Day Two Report from World Youth Championships - Morning Session

by Joy Kamani

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Shot Put Qualifying – Girls (automatic qualifier 52-6 – 3kg shot )

Ashlie Blake (Liberty, Henderson, NV) got the auto qualifier on her first attempt, throwing 55-3.5.  Joy Kamani spoke with her after the throw.  Joy said, “Congratulations!”.  Ashlie, not used to the automatic qualifying procedure said, “What do I do now?”  She will move on to tonight’s final as the third best qualifier, is what she will do!  (Ashlie is third-ranked in the world based on her World Youth Trials distance of 58-11.5).  Lena Giger (Highland, IL) got very close to the auto qualifying mark on her first attempt, throwing 51-11.75.  She did not improve on her next two throws (49-3.5, 48-3.25) but made it in based on being the best non-qualifier, 8th overall.

Octathlon 110m Hurdles

Gabriel Moore (Freport, FL) got his PB in almost perfect conditions, running 14.74.  Others ran faster, pushing him down to 7th overall with 4009 points, over 300 points behind the leader Karsten Warholm of Norway.  Warholm has PRed in 4 of the 5 events, and was the leading hurdler at 13.86.  John Lint (Columbus Academy, Gahanna, OH) also got a personal best, 14.19, and moved up to 13th overall with 3893 points.

Octathlon High Jump

John Lint cleared 6-4 for 740 points, totaling 4633 points,  and Gabriel Moore cleared 6-1.5 for 687 points, giving him a total of 4696.

110m Hurdles Qualifying – Boys – 36” (First 3 in each heat and next 6 fastest times advance
             to the semis)

The fastest of the first four heats was Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica, winning heat 4 in 13.47.  Humphrey responded in the next heat with 13.42 [-0.8].  Isaiah Moore (Cummings, Burlington, NC) was matched with one of the medal favorites, Yang Lu of China, going from third to second halfway through the race and finishing in second with a PR 13.66.

800m Qualifying – Girls (top 3 in each heat and next 4 fastest advance to semis)

Raevyn Rogers (Kinkaid, Houston, TX) took the lead, passing 400m in 64.03.  She held that for another 100m when she was challenged by the eventual winner, Kokeb Tesfaye of Ethiopia.  Raevyn made a move with 200m to go but couldn’t shake the Ethiopian.  The Ethiopian pulled away with 100m to go and won by .9, with Rogers running 2:08.17 and qualifying.  Ersula Farrow (South, Grosse Pointe, MI) led for most of the race, the slowest of the 3 so far.  She passed 400m in 64.83 and went on to win in 2:09.98.  She raced very well considering this was the first international race of her career.

Hammer Qualifying – Boys (automatic qualifier 234-7 – 5kg

Colin Minor (South Brunswick, Southport, NC), opened with a foul, then improved to a PR of 230-0.  That put him in 13th place.  He was the 11th of 19 throwers and, by the third round, there had been 12 automatic qualifiers, meaning that there would be no “distance” qualifiers.  He had to hit the automatic qualifying mark of 234-7 (71.50) or he would go home.  That would mean another PR, this one 5 feet more than his prior one.  On that last throw he hit the yellow sector automatic qualifying line, meaning he may have gotten the result he was looking for; it would depend on exactly where the throw was marked.  Colin stared at the results board for what seemed to be an eternity.  Finally, the result popped up, displaying 71.52 (234-8), one inch beyond the automatic qualifying distance.  He lept with joy; he will throw in the finals.

1500m Qualifying – Boys (top 3 in each heat and next 3 fastest advance to final)

Here’s a first:  an American sitting on the leaders, then jumping the field with a lap to go, keeping the lead, then easing up at the end to win easily.  That American is Blake Haney (Stockdale, Bakersfield, CA) who won heat 2 in 3:51.75.  I’ve been to a lot of these and don’t recall seeing a U.S. athlete ever follow those tactics and be successful.  The finals may be something else again, but it looks like he will be in the mix with the leaders.  Here’s another first.  Both Americans winning their heats!  Grant Fisher (Grand Blanc, MI) sat in 2nd or 3rd for most of the race.  With a lap to go, he got bumped around but still stayed in the lead pack.  About 4 or 5 runners passed him on the backstretch, but he responded well.  He started his move with 200m to go and passed the Kenyan and Ethiopian who were struggling down the homestretch.  He won in 3:50.30, a big PR!

400m Hurdles Semi-Finals – Girls (top 2 in each heat and next

Samantha Gonzalez (Creekview, Carrollton, TX) looked very tentative during the race, chopping her steps at almost every hurdle.  She was 6th approaching the last hurdle, and made a big charge to the finish missing the auto qualifying by .01.  She would have to wait for 2 more heats to see if she was one of two time qualifiers.  As it turns out, she was the fastest time qualifier and will advance to the finals on Saturday.

Pole Vault Qualifying – Girls (automatic qualifying 12-9.5)

Texans Desiree Freier (Northwest, Justin) and Zoe Mc Kinley (Grapevine) both met the automatic qualifying standard and moved on to the final.  Zoe opened at 11-7.75 and cleared that and the next height, 11-11.75, on her first attempt.  She cleared 12-3.5 and 12-7.5 on her third attempt, then cleared the auto qualifying height, 12-9.5, on her first attempt.  Desiree opened at 11-11.75 and cleared that and the next height, 12-3.5 on her first attempt.  She made 12-7.5 on her second attempt then, like Zoe, made the auto qualifying on her first attempt.

 

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