Day 1 Event Summaries
Jaron Roberson
Heat 3 — Fan favorite Lorenzo Veroli of Italy led for most of the race. With 15 meters to go, Jeremiah Mutai of Kenya and Ziemowit Dutkiewicz of Poland made a charge, with Mutai winning 52.85 to 52.86. Veroli finished third in 52.99 to advance.
Heat 4 - Cornelius Kiptonui of Kenya looked splendid for 8 hurdles as did Selya Kato of Japan. Kato was leading after the 8th hurdle and began to pull away. Kiptonui responded and almost caught Kato, with Kato winning by .01 in 53.13.
Boys 100m Round 2
(Top 3 in each heat and the one with the next fastest time will advance to the semifinal)
Heat 1 - As he did in round 1, Juquan Tan of China, looked very good, winning in 10.65.
Heat 2 — Won by Moriba Morain of Trinidad in 10.61, with local favorite Giovanni Galbieri a close second in 10.65. Colin Hepburn (Glenbrook South, Glenview, IL) was never in the race, finishing 7th in 10.95.
Colin Hepburn
Heat 3 — Ryota Yamagata of Japan, with no wasted motion, won easily in 10.62.
Heat 4 — Wow! Aaron Brown of Canada, who looked so good this morning, ran even with Prezel Hardy (Ellison, Killeen, TX) for 70 meters. When Hardy made a move to pass Brown, Brown found another gear and handily passed Prezel to win in the fastest time of the day, 10.46. Hardy was second in 10.57.
Prezel Hardy
Heat 5 — A Japanese, Takuni Kuki, impresses, this time with a narrow win over Xiang Huang of China, 10.63 to 10.65.
Ryota Yamagata and Takuni Kuki of Japan
Girls Triple Jump Qualifying
Ciarra Brewer (James Logan, Union City, CA) got an automatic qualifier (at least 41-4.25) on her second jump, leaping 41-11.5. She is the sixth qualifier overall. The leadr is Lina Deng of China, with a jump of 42-11.5. A'Lexus Brannon (Ozen, Beaumont, TX) has had better days, managing only 39-8.75 and not advancing.
Ciarra Brewer & A'Lexus Brannon
Girls High Jump Qualifying
Both Americans advanced to the finals, both clearing 5-9.75. Shanay Briscoe (Cypress Christian, Houston, TX) had no misses through 5-9.75. Tara Richmond (Poly, Long Beach, CA) missed twice at 5-8.5 before making that height, then cleared 5-9.75 on her second attempt.
Shanay Briscoe
Girls 400 Meters Round 1
Heat 1 — Romana Kirinic (Croatia) won easily in 55.75
Heat 2 — Ebony Eutsey (Southridge, Miami, FL) cruised to a 54.97 victory, winning by over a second.
Ebony Eutsey
Heat 3 — Michelle Brown (Seneca, Tabernacle, NJ) led almost from start to finish to get the 54.39 win. With 60 meters to go, Sandra Wagner of Sweden took a half-meter lead, but Brown responded and pulled away.
Michelle Brown
Heat 4 — Emmy Fraenk (Bethel, Hampton, VA), representing the Netherlands Antilles, led for the last half of the race and was bested in the last 3 meters by Justine Palframan of South Africa, 55.77 to 56.14.
Heat 5 — It was Adelina Pastor of Romania in 54.86. (They have not made their presence known all day until just now. They are usually all over the 400m, 800m and 1500m).
Heat 6 — Trefasana White of St. Kitts edged Caribbean mate Afia Charles (Eleanor Roosevelt, Greenbelt, MD) of Antigua, 55.04 to 55.64 with both advancing to the next round.
Girls 400m Hurdle Qualifying
(Top 2 from each of the 3 heats and those with the next 2 fastest times advance to the finals)
Heat 1 — Ristananna Tracey of Jamaica won fairly easily (though not aesthetically pleasing) in 61.24.
