World Junior Championships Notes - Day 3 Morning

A blog of the experiences of Jim Spier throughout the World Juniors.

Day 2 recap for the Americans

Men

100 Terrell Wilks, 3rd

400 O'Neal Wilder (46.08) and Marcus Boyd (46.88) advance to final

800 Elijah Greer, 5th in semi, does not advance

10000 Don Cabral 17th with PR of 30:47.55, Daniel Dunbar 19th at 30:51.57

400m H Jeshua Anderson (51.12) and Johnny Dutch (52.21) advance to semis

LJ Marquise Goodwin wins with a legal PR of 25-4.75; Christian Taylor is 7th

DT no finalists

JT Luke Laird 9th in Group A, does not advance

Dec Chase Dalton 14th (3632) and Weston Leutz 15th (3622) after 5 events



Women

100 Jeneba Tarmoh wins with 11.37 (-0.6). Shayla Mahan is 5th (11.66)

400 Jessica Beard (52.69) and Lanie Whitaker (53.61) advanced to final

800 no semifinalists

400m H Takecia Jameson (59.16) advances to semis; Cori Carter (61.20) does not

10000m Walk — no entrants

PV Rachel Laurent (13-1.5) and Leslie Brost (12-9.5) both advance to the finals

SP Chinwe Okoro advances to the final; Becky O'Brien does not

HT no finalists



Back at the hotel:
As I mentioned yesterday, my room had not been cleaned (nor had Mike Kennedy's or Joy Kamani's). We stopped at the front desk and asked to have our room cleaned. They responded positively and asked for our room numbers. We got back late Wednesday night and mine was not made up — again! Mike and Joy's rooms had been cleaned, but not mine! I asked again this morning. They replied, "no problem". We'll see…

The role of the coaches on the US team
I've been to many of these meets. Each athlete has their own coach at home and would not be at this level if it were not for those coaches. The main use of a coach named to the team is to a chaperone and to make sure they get their event on time. Other than the relays, there's not a whole lot they can do. Or that they should do. Often a coach who tries to change an athlete's technique causes that athlete to perform less than he would have otherwise. I'm afraid that I have seen, more often than not, a well-meaning coach interfering with the athlete's normal routine. I'm not a coach, but I thnk my observation has merit.

Bydgoszcz latitude
It's 51 degrees north. It's about equivalent to Calgary in Canada. We thought Moncton, Canada, where the 2010 World Juniors will be held, would be "higher". But it's not — it's only 46 degrees, slightly higher than Toronto.

Marquise Goodwin
It was great to see Marquise win the gold here. He is a humble, bright young man. He had been on our team to Puerto Rico (Caribbean Scholastic Invitational) for the past two years. After the meet ended, and with about 500 fans still in the stands, Marquise asked for the microphone. He thanked the fans for coming out and for their support. They loved it! What a great kid!

Leslie Brost
I spoke with her this afternoon. I congratulated her on her great weekend when she won our meet (NON) and qualified for the World Juniors two days later. She said it was a "pretty good weekend". She apparently does not have a private coach like many vaulters, but credits her high school coach with her success. (Watertown, SD is not necessarily the hotbed of vaulting in the U.S., so her coach must be something special). She said that she was disappointed with her performance here. I said, ".. but you made the final!". She smiled. For a young lady from small town America, she seems to be very poised and confident



Day 3 morning events


Chatting Steeplechase

Men 3000m Steeple — Both Dylan Knight and Curtis Carr ran intelligent races. They were content to not got with the pack of 4 which developed in each (with Kenyans and Ethiopians, among others). They held back and tried to be one of the 4 time qualifiers (the top 4 from each of the two sections automatically advanced to the finals). Knight ran 8:53. And Carr 8:55., a PR for him


Let's talk strategy - bell lap



Ashton Purvis 200m Trials


Women 200m Round 1 — Ashton Purvis and Tiffany Townsend had an easy time advancing to the next round, with both under 24 in their races



Men 200m Round 1 — No problem for Antonio Sales or Curtis Mitchell as both won their heats, and both in the low 21's.



Men Pole Vault Qualifying — Maston Wallace and Joe Berry had no problem advancing, both clearing 16-8.75. Berry has made marked improvement from his 16-6 high school best. The now college sophomore from Hatboro-Horsham, PA, had an outstanding freshman year at Tennessee, clearing 17-9 this Spring. Wallace, a 17-1 vaulter in high school, cleared 18-0.5 for Texas this year.




Christian Taylor Triple Jump

Men Triple Jump Qualifying — Austin Davis and Christian Taylor were out of the money until their third and last jumps. Davis had fouled twice and needed a big (and legal) jump on his third attempt and got it, jumping 51-8.25 and finishing 7th overall. Taylor's jump was 51-5. He finished 9th overall. Both advanced to the finals



Women 100m Hurdles Qualifying — Teona Rodgers won easily and advances. Vashti Thomas, noticeably limping after the triple jump qualifying yesterday, had a rough time of it here and did not qualify.


Vashti Thomas 100m H


Women 400m Hurdles Semis — Takecia Jameson won her heat with relative ease and advanced to the finals.



Men Hammer Throw Qualifying — Walter Henning was in trouble in Group A, having fouled on his first throw, then getting a mark putting him in 8th place after two rounds. On his third throw he moved into fourth with a mark of 234-4, which should get him into the final. Conor Mc Cullough got off his Group B leader on his first throw (238-11). Both advance to the final, Mc Cullough 3rd ranked overall, and Henning 7th. It is the first time in recent memory that two Americans have made the hammer final.



Photos by Joy Kamani

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