Bydgoszcz, Poland - Another three medals were attained by the United
States team on Friday and a pair of them were gold in the men's and
women's 400-meter hurdles at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in
Zdzislaw Stadium.
Takecia Jameson delivered the first U.S. gold during the evening session
as she established a career best of 56.29 and lowered her junior world
leading time of 56.60.
Then it was an American duel in the men's 400 hurdle race where Jeshua
Anderson finished strong to claim gold in a personal best of 48.68 while
Johnny Dutch picked up silver with a 49.25.
The three medals brought the U.S. total to nine over the past three days
with a breakdown of five gold, two silver and two bronze medals. They
currently lead the medal count over Kenya (7), Russia (6), Cuba (6),
Ethiopia (5) and Germany (5).
Miami's Jameson becomes just the second American to capture a gold medal
in the women's 400 hurdles, joining Lashinda Demus (2002). Jameson faced
a strong challenge from Janell Bellille of Trinidad and Tobago through
the first half of the race.
Once through the curve and into the homestretch it was Jameson with the
stronger finish. Bellille set a national junior record of 56.84 for
silver while Great Britain's Meghan Beesley placed third in 57.08.
For Anderson, the World Junior title adds to an impressive collection of
major victories in his freshman season with Washington State - Texas
Relays (49.68), Pac-10 (49.55), NCAA Championships (48.69), and U.S.
Juniors (49.28). Plus he was fifth in the semifinals of the Olympic
Trials (48.92) before embarking on his trip to Poland.
The third consecutive U.S. winner in this event, Anderson becomes the
fourth American gold medalist. Others include Kelly Carter (1988),
Kerron Clement (2004) and Chris Carter (2006).
Anderson's winning time improves his position on the all-time World and
American list by one spot as he equals the mark set by Bayano Kamani in
1999 for fifth best performer.
South Carolina's Dutch, meanwhile, is the third U.S. silver medalist in
the past six years. He joins Kenneth Ferguson (2002) and Brandon Johnson
(2004). Cuba's Amaurys Valle earned bronze with a 49.56 national junior
record.
Nearly reaching the medal podium was Rachel Laurent (Houma, Louisiana)
in the women's pole vault. She matched the bronze medal height of
4.25m/13-11.25, but placed fourth based on needing two attempts at that
height compared to one for Ekaterini Stefandini of Greece.
Rain reached the stadium for the third time in the past four days as the
vaulters neared critical heights to determine medal places. Laurent, who
was clear on misses through her first three heights of 3.80m/12-5.5,
4.00m/13-1.5 and 4.10m/13-5.25, also needed two attempts at
4.20m/13-9.25.
The top two medalists, both Russian vaulters, established a championship
record. Valeriya Volik claimed gold as Ekaterina Kolesova took silver
with clearances of 4.40m/14-5.25.
A second American vaulter in the final, Leslie Brost (Watertown, South
Dakota), placed in a tie for eighth place as she matched her personal
best of 4.10m/13-5.25. Brost also had a clean slate through her first
three heights. Then three attempts were needed to get over
14.10m/3-5.25.
Sprint finals in the 200 closed out the evening session on the track,
but the U.S. was unable to add to its medal collection in either race.
Baylor's Tiffany Townsend placed fifth in the women's race with a 23.64
clocking. Sheniqua Ferguson won in 23.24 ahead of a 23.40 from Meritzer
Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Curtis Mitchell (Port Orange, Florida) ran 20.98 for fourth in the men's
200 while South Carolina's Antonio Sales managed 21.01 for sixth from
lane one. Christophe Lemaitre of France turned in the surprise victory
with a personal best of 20.83 to edge out Jamaica's Nickel Ashmeade in
20.84.
Another field event final had North Carolina's Austin Davis finishing
sixth and Christian Taylor (Atlanta, Georgia) placing eighth in the
triple jump. Davis produced a 15.78m/51-9.25 in the final round while
Taylor hit his best mark of 15.61m/51-2.75 in the second round.
Relay action brought a round of excitement to the track and the
Americans produced the top times in the 4 x 100.
