The 10th Pan American Junior Championships concludes in Trinidad

by Joy Kamani
By Jim Spier Photos by Joy Kamani (more photos posted in NSSF Gallery) Video Interview by Paul Limmer Evening Session Field Events Men's Triple Jump Favorite Will Claye (Oklahoma, Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, AZ '08) sewed up the victory early, jumping 54-4.5 [0.7] in round 1, ultimately good enough to win. Albert Johnson (Manhattan, Corning, NY '08) was second after round 1, jumping 51-7 (1.1), improving to 51-11 (0.8) in round 2 to solidify the silver medal. In the final round, Jean Rosa of Brazil moved into second with a jump of 52-7.25 (1.9). Now in third, Johnson improved his mark to 52-1.75 (2.1) ,but that was not quite good enough for the silver, and settled for the bronze. Will Claye- Gold Albert Johnson Women's Long Jump A good battle here between Alitta Boyd (Moreau, Hayward, CA) and Christabel Nettey of Canada. Both jumped 18-11.75 in round 1. Both improved in round 2, with Boyd having the slight edge over Nettey, 19-6 to 19-4.75. Round 4 again saw both improve, with Boyd still the leader, jumping 19-9.5 to Nettey's 19-6.25. More improvement for both in round 5, but no change of position, with Boyd up to 19-11.75 and Nettey to 19-10.25. There was no improvement in the final round, so Boyd got the gold and Nettey the silver. Lauryn Newson (Laney College, Pinole Valley, Pinole, CA '08) was a close third at 19-7.5 Alitta Boyd Lauryn Newson - Bronze Men's Shot Put Mason Finley (Buena Vista, CO) opened with 61-8.5 and Jordan Clarke (Arizona State, Bartlett, Anchorage, AK '08) fouled. Finley improved to 66-3.25 in round 2, with Clarke getting a legal throw then, throwing 63-7.75. Another improvement in rounds 3 and 4 for Finley, throwing 66-8.5 and 66-9.75, the ultimate winner. Clarke threw 65-0.5 in round 3, then improved to 65-6.25 in round 5, the second place throw. Tim Nedow of Canada edged Robert Collingwood of Trinidad for the bronze, 62-4 to 62-3.75. Mason Finley- Gold Jordan Clarke - Silver Girls's Javelin Maria Lucelley Murillo of Colombia threw far enough to win in Round 2 (158-7), but got her ultimate winning toss in the final round, throwing 169-10. Rafaela Goncalves of Brazil was second in 155-9. Both will be eligible for the World Junior Championships next year. Goncalves' teammate, Jucilene Lima, was third at 154-6. The Americans, Casey Wagner (South Florida, Tamaqua, FL '08) and Courtney Kirkwood (Washington State, Othello, WA '08) did not fare all that well. Wagner finished fifth with 142-2 and Kirkwood seventh with 136-7. Men's High Jump Derek Drovin of Canada, Erik Kynard of the US (Rogers, Toledo, OH) and Edgar Rivera of Mexico were equal through 6-10.75, all with no misses. Drovin cleared 7-0.5 on his first attempt, and both Kynard and Rivera went out at that height, finishing in a tie for second. Drovin had a great meet, making 7-1.75 on his first attempt, and both 7-3.75 and 7-5.25 on his second attempts, the latter equaling Javier Sotomayor's (Cuba) 1986 meet record. Drovin had the bar moved to 7-6.5 but did not have a decent attempt. Ricky Robertson (Hernando, MS) finished fourth in 6-10.75, the same height as Kynard and Rivera, but losing the medal on more misses. Erik Kynard

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