U.S. Junior Athlete Quotes From Thursday Morning
USATF News
Thursday, July 10, 2008
USA athletes qualify in Thursday a.m. events at World Juniors
Bydgoszcz, Poland - Americans continued to fare very well in qualifying rounds on the third morning of the World Junior Championships.
The morning session started with the U.S. squad advancing a pair of steeplechasers to the men's final with Dylan Knight (Riverside, California) and Curtis Carr (Nashville, Indiana) each placing sixth in their respective heats and advancing on time. Knight posted a time of 8:53.67 while Carr established a career best of 8:55.28.
Qualifying continued at a steady pace for the United States team through opening rounds of the women's and men's 200 and 100 hurdles as well as the men's triple jump, pole vault and hammer.
The semifinals of the 400 hurdles was the last track event of the morning session and Miami's Takecia Jameson had a strong start in the second semifinal race and cruised through to the final with a 57.31 winning time. Jameson entered the meet as the current world junior leader with a time of 56.60.
Germany's Laura Hansen placed second to Jameson in the heat with a 57.73 while Hanna Titimets finished third in 57.86. The first semifinal heat was claimed by Great Britain's Meghan Beesley in the top time of 57.24 ahead of Trinidad and Tobago's Janeil Belille (57.54) and Jamaica's Nikita Travey (57.84).
In the women's 200 meters, Ashton Purvis (Oakland, California) and Baylor's Tiffany Townsend ran in the first two heats of seven and qualified on place to the semifinals. Townsend won her heat in 23.70 seconds while Purvis was runner-up with a 23.98. The time for Townsend ranked fourth from the opening round times while Purvis was 11th fastest.
Antonio Sales of South Carolina returned to the track following his false start in the 100 semifinals. He recorded a solid win in 21.27 to start the men's 200 qualifying round. Later, in the seventh of eight heats, Curtis Mitchell (Port Orange, Florida) controlled the field with a 21.21 clocking, winning by half a second. Mitchell ranked 5th and Sales 6th among the opening round times.
In the 100 hurdles, Florida State's Teona Rodgers had a steady run for a 13.53 win in the first heat. She recorded the third fastest time of the round. Vashti Thomas (San Jose, California) had trouble with the first hurdle and was unable to recover. She placed sixth in her heat with a 14.39.
Despite having to borrow poles for the qualifying round, both Tennessee's Joe Berry and Maston Wallace of Texas cleared a height of 5.10m/16-8.75 to reach the finals of the men's pole vault. Both vaulters have experienced shipping problems with the poles they normally use in competition. Berry expects his to be in Poland in time for the finals, but Wallace's set of poles never got farther than Houston, Texas.
U.S. Junior champion Berry avoided quick elimination by getting over 4.90m/16-0.75 on his third try. After taking two attempts to clear 5.00m/16-4.75, Berry eased over 5.10m/16-8.75 on one attempt.
Wallace, the NCAA champion, needed two attempts at 4.90m/16-0.75 and 5.00m/16-4.75, but managed 5.10m/16-8.75 on his first attempt, clenching his fist in celebration on the way down to the mat.
Facing elimination with one round remaining in triple jump qualifying were North Carolina's Austin Davis and 2007 World Youth champion Christian Taylor (Atlanta, Georgia).
Davis had a pair of fouls before reaching a distance of 15.75m/51-8.75 to place seventh overall. Taylor, jumping a day after placing seventh in the long jump, started with a 15.24m/50-0 mark and a foul before producing a 15.67m/51-5 to make the final as the ninth qualifier of the 12 who moved on.
American Junior record holder Walter Henning of LSU needed a third round performance of 71.43m/234-4 to improve his stock in the first flight of hammer qualifying. A foul and a 66.10m/216-10 had Henning in a precarious situation.
In the second flight, Conor McCullough (Canoga Park, California) produced one of the top throws in his first attempt, reaching a distance of 72.82m/238-11. He then had a foul and finished with a 69.04m/226-6.
The hammer wrapped up the morning session around 3 p.m. with McCullough ranked third from the qualifying while Henning was seventh among the 12 advancing to the final.
QUOTES
Dylan Knight, Steeplechase
"My last three races haven't been that great, so it was exciting to get back on the track again in a high-class race. I wanted to stay in the top five since the top four finishers advance automatically. So, I wanted to stay with them if I could and see what happens.
"Around 300 meters in it just became another race for me. I got boxed in early and had to make a move to get to the outside."
Curtis Carr, Steeplechase
"I've never raced internationally before and it's weird going into the call room and being around people who don't speak English. You just don't what to expect.
"I think I PR'd by a couple tenths of a second. I'm happy with that. After a mile I was in no man's land. There was a group of five ahead of me, and stragglers behind me. So I had no one to pull me through. Hopefully, in the final I'll be among a pack of runners.
"About lap two the race became just another race, and actually I'm glad that happened. After the initial sprinting to get position, people started running a normal pace. Then I was able to get into my own pace as well."