Heat 2 — Vera Rudakova of Russia, the athlete coached by Tatiana Bell (Earl Bell's sister-in-law) got a new World Youth lead in this event, improving her personal best by about 1 second, running 57.83. Angelica Weaver (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) was fourth in 61.64, and is currently the last (#2) time qualifier).
Angelica Weaver
Heat 3 — Danielle Dowie of Jamaica, the world youth leader (57.88) prior to Rudakova's 57.83, won in 60.45. Katie Nelms (Leland, San Jose, CA) was third in 61.85 and will not advance. (Angelica Weaver's 61.64 held up and will advance to the final).
Danielle Dowie
Girls 2000m Steeplechase Qualifying
It was a great day for the Americans.
Mc Kinzie Schulz (Benet Academy, Lisle, IL) "hang tough" to qualify automatically from section 1, placing fourth. Her time of 6:51.07 was within 3 seconds of her best and proved that she belonged.
McKinzie Schulz
Eleanor Fulton (Highlands Ranch, CO) ran extremely well in section 2, finishing third (and besting a Kenyan — has that ever been done before at this level in the steeplechase?). Her time (6:41.77) puts her #5 all-time on the U.S. high school list. Its also a US sophomore class record breaking Shelby Greany's (Suffern, NY) 2007 mark of 6:44.63. We will see both in the finals.
Eleanor Fulton
Not surprisingly, the top 3 qualifiers are from Ethiopia (2) and Kenya. The leader is Korahubsh Itaa of Ethiopia, having run 6:29.88.
Korahubsh of Ethiopia
Boys 400 Meter Qualifying
No surprises here as the lone American, Josh Mance (Chino Hills, CA), led the qualifiers in 46.88. (Dedric Dukes had scratched from the 400 to concentrate on the 200). Mance went out very fast (seemingly too fast), but coasted the last 100 meters for an easy win.
Josh Mance
Lurking in the background and winning his heat easily and qualifying for the next round, was Kirani James (Grenada). He seemed to jog the entire race, running 48.25, well off his 45.45 World Youth leading best.
Kirani James of Grenada
It took 48.96 or better to advance to the next round.
Girls 100 Meter Round 2
(4 heats with the top 3 in each heat and those with the next four fastest times overall advancing to the semifinals)
Heat 1 — Shaunna Thompson (Great Britain) had an easy time of it, winning in 11.63, more than .3 faster than second-placer Leah Walkeden (Canada).
Shaunna Thompson
Heat 2 — Allison Peter (US Virgin Islands) gave Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth, Oakland, CA) all she wanted, with Purvis just nipping Peter at the finish, 11.68 to 11.70.
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Ashton Purvis
Heat 3 — Another good-looking Brit, Jodie Williams, strided to an11.71 win. She shut it down with 10 meters to go. Her best is 11.56.
Jodie Willliams
Heat 4 — Jordan Clark (Lathrop, Southfield, MI) continues to surprise. For a kid who was barely under 12 seconds late in the season, she PRs at 11.74 in round 1 and now wins handily in round 2 with a big PR of 11.58. It's the fastest time of the day. What a great story!
Jordan Clark
Boys Long Jump Qualifying
The US kids meant business.
The automatic qualifier is 7.30m (23-11.5). Carlton Lavong (Methacton, Fairview Village, PA) decided not to waste his energy and nailed 24-2.25 on his first jump.
Leon Samuels (Vance, Charlotte, NC) managed only about 23 feet on his first attempt, but got a big PR on his second attempt, jumping 24-2.5, to qualify automatically.
The leader is Stefan Brits of South Africa, jumping 24-10.5
Carlton Lavong and Leon Samuels
Girls 1500m Qualifying
Cory Mc Gee (Pass Christian, MS) has been very good on a national level since the 8th grade. This was her first taste of international competition and she performed admirably. She stayed with the pack of 5 through most of 3 laps, then Nelly Ngieywo "poured it on". She had led at 400m (66.02), 800m (2:18.54) and 1200m (3:28.71) and won in 4:17.10. Cory tried to stay in the top 4 to automatically qualify but did not quite it at the end. Nonetheless, she finished fifth for the fastest "time" qualifier. Her time of 4:25.66 was also a personal best. And she will be in the final.
