NSAF @ IAAF World U20 Champs! Day 3 AM: Heptathlon off to strong start
Hall and Lester looking for big multis marks for Team USA
Here is NSAF Director Jim Spier's recap of Thursday morning at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Women’s Heptathlon 100m Hurdles
Celeste Mucci (AUS), who we saw at the Simplot Games in Idaho last year when the Simplot Corp brought in several Australian high school athletes, let the way with a very fast 13.29. Sterling Lester (Marietta, GA) was the fourth fastest qualifier at 13.65, though off her 13.41 best. Anna Hall (Valor Christian, Highlands Ranch, CO) was 13th qualifier at 14.13, a little off her altitude-assisted 14.03 at the Great Southwest Meet.
Women’s Heptathlon High Jump
Anna Hall continued her recent surge of outstanding jumping by clearing 1.83m or 6-0 for the first time ever. She has 1976 points and is sitting in 3rd place, just a single point away from her national-record-setting pace at Great Southwest. Sterling Lester is in 9th with 1858 points after clearing 1.68m (5-6), close to her mark during her PR performance at USA Juniors.
Here are the point summaries for Anna and Sterling (their bests and current standings)
Women’s Hammer Qualifying
Group A - Jillian Shippee (North Carolina) got off a decent throw on her third attempt (191-5), finishing 5th in her group and will hold on to see if she will be one of the top 12 over the two groups. In fact she was fine until the last thrower of the competition in Group B, who knocked Jillian down to 13th and therefore not qualifying.
Group B – Alyssa Wilson (UCLA), the World Junior leader, fouled on her first attempt, then threw 189-4 on her second. That put her in 14th. On her final throw she threw 192-07, good enough for 9th at the time. By the time the round ended, she was down to 12th, but good enough to advance.
Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Semis
10 of the 15 qualifiers were sub-9:00.00. The lone American, Hunter Boyer (USAFA) was 21st in 9:13.74, 8 seconds of his personal best.
Women’s Long Jump Qualifying
Tara Davis (Georgia) got the auto qualifier on her second jump. 20-6.25 is the auto qualifier and she jumped 21-0, eventually leading the competition. Jasmine Moore (Lake Ridge, Mansfield, TX) qualified as well, finishing 9th overall at 20-00.5.
Men’s 400m Hurdles Round 1
Cory Poole (Florida), one of three sub-50 hurdlers, easily won his heat 52.12, easing up at the end much like he did in the 110m hurdles. That may not serve him well in later races. Quivell Jordan (Houston) finished third in his heat (51.75) and automatically qualified. One of the other sub-50 hurdlers, Sergio Esquivel (MEX) pulled a hamstring in Heat 2 and did not finish.
Men’s 200m Round 1
Khance Meyers (Hinds CC – 20.70) and Eric Harrison (Ohio State – 20.73) both won their heats. Their times are 3rd and 4th fastest overall. They obviously advance to the semis.
Morning Summary
W LJ Tara Davis and Jasmine Moore both advanced to the final
W HT Alyssa Wilson advanced to the final, Jillian Shippee did not
M 200m Khance Myers and Eric Harrison both advanced to the semis.
M 400h Cory Poole and Quivell Jordan both advances to the semis
M 3000sc Hunter Boyer did not advance
More Team USA Javelin stats
We had lamented about the lack of medals in the javelin in the U20 Championships. Below is a look at the U.S. performance in the IAAF U18 Championships (discontinued after 2017). The best performance was by Haley Crouser in 2011 for fourth. In 2015, both Sophia Rivera and Katelyn Gochenour made the final but did no better than 8th.
