National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Merritt wins his 3rd WC 400 Gold

Fourth in a 9-part series! Keep checking back for the next 5!

2013 IAAF World Champs photos by John Nepolitan | John's NSAF Alums Tuesday 0813 Gallery
NSAF file photos by Vic Sailer, Photorun.net, for the NSAF

 
LaShawn Merritt: Racing to and claiming his 400 gold at the 2013 IAAF World Champs.

With an amazing surge in the last 100 of Tuesday night’s IAAF World Championship men’s 400 meter final, LaShawn Merritt put an indelible stamp on this meet: for himself, his career (especially here), for Team USA and for the nearly 100 National Scholastic Athletics Foundation “alums” here in Moscow.

Merritt’s 43.74 winner, which made him #5 all-time, was no doubt the day’s highlight among the day’s five finalists with NSAF ties.  The Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos won bronze behind Merritt, Team USA’s Bettie Wade took 27th in the Heptathlon, and Maria Michta 34th in the women’s 20k racewalk.  Michta’s teammate Miranda Melville was disqualified after three violation cards.

There was much more action among NSAF alums in preliminary or semifinal rounds, with 12 from Team USA competing, plus two athletes representing other countries.  There’s 76 Team USA athletes here at the Worlds, plus another 22 representing other countries, who have previously competed in the Foundation’s events.

Please note: You can read the detailed NSAF accomplishments of all of the relevant athletes mentioned below who began competition during the previous days of the meet: Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Masterful Merritt and other finalists

Since LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.) won Olympic and World Championship 400s back-to-back in 2008-2009, he’d been sidelined with a doping suspension and followed that with silvers over one lap in the 2011 World Champs and 2012 Olympics.  With the winner of those most recent titles – Kirani James of Grenada – leading the wave of younger talent, it was fair to wonder if Merritt could again win a global title and surpass his previous peak.

His performance Tuesday answered that question with a strong affirmative, as his amazing drive on the final 100 buried James and took him to the 43.74 that shaved .01 off his 2008 best.  Merritt, winner of three NSAF indoor and outdoor sprint titles in 2004, is again the man to beat over one lap.  Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic has had an amazing progression since he raced and lost to American soon-to-be World Youth Champ Arman Hall in the 2011 Caribbean Scholastic Invite.  With just a 46.19 PR at the time, Santos improved to 44.71 by year's end and then won the Olympic silver in 2012 at 44.46.  Here, he was nearly as good, claiming silver in 44.52.

 
Bettie Wade: 2013 IAAF WC Hept long jump at left, 2005 NON high jump at right.

Earlier, the two days and seven events of the Heptathlon came to a conclusion with Bettie Wade (Manhattan, Kan.) among the three Team USA finishers, taking 27th of 33 starters with 5,768 points.  For Wade, the 2005 Nike Outdoor (NON) high jump champ as a prep, it was not one of her better multis.  She’s been over 6,000 three times, including a 6,143 last year.  But it was her first global Team USA competition and the 26-year-old has time and incentive to keep progressing.

 
Maria Michta: 2013 IAAF WC 20k RW at left, 2002 AOC 1M RW at right.

During the morning session’s 20k Racewalk, Maria Michta (Nesconset, N.Y.) finished 34th of 62 starters with a seasonal best 1:33.51.  She had previously finished 30th at the 2011 World Champs and 29th in last year’s Olympics.  Michta’s prep career at Sachem North (Long Island, N.Y.) HS included victories in the 2002 adidas Outdoor and 2004 Nike Outdoor 1M racewalks in 7:23.88 and 7:16.02, respectively.  She led the nation over most distances as a senior.

Michta’s teammate Miranda Melville (Rush, N.Y.) was competing in her first global championships and suffered a disqualification after three violation cards – her first DQ.  While competing for Rush-Henrietta HS in 2007, she was 5th in the NIN 1M RW in 8:12.29.

Medal hopes alive in five events

 
Mary Cain: 2013 IAAF WC 1,500 semi at left, 2012 NBNI 800 at right.

Eight of the 12 NSAF alums repping Team USA advanced from semifinals and qualifying Tuesday into upcoming finals, but it’s safe to say that none of them attracted as much attention as Mary Cain (Bronxville, N.Y.) in the 1,500.  The amazing 2013 season for the 17-year-old, who shone in New Balance Indoor and Outdoor Nationals meets in previous years, continued to progress to levels that were beyond the wildest imagination of most when the year dawned.  Making Team USA for this meet was amazing enough, but then scrambling through the first round Sunday and then running a near-PR 4:05.21 Tuesday to become the youngest World Championship finalist ever is, well, beyond amazing.  Cain’s strong finish in the final 100 gave her a very close 4th in the first semi and she advanced automatically to Thursday’s final.

