Saturday’s Action at World Juniors

by Joy Kamani

Continuing Coverage from Moncton, Canada

Team USA medal count now stands at 7. Several finals scheduled for tomorrow including the 4x4 relays, women's 1500m, men's 800 and triple jump and the men's steeplechase.

We'll flash the results on our Facebook Page and on Twitter as well as right here on our website.

Remember to check out Paul Limmer's video interviews on our Video Interview Page


Men's 4x100 Meter Final

There was a question as to how good the U.S. would be in this event. That question was answered with an outstanding result with the US running the third fastest time ever, 38.93. Only the U.S. team who won the World Juniors in Grossetto in 2004 (38.66) and the 2002 team in Jamaica 38.92 ran faster .

The team was comprised of Michael Granger (U of Mississippi), Charles Silmon (TCU), Eric Harris (U of Georgia) and Oliver Bradwell (East, Wichita, KS). The Silmon to Harris pass was a bit tentative, but certainly not as bad as yesterday in the prelims when Joeal Hotchkins was the third leg instead of Harris (Bradwell replaced Marvin Bracy as the anchor). Jamaica in second at 39.55 and Trinidad in third (39.72) both achieved seasonal bests.

Check out Paul Limmer's insightful interview with the team on our Video Interview Page


Women's 4x100 Meter Final

Gold for Team USA

The U.S. wisely kept the same team members and order as in the preliminaries and, with some very good stick passing, manage to improve on their world junior leading time from the prelims, running 43.44. That equals #4 all-time. Second was Germany in 43.74 and the Netherlands, leading off with heptathlon champ Dafne Schippers, and anchored by 100 meter medallist Jamille Samuel, got the bronze and their national record in 44.09. Great Britain changed their order, putting 100 meter champion Jodie Williams on the second leg. That cost them as they blew the stick pass to her and were out of the race. The US team was comprised of Stormy Kendrick (Clemson), Takeia Pinckney (LSU), Dezerea Bryant (Bradley Tech, Milwaukee, WI) and Ashley Collier (Dunbar, Fort Worth, TX).


Women's Pole Vault Final

The favorite, Angelica Bengtsonn of Sweden, coming in with a best of 14-8, won this event in 13-11.25. The Americans, Shade Weygandt (Texas Tech) and Kelsie Ahbe (Indiana U) finished in a tie for 7th at 12-11.5.

1. Angelica Bengtsonn Sweden 13-11.25

2. Victoria Von Eynatten Germany 13-9.25

3. Holly Bleasdale Great Britain 13-7.25

4. Anzhelika Sidorova Russia 13-3.5

5. Sara Bercan Slovenia 13-3.5

6. Caroline Hasse Germany 12-11.5

7. Shade Weygandt USA 12-11.5

7. Kelsie Ahbe USA 12-11.5

9. Hulda Thorsteindottir Iceland 12-5.5

9. Sally Scott Great Britain 12-5.5

9. Amanda Bartrim Australia 12-5.5

Nm Michaela Meijer Sweden


Men's Discus Final

World leader Andrius Gudzius of Lithuania won as expected. He was the world leader at 214-1 and won here in 209-3. Andrew Evans of the US (U of Michigan) was not too far off his 193-10 best which he achieved at the Junior trials last month, finishing 10th in 186-8.

1. Andrius Gudzius Lithuania 209-3

2. Andrei Gag Romania 202-11

3. Julian Wruck Australia 200-5

4. Mykyta Nesterenko Ukraine 198-7

5. Chad Wright Jamaica 197-11

6. Lawrence Okoye Great Britain 196-1

7. Traves Smikle Jamaica 195-6

8. Michael Salzer Germany 195-3

9. David Wrobel Germany 189-8

10. Andrew Evans USA 186-8

11. Eduardo Albertazzi Italy 184-0

12. Danijel Furtula Montenegro 179-3


Men's Triple Jump Qualifying

Both Americans qualified. Omar Craddock (U of Florida) had an auto qualifier at 52-10.25 on his second jump and Marquis Dendy (Middletown, DE) had a "non-auto" qualifier aat 51-5.75. The leading qualifier was Aleksey Federov of Russia, jumping 54-05. He is the world leader at 56-2.