The women's foursome of Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, California), Shayla
Mahan (South Carolina), Gabrielle Glenn (South Carolina) and Tiffany
Townsend (Baylor) worked well for a 43.76 winning mark that is the
current world junior leader for 2008. Following the U.S. squad in the
same heat and on the top marks from the first round were Brazil (44.25)
and Bahamas (44.32).
In the men's race, the quartet of Dante Sales (Lakeland, Florida),
Antonio Sales (South Carolina), Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett, Texas) and
Terrell Wilks (Florida) cruised to a 39.37 winning time that also became
the junior world leader for the season. South Africa had the second
fastest time in chasing the American squad with a 39.59 while Jamaica
posted a winning heat time of 39.62.
In the hunt for a medal in the 100 hurdles is Florida State's Teona
Rodges, who won her semifinal heat in 13.43 for the third fastest time
in the round. Alina Talai of Belarus led the semifinals with a 13.31
while Jamaica's Shermaine Williams posted a 13.37.
Ryann Krais finished day one of the heptathlon with a score of 3,345 for
sixth place. In the evening session she turned in a 10.56m/34-7.75 shot
put and ran the 200 in 25.04 seconds. Erin Sampley continued in the
multi-event despite a no height in the high jump. She hit a mark of
10.18m/33-4.75 in the shot and covered the 200 in 24.04 seconds. She has
a total of 2,513 points.
High jump qualifying for the men eliminated both U.S. entrants. Erik
Kynard tied for 19th at 2.10m/6-10.75 while Ryan Fleck was equal 21st
with a 2.05m/6-8.75 clearance.
QUOTES
Teona Rodgers, 100 hurdles
"My time was a whole tenth faster than the first round, so I'm pleased
with that. I think tomorrow the time is going to drop. Hopefully it will
be fast enough to win. The only thing I'm looking at is gold, nothing
less.
"I could feel Shermaine Williams was close, and I thought 'oh no, you
can't be in front of me.' So I had to pull ahead and find one way to do
it. What did it for me was to have quick turnover in between the
hurdles."
Tiffany Townsend, 4 x 100 anchor leg
"The main focus is making sure the stick got around.
"I also anchored the 4 x 100 at Baylor. I loved it, and it just felt so
natural."
Gabrielle Glenn, 4 x 100 third leg
"We were just making sure the stick would get around. We've been
practicing on handoffs. So as long as we get the stick through the
handoffs, then I think we'll do really well in the finals.
"I've been warming up and doing training by myself since I wasn't in
another event here. I tried to stay on the same level they're on.
"The exchange between Tiffany and me was pretty good, but we can fix it
up better for finals to make sure we run a faster time."
Terrell Wilks, 4 x 100 anchor
"We knew we needed to get it around so we'd be in the finals.
"To work with the guys I competed with is a good feeling. We have four
guys who want to win. We're going to do it."
Dante Sales, 4 x 100 lead off
"I was a bit impatient waiting to run on the relay. It felt like I was
just a spectator here. Now I feel good after running in the relay. I had
a good reaction out of the blocks and then got the stick to Antonio."
Antonio Sales, 4 x 100 second leg
"This is the most exciting part of the meet to me. I get a great joy out
of running the relays. It's a different type of feeling. In an
individual event you may get a little nervous or tense, but on a relay
it's more fun. That's the good part about a relay. You've got three
other guys depending on you. So everybody tries to do their best.
"The pass to me was pretty bad. I turned around and took the baton and
then started running. I was almost out of the zone. It seems like in
lane 8 the zone is a little short. For us to run 39.3 with that
exchange, it shows we're doing good."
Marquise Goodwin, 4 x 100 third leg
"It's very nice to be involved with the relay since it's a team event.
Whatever way I can help out the team, regardless if it means me being on
the relay or not, I'm just glad to be there.
"I normally run second leg in high school. Running the curve is all
right, I can adjust. If you're a real track sprinter then you can adjust
to just about anything."
Leslie Brost, Pole vault
"I was real excited to make the final. Being in the finals of a World
Juniors is a lot of fun. I was trying to jump clean on my first attempts
and I was able to until 4.10. That was my PR and I didn't get it until
my third jump.
"To be able to jump as high as I ever have in a big meet is a good
consolation. It was a lot of fun."
Ryann Krais, Heptathlon
"If you would have talked to me 10 minutes ago I would have been much
happier. The first two events went really well. The 200, though, was
kind of a bummer. It just wasn't there.
