Day One Coverage of the World Youth Championships in Lille, France

by Joy Kamani

By Jim Spier

Here we are again at another IAAF World Championships. It's the World Youth (under 18) in "odd" years and World Juniors (under 20) in "even" years. And we are in the north of France in the beautiful city of Lille for seventh version of the IAAF World Youth Championships.

This will be my fifth youth championship, having missed the first and third. I have been to all of the World Junior Championships since 1988, only missing the inaugural one in Greece. We have had extensive coverage over the years, covering mainly for our web site, www.nationalscholastic.org.

As usual, we will have complete photo coverage ably handled by Joy Kamani, and video interviews by Paul Limmer. Other US journalists present are Mike Kennedy, John Napolitan and Steve Underwood (Steve U) of Dyestat.

We apologize for the lack of coverage of the World Youth trials last week in Myrtle Beach, SC. We were present there and prepared for complete photo and "print" coverage, but were denied credentials by USATF. Here is the correspondence:

e-mail to USATF:

Can you please provide press credentials for Joy Kamani and Paul Limmer for the USATF World Youth Trials in Myrtle Beach, SC. They will be covering the meet for our web site, www.nationalscholastic.org.

From USATF: Thanks for the email. As I mentioned to Paul, the directive was to have Cedric Walker request credentials for Paul and/or Joy as he is the liaison for NSSF with the USATF Youth Council.

My response:

Thank you. What is the normal procedure for requesting credentials for any USATF event? I have been credentialed for USATF events since the mid-seventies and always went through a person at USATF. I'm not sure what the Youth Council necessarily has to do with credentialing. We are interested in publicizing and celebrating the USATF World Youth Trials. Paul, Joy and I will be covering for our organization at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France, all having been credentialed by the IAAF. Perhaps you can clarify. Sincerely, Jim Spier

From USATF:

The Youth Division has their own credentialing procedures for National USATF Youth Championships. Per Lionel Leach, Youth Division Chairman, who has been copied on this correspondence, he would like confirmation from Cedric Walker. I explained this to Paul at his first inquiry and he seemed to have no objection. We appreciate your compliance.

And, finally, from the Youth Committee:

NO

In any event, this is the first time our organization has been denied credentials by USATF. We have been credentialed for any number of USATF Junior Championships, US Olympic Trials and virtually all of the past IAAF World Junior and IAAF World Youth Championships. Not having been credentialed for the World Youth trials is seen by us as a loss for the track and field community. We hope it can be resolved in the future.

On to the meet:

Girls 100m Hurdles qualifying (30"):

The two Americans (Trinity Wilson — St. Mary's, Berkeley, CA , Kendell Williams — Kell, Marietta, GA) looked solid in winning their heats. The one to beat is Noemi Zbaren of Switzerland, having run a world-leading 13.31 in the final heat.

Trinity Wilson

Kendell Williams

Boys 800m Round 1 (Top 3 in each of the 7 trials advance to the semis and those with the next 3 fastest times)

Both Americans (Cameron Thornton — Whitefield Academy, Mabledon, GA, Tre'tez Kinnaird — Butler, Louisville, KY) qualified, Thornton finishing second in his heat (1:52.34) and Kinnaird the second of three time qualifiers, running 1:52.81. Both new to international competition, they finished strong in their respective races.

Cameron Thornton

Tre'tez Kinnaird,

Boys Long Jump qualifying

Cameron Burrell (Ridge Point, Missouri City, TX) finished 14 overall, managing only a jump of 23-4 [+1.6]. The leading finalists: 24-7w Sergio Acera Spain 24-7 Qing Lin China 24-4.5 Semen Popov Russia 24-3 Riccardo Pagan Italy 24-0.75 Stephan Hartmann Germany

Cameron Burrell

Girls 1500m Qualifying (2 heats: top 4 in each heat and those with the next 4 fastest times advance):

Hannah Meier (South, Grosse Pointe, MI) looked like a seasoned veteran, getting third for an automatic qualifier in 4:25.28. Cami Chapus (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, CA) also ran well, finishing sixth in a much faster heat in 4:22.69. Both ran competitively and with confidence. Chapus time is #3 US for high schoolers.

Hannah Meier

Camille Chapus

Girls Shot Put Qualifying

Though her making the finals was never in doubt, Tori Owers (Athens Academy, Athens, GA) got her automatic qualifier on her third and final throw. She tossed the shot 46-4, just past the auto qualifying mark of 45-11.25. Chamaya Turner (Canyon, New Braunfels, TX) did not qualify, managing only 43-3.75. The leading qualifiers: 48-2 Tianqian Guo China 46-10 Sophie Mc Kinna Great Britain 46-8.75 Katinka Urbaniak Germany 46-8.25 Sostina Hakeai New Zealand 46-8 Mina Lee Korea 46-4.25 Tori Owers USA Torrie Owers

Boys Discus Qualifying

Ethan Cochran (Newport Beach, Newport Harbor, CA) got into the final with his only legal throw (187-5). The leading qualifiers: 202-8 Mauricio Ortega Colombia 202-0 Fedrick Dacres Jamaica 195-0 Gerhard de Beer South Africa 190-1 Jan-Louw Kotze South Africa 190-1 Janos Kaplar Hungary 188-6 Viktor Gardenkrans Sweden

Girls 400m Qualifying

Cold (mid-fifties) and light rain hampered any outstanding performances here. The US girls had no trouble qualifying, with Robin Reynolds (Jackson, Miami, FL) winning her heat and Kendall Baisden (Detroit Country Day, Bloomfield Hills, MI) taking second, having been "stuck" in none-woman's-land in lane 8. Kendall Baisden

Boys 100m Qualifying

Ronald Darby (Potomac, Oxon Hill, MD), the only US entrant, won his heat easily and will advance to the next round.
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