Ashton Purvis, 200 meters
"I was kind of nervous in my first race here. My practices have been good coming into this meet. I just needed to relax and maintain. The focus was to just run, but not run too crazy where I would be too tired for the second round later today."
Tiffany Townsend, 200 meters
"I wish I would have already races a couple of days ago. It's been a long process, sitting around and waiting while watching others compete. I've been wanting to get out and run.
"My whole strategy was to get out fast and chill. I was making sure I wasn't running on the line through the curve and paying attention to little details.
"It's been a great environment and its nice being in Europe, but I love the United States even more now after being here. It's a good experience and I'm glad I came."
Antonio Sales, 200 meters
"I wanted to get the jitter bugs out after false starting in the 100. I've been trying to get that out of my mind. So I came into the 200 staying relaxed and wanted to just run my race. I'm taking it one round at a time.
"You have to be like a quarterback sometimes when it comes to those type situations. You have to have amnesia sometimes and not dwell on it. It was a blessing that I had the 200 to run here after the 100.
"I guess everything happens for a reason. With my schedule I would have to run three rounds of the 100, three rounds of the 200 and two rounds of the 4 x 100. So instead I got a day off yesterday. Now I'm back in the 200 and feel a little fresher."
Curtis Mitchell, 200 meters
"Basically I wanted to get my mind right. It's been a long wait to race. We've been here since Saturday so I had to get my body back into racing mode. It's good to get the first round out of the way.
"I just think about all the odds against me, how everybody counted me out and didn't think I would be on this team. I just put all of that into my running. When I get on the track I let it rip."
Austin Davis, Triple Jump
"It was a rough qualifying round. On my last jump, when I got to the board, I felt too much board on my last step. I went ahead and finished the jump. It wasn't a good one, but good enough to get me end.
"The track was very fast and I was moving faster on the runway than I usually do. It was fortunate to have a qualifying round to work out problems with my mark, but it was nerve-racking as well."
Christian Taylor, Triple Jump
"It was rough since I still have the long jump on my mind. After the first jump I realized I'm in the triple jump now and need to focus on this event. The long jump is finished and I can't do anything about it.
"It's a really fast runway, so that messes with your marks a bit. Plus the wind was picking up off and on as well. Those are little factors we had to worry about. It worked out, I made the finals and that was the important thing today."
Teona Rodgers, 100 hurdles
"I'm happy I got back on the track. Sitting in the room for five days is something I'm not used to. I usually go somewhere and compete the next day. But it gave me time to get my mind right since I'm in a different country. The weather is constantly changing, so I wanted to prepare myself mentally for any situation.
"The first round went okay, but I still have two more rounds to go."
Maston Wallace, Pole Vault
"The beginning was a little rough, since it took me a little while to get into my groove. The wind was swirling quite a bit and we're not even jumping on our own poles. We had to borrow some poles, so it's a makeshift Lincoln log type deal going on right now.
"As the bar got higher things started to come around on the poles we're using here. When I cleared 5.10 that's when I felt my best. Going in I wasn't penetrating at all, I was coming down on the bar almost every time. On the 5.10 jump I finally started to penetrate and it started to come around.
"It was a relief to know that we could jump on these poles that we borrowed. Now, going into the finals we have more confidence."
Joe Berry, Pole Vault
"It took me three jumps to actually clear a bar. So I was pretty nervous. Standing back on the runway for my third attempt I was thinking 'I did not travel 3,000 miles to no height.' Luckily, I made it. That certainly got my adrenaline going. Then I started hitting my steps in the right place.
"The wind was really swirling, one jump would be a headwind and then next would be a tailwind. Then another jump would have a crosswind. As the meet progressed we just got used to it and started making bars. I even moved up poles on my first attempt at 5.10 and almost hit it on my way up, which is a good sign.
"In most field events, like the throws, a shot put is a shot put, but every pole is kind of individualized. It takes a while to get used to it. That's why you always want to jump on your own poles, because you know exactly how they're going to uncork, how they're going to bend and toss you. So jumping on new poles is just a transition period in the beginning.
"We only had three warm-up jumps each, so it was a bit difficult getting use to the new poles. Hopefully my poles are getting here today so that I'll have them for the final."
Takecia Jameson, 400 hurdles
"I definitely wanted to drop my time from the first round. I took an ice bath yesterday to get ready for the semifinal. I just wanted to get out there and compete like I normally do back at home.
"Having warmer conditions today was a definite boost. Running in cold weather things kind of lock up. I felt extremely better at150 and was able to turn it on.
"I don't really worry about any of my competitors. Not to be cocky, but if I'm a world leader I have to work with myself and prepare for my race. I need to gauge how fast I'm running to know what I can do."
Conor McCullough, Hammer
"My first attempt was a nice, relaxing throw. The second one was a bit off and on the third one I toned it down a little bit just to get the feeling of the ring.
"It's really cool seeing kids from all over the world who are at an international level. It pushes you to do your best.
"I enjoyed the time off until we had to compete. The longer, the better. It allows me time to adjust to the time difference and get familiar with the area. The extra time definitely helps."
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