Cory McGee
The second of these two sections was blistering. It was led for the entire race by Gete Dima of Ethiopia, followed closely by Stella Chebet of Kenya. They were a pack of 2 until a lap and one-half to go, when Chebet faded and Chelsea Sveinnson (Greenhills, Addison, TX) passed her to move into second. Chelsea ran extremely intelligently and did not get sucked into the suicidal pace put down by Dima. It was 65.57 (400m), 2:12.06 (800m) and 3:22.36 (1200m). Chebet, as mentioned, could not hold it, and Sveinsson steadily moved up, to ultimately finish second in 4:20.08, close to her PR.
When is the last time the U.S. advanced 2 girls to the final in the 1500m in either the IAAF World Youth or World Juniors? Though I have not done my research, I would say that this is a first.
Chelsey Sveinsson
Morning Session
What a glorious day! Perhaps 65 degrees at 8am, and about 70 an hour later. We are sitting in the stadium with the Alps (technically, the Dolomites) in the background.
Boys 100m Qualifying
Noone was especially impressive until heat 4, when Aaron Brown of Canada strided to a 10.56 win, putting himself in the "favorites" category.
Prezel Hardy (Ellison, Killeen, TX) had an easy go of it in heat 6, winning in 10.83.
Prezel Hardy
The next heat had Colin Hepburn (Glenbrook South, Glenview, IL) who managed to qualify automatically in third with a time of 10.95. Hepburn's seed time was 11.16 even though he had run a legal 10.50 in winning the Illinois state meet. Since the that meet did not publish wind readings (even though they had them), his 10.50 could not be used for entry into the meet. The best result that could be found for him which had wind readings was the 11.16 he ran in the 2008 Junior Olympics. Had the 10.50 been able to be used, the placement into the heats may have been different. Nonetheless, he still advances to the next round.
Colin Hepburn
Boys 800m Qualifying (top 2 and next 8 qualify for the next round)
The Kenyans have easily outclassed the rest of the world in this event. Of the top 9 youth 800 meter runners in the world, the Kenyans represent 8 of those. And they all came from one race, the Kenyan World Youth trials on June 16. The times range from 1:47.4 to 1:49.2. So the 1:47.4 and one of the 1:47.6 kids represent Kenya. The real "slow" ones, from the other 1:47.6 to 1:49.2, stayed home.
Adam Cotton (Great Britain) overtook one of the favorites, Alejandro Hernandez (Cuba) with 20 meters to go, winning in 1:51.97.
Nicholas Kipkoech, the best Kenyan, easily won his heat. Somehow he does not possess the same graceful, loping style typical of the Kenyans. He seemed to be more of a power runner, a la Khadevis Robinson. But he obviously go the job done, winning heat 2 in 1:52.06.
In heat 3, Johan Rogestiedt surprised the two battling for the lead for 790 meters, Fikadu Dejene (Ethiopia) and Giorgio "Chattanooga" Chuchu (Eritrea). Rogestiedt, a lanky 15 or 16 year old (born in 1993) got a PR in winning at 1:51.48, overtaking the leaders with 10 meters to go. I think he's just learning to run.
The first of two American competitors, Bronson Duran (Sandia Prep, Albuquerque, NM), appeared in heat 5. It was a slow pace with Duran hanging in second through the first lap. With 300 meters to go, he tried to overtake the leader Jordan Williamsz of Australia, the ultimate winner. With the top 2 automatically advancing to the next round, it was critical that Duran hold his place since he would not be a "time" qualifier if he didn't. Duran first held off South African Michael Van Aswegen who tried to pass on the inside on the backstretch. Coming down the homestretch, Van Aswegen was gaining momentum, and it appeared he would easily pass Duran. But Duran put on a burst at the end and held off Van Aswegen for second. It was quite a "gutsy" performance by Duran.
