NSAF @ IAAF World U20 Champs! Day 2 PM: Baker makes javelin history
Project Javelin senior earns first U.S. U20 medal in event
Here is NSAF Director Jim Spier's recap of Wednesday evening at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Women’s Javelin Final
We’re very excited because Dana Baker (North, Olathe, KS) becomes the first US athlete to get a medal in this event at the U20 championships ever, male or female. She is a member of NSAF Project Javelin Gold, a subgroup of the NSAF which provides high level coaching to eight promising athletes each year with the goal of getting to the podium in World and Olympic championships. Dana is the first one to attain that goal.
Dana took the lead in round two with 180-04, but was eclipsed by the eventual gold and silver medalists, Alina Shukh (UKR - 183-06) and Tomoka Kuwazoe (JAP – 182-06), soon thereafter. And that’s the way it stayed through the 6 rounds. (Fourth was 176-08)
Dana’s series:
170-01 180-07 174-03 169-07 F 173-07
Men’s 100m Semifinals
No problem for Anthony Schwartz (American Heritage, Plantation, FL) in semi 1, winning in 10.19. He had drawn lane 8 due to poor round 1 performance. Eric Harrison (Ohio State) had to be one of the auto qualifiers in the third and final heat because it was relatively slow. He did win a close one in 10.36, with 10.36 second and 10.38 third.
Men’s 100m Finals
Where did that guy come from? The US athletes Anthony Schwartz and Eric Harrison (Ohio State) were heavily favored to get medals, with Schwartz the gold medal favorite. But out of lane 8 came Lalu Muhammad Zohri of Indonesia, running 10.18 and getting the win. Schwartz was 2nd in 10.22 with Harrison 3rd in the same time.
Decathlon Javelin
Lots of PBs here, including another one for the leader Ashley Moloney of Australia. Kyle Garland came close to his 53.04 PR with 53.00 (173-11). Moloney looks almost unbeatable even though he is not the greatest 1500m runner.
Standings after 8 events:
1. Ashley Moloney AUS 7526
2. Gary Haasbrooek AUS 7089
3. Simon Ehammer SUI 7007
4. Stepan Kekin ANA 6984
5. Kyle Garland USA 6882
6. Finley Gaio SUI 6869
7. Leon Okofor AUT 6814
8. Manuel Wagner GER 6804
Decathlon 1500m
Ashley Moloney set a meet record of 8190 as the Australians to 1-2.
The final standings
1. Ashley Moloney AUS 8190 MR
2. Gary Haasbroek AUS 7798
3. Simon Ehammer SUI 7642
4. Manuel Wagner GER 7552
5. Finley Gaio SUI 7455
6. Leon Okofor AUT 7454
7. Kyle Garland USA 7451
8. Andreas Bachmann GER 7333
Men’s 110m Hurdles Semis
Jason Nicholson (GBR), who looked good in the first round, bested favorite Damion Thomas (JAM) in their semi, winning 13.32 to 13.37. Cory Poole (Florida) won his semi, looking back dangerously as he had in round 1, running 13.68, the 7th fastest qualifier. Joseph Anderson (Oregon) ran the same time as Poole but did not make it as a time qualifier.
Women’s Shot Put Final
A shocker here with Alyssa Wilson (UCLA) fouling three times and not advancing to the finals. Lindsay Baker (Ashland) the other 56 footer on the US team. Lindsay made the final, but fouled three times in those finals, finishing 6th in 51-5, well off her 56-1.5 personal best.
Women’s 800m Semifinal
Right after Alyssa Wilson fouled out of the championship shot put, there was another shocker for the US 800m runners. Defending champ Samantha Watson (Texas A+M) looked sluggish in her heat, finishing fourth in 2:03.95, her only hope being one of the two time qualifiers. She was knocked out in the next heat. The third heat, featuring Caitlin Collier (Bolles, Jacksonville, FL) went out much slower and Collier had to be one of the two auto qualifiers and she was not, finishing fourth in 2:03.95, the exact same time as Watson.
Men’s Pole Vault Qualifying
The usual suspects: Armand Duplantis (SWE/Lafayette, LA), Sondre Guttormsen (NOR, Davis, CA), Zach Bradford (Bloomington, IL) and Cole Riddle (Arizona State) advanced to the final, all clearing 17-00.75
Women’s 400m Semifinals
Only one American, Taylor Manson (Florida) was in the semis, and she performed well, winning her semi. The leading qualifier is the non-Sydney McLaughlin world leader, Hima Das of India at 52.10.
Men’s Long Jump Final
This continued the US snake-bitten day. Rayvon Allen (Wichita) finished tennth in the finals prelim. JuVaughn Blake (LSU) got the 8th place locked up on his final jump though he jumped the same distance (7.63) as Andriy Avramento (UKR) because of a better second jump. But Avramenko was the last jumper in the prelims and he jumped 7.50, getting the 8th and final spot ahead of Blake because he now had the better second jump. In a bit of a surprise, Yuki Hashioka took the gold in 26-04.25.
Women’s 3000m Final
This was another major upset, and it also featured a Japanese athlete. Both Nozomi Tanaka and Yuna Wada ran together, well ahead of the pack, for 2600m. The two Ethiopian runners were stalking, still well back, and eventually caught Wada, but not Tanaka. Tanaka won in 8:54.01, a PB. The Ethiopians finished 2nd and 3rd, with Wada fading to 4th. The Americans ran well. Iowa State teammates Callie Logue and Amanda Vestri both got PBs, with Logue finishing 11th at 9:16.78, and Vestri in 13th at 9:21.95.
