympic medalist Ato Boldon still has three rounds to go before he can put his name on the roaster list of World Junior championships. But the teenager is experienced and doesn’t feel any pressure.

“I am just going to take every race as it comes and see what happens,” says Brown, sounding like any experienced sprinter on the circuit. On his way to Auburn Alabama, where he will benefit from a US scholarship starting next January, Darrell Brown is a name likely to become very famous.

Admitting he was taking a leaf out of the book of Mark Lewis-Francis who he is aiming to succeed as the World junior champion in tomorow's final, Brown reckons there is plenty of time on his side and will not rush into racing at senior international level.

That is exactly what Lewis-Francis did two years ago. After finishing third in the British Olympic trials everyone expected the teenager to make the trip to Sydney even if only running in the 4x100m relay.

But Lewis-Francis insisted his top priority was the World Juniors and he duly went to Santiago to easily claim a title he still covets and for good measure another gold medal in the 4x100m relay.

Brown said today: "No, I will not be doing the 100 in the Commonwealths. I will only be in the relay The World Juniors have always been my priority."

"I'm still only 17 - and there is plenty of time ahead of me in the future. Yes, I am copying Mark's example."

 

World Junior Championships


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