World Juniors 2012- Day One

by Joy Kamani

Day One- Morning Session

Stories by Jim Spier, Photos by Joy Kamani

Please scroll down as the day goes on...

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3000m Steeplechase - Women - Round 1
A great way to start off the championships for the US:  a National High School Record for Brianna Nerud (North Shore, Glen Head, NY).  She ran 10:08.15 in finishing fourth in Race 1, demolishing the six year old record of Marie Lawrence of 10:15.26.  The leader was Tejinesh Gebisa in 10:01.48.  Brianna finished fourth overall from the 2 sections and is only one of four who were under 10:09.  Courtney Frerichs (Missouri-Kansas City) ran well, but was 2 spots of the time qualifier finishing 8th in race 2 and running 10:35.24. less than a second off her PB.


 

Shot Put - Women Qualifying
Both Christina Hillman (Iowa State) and Torie Owers (Athens Academy, Athens, GA) both advanced.  Hillman threw 52-10.25 to finish third among the qualifiers.  The leader was Shanice Craft of Germany at 53-10.25.  Owers was the 10th qualifier overall, throwing 48-7.5.

1500m  - Men - Round 1
It was not a good day for the Americans as both Austin Mudd (Wisconsin) and Izaic Yorks (Lakes, Tacoma, WA).  Mudd, who had been the dominant junior all year, running 3:40.87 in April, could manage only 3:54.82 in his heat and finishing 11th and not advancing.  Yorks fared  better, running 3:49.21 for 7th in his heat but also not advancing.

800m - Women - Round 1
Ajee Wilson (Neptune, NJ) ran a controlled race to easily advance.  She finished second in her race in 2:07.07.  Danielle Aragon (Billings, MT) ran confidently and also qualified, running 2:07.84 in her first international competition.

Javelin - Women Qualifying
Briana Bain (Stanford), the NCAA runnerup with a best of 180-02, did not have a good day.  She threw 156-3 and did not advance.   Haley Crouser (Gresham, OR), the high school record holder advanced as the 11th qualifier overall, throwing 167-5.

110m Hurdles - Men Qualifying
Dondre Echols (Potomac, Oxon Hill, MD) looked strong in winning his heat, running 13.74 and advancing automatically.  Josh Thompson (Pittsburgh) was also an auto quaifier, running 14.04 and finishing third in his heat .  He has a best of 13.80 over the 42" hurdles.  The class of the field appears to be Yordan O'Farrill of Cuba, with an easy win at 13.44.

100m - Men Qualifying

Both Americans - Tyreek Hill (Coffee County, Douglas, GA) and Aaron Ernest (LSU) - won their heats and looked impressive.   They will both have to be on top of their game to challenge the favorite, Adam Gemili of Great Britain who won his heat in 10.37 (-2.5).  Hill looked comparable to Gemili, also running 10.37 (-2.3).  Ernest ran 10.39 (-1.6).

Pole Vault - Men Qualifying
It was not a good day for the American vaulters.  US Junior champ NIkita Kirillov (Georgia Tech) did not make his opening height 16-10.75.  He had cleared 18-2 at the US champs, ranking him fourth in the world among juniors.  Casey Bowen, a 17-0.75 jumper from the U. of Kansas, cleared 16-2.75 to finish 23rd overall and not advance. Update:  Apparently there was an equipment failure during American Nikita Kirillov's third attempt and he was given another.  He cleared that height (16-10.75) and advanced to the final.

400m Men - Round 1
ericans had an easy time of advancing to the next round.  Arman Hall (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale, FL) and Aldrich Bailey (Timberview, Mansfield, TX) easily won their heats.  Hall ran 46.13 and Bailey 46.40.  Luquelin Santos (Dominican Republic), the World Junior Leader at 44.45, did not look especially good, finishing second in his race at 46.34.  Bailey and Santos are expected to challenge for the gold.  They met in 2011 in the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational with Bailey the winner, 46.95 to 47.29.

100m Women - Round 1

Like the Men's 400m, both Americans had a relatively easy time of it.  Dezerea Bryant (Clemson) won her heat in 11.56 (-2.4) as did Jennifer Madu (East, Plano, TX - 11.64 [-2.6]).  Madu is the 2011 IAAF World Youth 100m Champion.  Some familiar faces also ran well.  Khamica Bingham (Canada), was second to Bryant in her heat.  Bingham was third in the 2012 New Balance Indoor Nationals 60m and 200m.  Kadecia Baird (Medgar Evers, Brooklyn, NY/Guyana) was second in her heat to world junior leader Anthonique Strachan (Bahamas), 11.72 to 11.59.  The top 3 automatically qualify to the next round

3000m Women Final
The Kenyans kept their streak alive, now winning 5 World Junior 3000m finals in a row.  Mercy Chebwogen was the winner in 9:08.09, the slowest winning time since Meseret Defar of Ethiopia won in 9:12.61 in 2002.  It was a slow pace, with the leaders passing 1000m at 3:07.90 and 2000m at 6:16.15.  Aisling Cuffe (Stanford) was 6th in 9:19.95, now the yearly US Junior leader.  Lindsay Crevoiserat (Connecticut) ran 9th in 9:21.88. That was exactly the time she ran in winning the ECAC meet in May, and is the prior US Junior leader.

10000m Men Final
It was the usual scenario, the Kenyans vs the Ethiopians.  This time it was Ethiopia the victor in the personage of Yigram Demelash, running a PB 28:16.07.  In the 14 years of the World Junior Championships, the Kenyans have won 7 and the Ethopians 6 (a Ugandan won in 2004).  The only non-East African country ever to medal at this meet has been Japan, with 1 silver and 4 bronze in 28 years.  The Americans, Jake Kildoo (Notre Dame, 11th in 31:10.40) and Ryan Pickering (Oregon, 15th in 31:33.69) were well back and well off their personal bests.

Decathlon Day 1
Gunnar Nixon (Arkansas) led after the first day, scoring 4164 points, 10 points ahead of Tim Dekker of the Netherlands.  The two Australians were at 4101 points - Cedric Dubler and Jake Stein.  Nixon ran 11.23 for 100m, long jumped 23-4.5, threw the shot 47-8.5, high jumped 6-10.75 and ran the 400m in 49.13.  Garrett Scantling (Georgia) had a good score going but stepped on the line in the 400m and was disqualified.

Discus Men Qualifying
Dalton Rowan (Texas A+M), the US Junior Championship runner up at 201-2, advanced in 8th place with a throw of 189-1.  Rodney Brown (LSU), the US Junior champion at 206-8, did not fare so well, finishing 18th (179-4).  The leader is Wojciech Praczyk (Poland) at 199-2.

Long Jump Men - Qualifying
Jarrion Lawson (Liberty Eylau, Texarkana, TX), the 2012 Texas HS 3A champion,  got his qualifier on his third and final attempt, jumping 24-10.5, 8th overall.  Jarrett Samuels (Mississippi State), 5th in the SEC meet at 25-8.25 and the US Junior leader, did not qualify, managing only 24-5.5 and finishing 14th.  The leader is Sergey Morgunov of Russia at 26-3.5.

 

 

 

 

 

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