Marquise Dendy

Omar Craddock

Group A

Ernesto Reve' Cuba 53-3.75

Alexandru Baciu Romania 52-10.25

Kola Adedoyin Great Britain 52-0

Zhongwei Xia China 51-10.5

Yuriy Kovalev Russia 51-10

Marquis Dendy USA 51-5.75

Group B

Aleksey Fedorov Russia 54-0.5

Andrea Chiari Italy 53-0.25

Omar Craddock USA 52-10.25

Gaetan Baya France 52-9.25

Jose Sornoza Ecuador 51-3

Benjamin Williams Great Britain 50-10.25


Women's 400m Hurdle Final

Evonne Britton of the U.S. (Penn State) , stuck in lane 8, led through nine hurdles. Steadily moving up was Katisaryina Artsiukh of Belarus who would ultimately win in 56.16, a world junior lead. Britton faded after the last hurdle and just barely hung on for a bronze medal, though running 57.32 for a personal best. Christina Holland of the U.S. (Baylor) was in lane 1 and never was in the running. She finished last in 60.12, well off her personal best.


Men's 4x400m Semi-Finals (3 heats: First 2 in each heat and the next 2 fastest advance to the final)

Semi 1 — A great race down the homestretch saw Germany hold off Poland's charge to win by .01. We split Poland as they are always tough in the 4x400: Mateusz Formanski (47.0), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (47.1), Radoslaw Cichon (47.7) adn Mateusz Zagorski (46.9).

Semi 2 — Great Britain led only in the last 10 meters to win. They ran 3:06.88, the current World Junior lead.

Semi 3- The U.S., running with 3 high schoolers, eclipsed Britain's time from the prior heat to run the fastest time in the world thus far. They ran 3:05.84 with the team of Blake Heriot (Lincoln, Gahanna, OH — 47.1), David Verburg (George Mason — 46.2), Joshua Edmonds (unattached, a graduate of Lee HS, Jacksonville, FL in 2009 — 46.5) and Michael Berry (Rainier Beach, Seattle, WA — 46.0). We suspect two of those will be replaced by 400 meter finalists Josh Mance and Errol Nolan. Second was Japan, anchored well by 400m hurdle silver medallist Takatoshi Abe).

Qualifiers for the final:

Germany 3:08.79

Poland 3:08.80

Great Britain 3:06.88

Nigeria 3:07.17

USA 3:05.84

Japan 3:07.38

Jamaica 3:07.86

Botswana 3:08.32


Women's Hammer Throw Final

With world leader Yirisleydi Ford of Cuba not qualifying for the finals (she fouled three times in the qualifying round), the favorite appeared to be the leading qualifier from two days ago, Sophie Hitchon. She did win, getting the winning throw on her final attempt. There were no Americans in the final.

1. Sophie Hitchon Great Britain 216-7

2. Barbara Spiler Slovenia 214-2

3. Li Zhang China 209-10

4. Yingying Wang China 194-11

5. Jenni Penttila Finland 193-7

6. Ayla Gill New Zealand 187-11

7. Elisa Magni Italy 186-7

8. Elina Uustalo Finland 186-1

9. Katja Vangsnes Norway 183-5

10. Cintia Gergelecs Hungary 181-7

11. Dagmara Stala Poland 178-7

No mark Bianca Fazecas Romania


Men's 5000 Meters

No surprises here. Two distinct packs formed very early, probably at 300 meters. David Bett of Kenya were in the lead pack the entire way (in fact they formed their own pack about halfway through the race). David Bett won in 13:23.76. Bett is ranked #10 in the event for the year on the 5000 meter list. Of the six Kenyans on the list, Bett is the only one that is here. And he is the slowest of those six.

American Trevor Dunbar (U of Portland) lost contact early and finished 11th in 14:16.08.

