Jeneba Tarmoh (c) outdashes Victoria Jordan (r) and Shayla Mahan to win the women's 100m title in Columbus in 11.21 (© Kirby Lee)
Columbus, USASprint wins by Terrence Wilks and Jeneba Tarmoh highlighted the opening day of the USA Track & Field Junior Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus on Friday (20 June).
Wilks, a freshman at the University of Florida, won the 100m in 10.19 for the No. 3 junior time in the U.S. qualifying meet for the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland, 8 – 13 July 2008.
"It was a great day for me," said Wilks, whose previous best coming into the championships was 10.26. "I set a PR and broke the stadium record. The key in the final was being relaxed."
"I'm excited about the World Junior meet, I've never been out of the country. So, this is going to be a fun experience.
Tarmoh, a member of the 2006 World Junior champion 4 x 100m Relay who recently completed her freshman season at Tennessee, timed 11.21 in the 100m.
"I'm pretty happy matching my PR in this event," Tarmoh said. "It shows I have some consistency in my racing. When there is consistency, there is also time for a big drop."
Victoria Jordan, a four-time USA junior Olympic champion, was second in 11.38 and Shayla Mahan of South Carolina was third in 11.39 in a race where all nine finalists dipped unxer the World Junior Championships standard.
The top two finishers in the age 19-and-under meeting will be selected to the U.S. World Junior team contingent upon achieving a qualifying standard.
Nunley Moves into U.S. All-Time High School Top 10 in 110m Hurdles
Booker Nunley won the 110m Hurdles in 13.40 to move into eighth place on the all-time U.S. high school list after running 13.49 in the prelims.
"This is the greatest feeling," Nunley said. "I've been dreaming about this since last year getting dead last."
Oscar Spurlock of Southern California edged Ronald Brookins of Sacramento State for second, both timed in 13.81.
Meet Record for McQuillen in Women’s Javelin
Karlee McQuillen of Penn State and Luke Laird of Arkansas, finalists in the Javelin Throw in the NCAA Championships last week, were the women’s and men winners.
McQuillen threw 52.24m to break the meet record of 51.83m set in 2002 in the women’s competition. Laird won with a toss of 66.95m.
In the Long Jump, Marquise Goodwin, the Texas state high school champion, and Gary Lee of Fresno State each sailed 7.62m with Goodwin getting the victory on the countback. World Youth Triple Jump champion and long jump bronze medallist Christian Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) took third at 7.60m.
Collegians Joseph Berry of Tennessee and Maston Wallace of Texas finished first and second in the Pole Vault, both at 5.30m.
California state high school champion Anna Jelmini won the discus at 52.75m and Irene Cooper of Western Michigan was victorious in the women’s Hammer at 56.76m.
Becky Wade of Rice University, a 2008 NCAA finalist at 10,000m, won the women’s steeplechase in 10:29.64 in only her sixth attempt at the discipline. Matt Centrowitz of Oregon, the son of former American record-holder Matt Centrowitz, won the 5000m in 14:44.67.
Anderson and Wynne Set for 400m Final
The 400m Hurdle final tonight will match reigning NCAA Champion Jeshua Anderson against 2007 World Youth Champion William Wynne.
Anderson, who clocked 48.69 at the NCAA Championships for the No. 5 time by an American this season, clocked 50.19 for the top time in the prelims. Wynne won the other heat in 50.76 for the No. 2 time.
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
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Fernandez breaks high school 2 Mile record
German Fernandez of Riverbank, Calif., broke a 29-year-old national high school record in the 2 Mile run, clocking 8:34.40 at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina. The previous record of 8:36.3 was set by Jeff Nelson in 1979. En route Fernandez clocked 7:59.38 for 3000m, also a national high school record.