Bronson Duran
The other Kenyan, Peter Kiplangat, with a best of 1:47.6, led wire-to-wire and easily qualified in 1:52.12, winning heat 7.
Quincy Downing (Glenville, Cleveland, OH) got his baptism in international running, and the ceremony was not especially pleasant. Knowing that 1:54.88 was the final time qualifier, one would have thought that the pace would have been a bit faster. It was not, with the leader in this race (heat 8) passing 400 meters in 58.56. Downing was with the pack with 200 meters to go, but had nothing "in the tank" on the homestretch. He finished next to last in 1:58.58.
Quincy Downing
Girls Shot Put Qualifying
The U.S. did not especially fare particularly well. Going into the meet, our two competitors had bests in the 44' range. It took 43-6.5 to make the final, with Margaret Satupai of Samoa leading the way with 48-1.75. The Americans, Lacie Rasley and Sarah Howard, threw 40-2.25 and 39-8, respectively. One wonders how the U.S. would have done had the #2 thrower in the world (for Youth), Tori Bliss (Portage, IN), had found her way to the U.S. World Youth Trials. Bliss was the Indiana state champion with a best of 48-2.
Lacie Rasley and Sarah Howard
Girls 100m Qualifying
Ashton Purvis. No problem. She won heat 1 easily in 11.57.
Ashton Purvis
Heat 2 saw another easy win, this one by the Brit Jodie Williams in 11.85.
Heat 3 was won in a relatively slow 12.03 by Brooke Shields look-alike Martina Salander of Sweden. All 6'2" of her.
Heat 4 saw yet another easy win by a Brit, Shaunna Thompson in a seasonal best of 11.71 (she has a lifetime best of 11.46). Thompson rivaled the size of Salander.
The final heat saw a bit of a surprise. Jordan Clark (Lathrop, Southfield, MI), who did not compete during the spring, was impressive with her 11.74 win, a lifetime best. With that race, she seemed to put herself in the medal mix. Allison Peter of the US Virgin Islands, third at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, and the prohibitive pick to win this heat, was second in 11.93.
Jordan Clark
Boys Discus Qualifying
A good day for the Americans, Ryan Crouser (Barlow, Gresham, OR) and Alexander Thompson (Winnebago, IL) who both had automatic qualifiers, Crouser on his first attempt and Thompson on his second. Crouser led all competitors with a throw of 205-4, with Thompson sitting in third at 192-4. Battling for a medal and finishing second in the qualifying is Hamid Mansoor of Syria who threw 205-0.
Ryan Crouser
Girls 100m Hurdles Round 1
Kori Carter of Claremont, CA, in heat 1 of round 1 and a very good start, won handily in 13.73 (these are 30" hurdles). As is her custom, she hugged each of the seven other runners after the race.
The second section was won by Isabelle Pedersen in 13.35. It was an easy 13.35. She looks to be the favorite after the early going.
Bridgette Owens (Southfield, MI) got off well heat 3. Running in lane 3, she was leading most of the race, only to be seemingly overtaken in the last 10 meters by Ekaterina Bleskina (Russia) in lane 6 and Lotta Harala (Finland) in lane 7. In fact, Bleskina did win in 13.76, but Owens edged Harala for second with both running 13.77.
What's up with Scandinavian hurdlers? The class of the competition is Isabelle Pederson (Norway) who ran 13.35. Lotta Harala (Finland) was a close third in her heat at 13.77. And the Finn Nooralotta Neziri won her heat in 13.63. I guess there are other events in those countries than the high jump and javelin. (Pedersen last Friday at the Bislett Games in Oslo, ran 13.46 over the 33" hurdles. She's for real).