Defending champ Jenny Simpson (Boulder, Colo.) continued to look she could do it again with her close, in-control 3rd-place finish in the second semi at 4:05.79, but in the same semi Sarah Brown (Knoxville, Tenn.) placed a non-advancing 10th in 4:12.16.  Brown’s performance in qualifying and the semis was admirable considering she learned she’d replace the injured Treniere Moser and be racing in the meet just a few days before.

 
Dalilah Muhammad: 2013 IAAF WC 400H semis at left, 2007 NON 400H final at right.

In the 400 hurdle semis for both genders, four of the six NSAF alums advanced – three of them super veterans with now a combined 14 WC finals appearances between them, and one making her first final, and as a solid medal threat.  That newcomer would be Dalilah Muhammad (Bayside, N.Y.), who was 2nd in the first semi in 54.08.  It’s been an outstanding transition to this level for Muhammad, who six years ago was not only the NON 400H champ but also had her first international success with a World Youth gold in the event.

The veteran by her side will be defending champ Lashinda Demus (Los Angeles), who also won silvers in this meet in 2005 and 2009, and last year’s Olympic silver.  Both are coached by Lashinda’s mom, Yolanda.  Demus, whose only NSAF meet was a Nike Indoor Classic 400 win in 2000, was 2nd in the second semi in 54.22.

On the men’s side, Team USA’s Kerron Clement (2007, 2009) and the Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez (2001, 2003) won four of the five IAAF World 400H titles between 2001 and 2009.  Both were in the third semi and made it though, Sanchez getting 2nd in 48.10 for the auto and Clement getting in on time with 3rd in 48.21.  Each has won NSAF titles over the same distance: Sanchez in 1995 and Clement in 2003.

American Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.), the 2005 World Champ who’s had a great rivalry with Clement over the years, didn’t finish the first semi after an injured hamstring failed him.  Puerto Rico’s Eric Alejandro, who appeared in the 2004 AOC while prepping in Florida, was 7th in SF3 but still ran a PR 49.44.

 
2013 IAAF WC 5,000 heats: Ryan Hill at left, Galen Rupp at right.

Finally, in the morning session, two more Team USA NSAF alums were attempting to qualify for the men’s 5,000 final, and three more for the men’s high jump final.  Ryan Hill (Raleigh, N.C.) took the last automatic qualifier from heat one, running 13:24.19 in 5th.  As a prep at Hickory (N.C.) HS, he ran 9:07.16 and 9:07.36 in consecutive NON 2M races in 2007 and 2008, taking 23rd overall the first year and 12th the second year.  He also was picked for the Caribbean Scholastic Invite in 2007, winning the 1,500 in 4:10.51.

Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.), who was 4th in the 10,000 Saturday, also took 4th in the second heat, clocking 13:23.91.  He also made the final in both events in last year’s Olympics.

   
2013 IAAF WC high jump qualifying: Jesse Williams at left, Keith Moffatt at center, Erik Kynard at right.

In the high jump qualifying, three Americans with NSAF ties were gunning for the final, but just one of them made it.  Erik Kynard (Manhattan, Kan.), last year’s surprise silver medalist at the London Olympics, went over 7-5 and – although he missed 7-6 and was just 11th overall – he earned a chance to get on the medal stand again.  Kynard was an outstanding prep at Toledo Rogers (Ohio), making the Olympic Trials as a junior in 2008.  He also won the Nike Indoor Nationals title that year, then came back as a senior and claimed both the Nike Indoor and Outdoor Nationals high jump crowns.

It was a tough day for 2011 IAAF World Champion Jesse Williams (Eugene, Ore.) and fellow American Keith Moffatt.  Williams, who has been struggling with injuries, could only clear 7-3.25, while Moffatt no-heighted.  Both won NSAF titles as preps.  Moffatt was the Nike Indoor Classic champ in both 2001 and 2002 while at Menchville (Newport News, Va.), while Williams had consecutive finishes of 2nd and 1st at adidas Outdoor Championship high jumps the same two years (the latter prefacing a World Junior silver medal) during his days at Broughton (Raleigh, N.C.) HS.