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BEIJING - Justyn Warner of Markham, Ont., is headed to the men’s 100-metre final at the world junior track and field championships after strong performances in the preliminaries and semifinals on Tuesday.
Warner, ranked fourth going into the competition, was first in his opening heat in 10.53 seconds and second in the semifinals in 10.48 which tied for the fourth fastest time in the semis. Harry Aikines-Aryeetey of Britain was the fastest semifinalist in 10.38, Yohan Blake of Jamaica was next at 10.43 and his compatriot Rose Remaldo followed at 10.45.
‘’I tried to conserve as much energy as possible for the final so I’m really happy with how it turned out,’’ said Warner, 19, making his world juniors debut. ‘’I have a lot left and I’m going to leave everything on the track in the final. I’m never nervous for my races, but yesterday I was already feeling butterflies. Today my form was great.’’
Oluseyi Smith of Ottawa was eliminated in the semis.
Other Canadian men’s results: Andrew Dargie of Calgary advanced to the semis in the 400 while Todd Pyper of Calgary was eliminated; Darren Mazzei of Regina and Geoffrey Harris of Halifax were eliminated in the 800 as was Justin Marpole-Bird of Vancouver in the 1,500.
In women’s competition, Elizabeth Gleadle of Vancouver advanced to Saturday’s women’s javelin final finishing fourth in her group with a 48.87 metre throw.
Carline Muir of Toronto was second in her 400 heat in 53.25 to advance to Wednesday’s semis. She raced in lane 7 and was blinded by the sun and couldn’t see her opponents.
‘’It was a tough situation being in that lane so I really had to focus on my own race,’’ said Muir, competing at her second world juniors. ‘’ ’My goal here is to make the final and challenge for a medal. I felt really good today. Everything went well. It was relaxed and smooth.
Danelle Woods of Ottawa broke the Canadian junior record in the 3,000 steeplechase clocking 10:38.84 in the first round. That eclipsed the previous mark of 10:54.17 set by Meredith McGregor in 2004. Woods was eliminated.
Eliminated in the first round were: Whitney Wellington of Surrey, B.C., and Kimberley Hyacinthe of Lachenaie, Que., in the 100; Kaitlyn Andrews of Georgetown, Ont., in the shotput; Corri-Ann Campbell-Fell of Vancouver and Sarah Wells of Unionville, Ont., in the 400 hurdles.
Smith and Campbell-Fell both set personal bests.
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