Women's 4x400m Semi-Finals (First 3 in each Heat and the next 2 fastest advance to the finals)

Semi 1 — The US, with an all high school team, had a fair leadoff with Sanura Eley-O'Reilly (Jack Britt, Fayetteville, NC) running 54.9. She handed off in third. Diamond Dixon (Westside, Houston, TX), running 53.3, brought the team into second. Laura Roesler (South, Fargo, ND) with a fast 53.1 leg, brought the team into the lead. Briana Nelson (J.L. Mann, Greenville, SC) anchored in 54.0, being passed by hometown favorite Canada down the homestech. It was Canada at 3:34.50 and the U.S. in 3:35.26 to automatically qualify).

Laura Roesler passes the baton to Briana Nelson in traffic

Semi 2 — Jamaica led from the gun and looks to be in medal form. It was Danielle Dowie (54.0) to Janieve Russell (52.6) to Natoya Goule (53.0) to Chris-Ann Gordon (52.6) running 3:32.30, the fastest time in the world thus far.

Qualifiers for the final:

Canada 3:34.50

USA 3:35.26

Poland 3:35.66

Jamaica 3:32.30

Bahamas 3:33.50

Nigeria 3:34.81

Romania 3:35.46

Germany 3:37.99


Men's 800 Meter Semi-Finals (3 Heats: First 2 in each heat and the next 2 fastest advance to the Final)

Semi 1 — A fast pace with the runners past 400 meters at 52.13 and 600 meters at 1:20.10. It was Dickson Tuwei of Kenya leading from the gun to win in 1:47.51. Mohamad Al-Garni of Qatar made a big move down the homestretch to get second in 1:48.15

Semi 2 — Robby Andrews of the U.S. (U. of Virginia) ran a very controlled race and put himself into medal contention with the win in 1:48.76. He ran his usual back of the pack race for the first 400 meters led at that point by Esrael Awoke of Ethiopia in 53.72. It appeared that this would be slower overall than the first heat so only the top two would advance. Andrews maintained contact through 500 meters and started his charge with 200 meters to go. He passed the crowd on the outside down the homestretch to win easily. He ran 1:48.76 to win.

Robby Andrews

Semi 3 — I don't think Americans have ever won semi-finals, much less even qualified two to the finals. In a very fast race (52.30, 1:19.47), Cas Loxsom of the US (Penn State) was second to Kenyan David Mutua through 700 meters at which he "broke" Mutua, pulling away and winning by 5 meters. His 1:46.91 was the fastest of the day.

So into the final go two Americans, two Kenyans and two Frenchmen (both time qualifiers). No American has ever medalled in the 800 meters. Things are likely to change this time around.

Qualifiers for the final:

Dickson Tuwei Kenya 1:47.51

Mohamad Al-Garni Qatar 1:48.15

Robby Andrews USA 1:48.76

Amine El Manouri Morocco 1:48.83

Cas Loxsom USA 1:46.91

David Mutua Kenya 1:48.04

Samir Dahmani France 1:48.31

Pierre-Ambroise Bosse France 1:48.38


Men's 110m Hurdle Semi-Finals (3 heats: First 2 in each heat and next 2 fastest advance to the final)

Semi 1 (+0.4) — Caleb Cross of the U.S. (U of Arkansas) let for nine hurdles then seemed to lose his focus over the tenth at which point Wataru Yazawa of Japan overtook him. Both qualified for the finals, with Yazawa running 13.57 and Cross at 13.72).

Cross and Yazawa

Semi 2 (-1.1) — Johnathan Cabral of the US (Agoura, CA) had a poor start and could not get up with leaders and finished fourth, though he was closing at the end. He ran 13.80 in fourth.

Cabral and Martinot-Lagarde of France

Semi 3 (-0.9) — The world leader, Jack Meredith of Great Britain led from the gun and looks to be the class of the field. He won in 13.52, the fastest time of the day.

Qualifiers for the Final

Wataru Yazawa Japan 13.57

Caleb Cross USA 13.72

Greggmar Swift Barbados 13.65

Pascal Martinot-Lagarde France 13.73

Jack Meredith Great Britain 13.52

Sam Baines Australia 13.66

Vladimir Vukicevic Norway 13.67

Mitchell Tysoe Australia 13.77


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