"Running the hurdles in 13.77 is the best I've ever done in a hept
before. High jump was 5-8, but I was third attempt all the way up from
5-3 or whatever. Then my shot put was a PR by almost a foot.
Unfortunately, shot put doesn't get you a lot of points. In the 200 I
was .8 off what I would like.
"I've never really put a great long jump into a hept. If I can put that
together tomorrow then it should put me back to where I want to be."
Rachel Laurent, Pole Vault
"It was really exciting to be in the hunt for a medal place. I jumped a
100 percent better today than I did in qualifying. I was really happy
with my jumps.
"I could've gotten that last one, but it started raining on my second
and third attempts. So that was interesting. I guess I can't be too hard
on myself because I did jump well.
"When it rains my main concern is grip rather than the pole sliding in
the box. It's all about keeping my grip dry. You also have to stay
mentally sharp, you can't let it affect your jumping. Which is kind of
hard sometimes.
"It's not just misses, but when you have a miss in a competition like
this. Mine came at the last heights and that is where they start on the
tiebreaker.
"It was a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the
world. It was awesome. This experience helps a lot during my transition
to the college level. I don't think any meet in the U.S. is going to
feel as big as this one did. So it should help me a lot."
Jeshua Anderson, 400 hurdles, Gold Medalist
"I wanted to come in strong and stay focused. I knew Johnny was going to
be right on me, so I wanted to finish strong and keep my composure. Plus
I wanted us to go 1-2 and bring some medals back.
"I'm glad it's over with now, because I'm tired. Initially I just wanted
to go to the Trials and compete there, which I was able to do. I had a
really good year and wasn't expecting all of this to happen.
"Nothing really crossed my mind as I finished. I just wanted to hurry up
and get done with the race. I'm glad we finished 1-2. I'm really
appreciative about that."
Johnny Dutch, 400 hurdles, Silver Medalist
"It was a decent race, I can't say good race. It wasn't my best race. I
clipped one of the hurdles and usually I never touch a hurdle. So then I
alternated on one of the last hurdles, and that's another thing I never
do. I tried my best and the best man won today.
"I'm happy we went 1-2. I'm not satisfied with my race, but I try to
look at it in a positive way. I know for me to work hard something has
to happen. With this happening, not having a good race and it's my last
one of the season, then it's going to push me harder for next season.
"Overall I had a great season and I'm looking forward to next year."
Takecia Jameson, 400 hurdles, Gold Medalist
"I just wanted to finish strong and that's exactly what I did. At the
start I got out slow and had to make a transition midway through the
race. From 250 to 150 left in the race I got back on track, picked up my
pace, and tried to stay at 15 or 16 steps even when I got fatigued.
"In the final 150 is where I gained my advantage, since I tend to be
stronger at that point of the race than the others. Especially when I
have a really good competitor next to me. It makes we want to go faster.
When I felt the Trinidad runner come up on me I surprised myself when I
shifted into another gear. To come down the homestretch and feel like
I'm the only one out front is a great feeling."
Christian Taylor, Triple jump
"I thought I'd come out stronger and in hitting 51 so many times in my
series I'm glad I was that consistent. There were some big jumpers
today.
"Now I'm going to go home, train and keep this in mind. Just being here
and making this team is something I can carry into the next season. I'm
going to learn from this and also use it as a boost to get better."
Austin Daivs, Triple Jump
"It was a great experience, there is nothing like it. I just wish I
could have done better. I was happy to make it to the finals and then
also advance out of the first rounds of the final. I only wish I could
have put together at least a 16.20, or a 16.30 like at NCAAs."
Tiffany Townsend, 200 meters
"Through the homestretch I just couldn't feel my legs anymore. I was
trying, but nothing was working for me. My start was okay, but it could
have been a little better.
"This has been a blessing, this whole entire experience. So I'm just
thankful and grateful for what I did well in. I'm proud of what I
accomplished."
Terrell Wilks, 200 meters
"I think I ran a good race. I put it upon myself yesterday in the
prelims, I drew lane one from that performance. So I just had to do my
best with that situation.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you have to take advantage
of it. You also have to take the wins with the losses."
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