BRESSANONE, Italy - Ryan Crouser claimed his second medal of the competition by launching the shot put to a championship record Saturday night at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy.
Starting off the boys shot put final with a foul, Ryan Crouser launched a competition-leading 20.52 meters/67 feet 4 inches on his second throw and continued to extend his lead on throws three (20.55m/67-5.25), four (21.05m/69-0.75) and five. It was on his fifth throw of the competition, with a monster heave of 21.56m/70-9, that Crouser broke the World Youth Championships record and secured the gold medal.
On their first throws of the girls discus final competition, Shanshan of China (51.65m/169-5) took the lead and Alex Collatz (Bakersfield, Calif.) threw her way to the second position with 49.08m/161-0. Collatz extended her lead over third place with her second toss of 50.09m/131-6. It was that second throw that locked Collatz in as the runner-up and earned her the silver medal.
After the start of the girls 1,500m final, Chelsey Sveinsson (Dallas, Texas) was in seventh place through 300m. Consistently picking off competitors over the next 1,200m, Sveinsson finished in fourth place in 4:20.29. Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) finished ninth in 4:30.20.
Using two attempts to clear the first two heights of the competition, 3.70m/12-1.5 and 3.80m/12-5.5, Morgann LeLeux (New Iberia, La.) cleared 3.90m/12-9.5 on her first attempt. She then needed all three attempts to clear a season best 4.00m/13-1.5, her best clearance of the night which landed her in fifth place. It was the best finish ever by an American girl at the World Youth Championships.
In the boys high jump final, David Smith (Jonesboro, Ga.) tied for seventh with a best clearance of 2.13m/6-11.75 and Dwayne Golbek (Claremore, Okla.) was 10th with 2.09m/6-10.25. In the girls 400m hurdles final, Angelica Weaver (Fontana, Calif.) got out strong but stuttered before the third hurdle and never regained her momentum, finishing fifth in 1:01.48.
In the girls 200m semi-final, Briana Nelson (Greenville, S.C.) and Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) coasted through and qualified for the final. Nelson won heat 2 in 23.78 and Purvis was second in heat 3 in 24.00. Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) and Keenan Brock (Birmingham, Ala.) ran the first and third fastest times in the boys 200m semi-finals. Dukes won heat 2 in 21.22 and Brock won heat 1 in 21.36.
In this morning's qualifying rounds, Jennifer Clayton (Monsey, N.Y.) set a personal best in automatically qualifying for the final on her first jump with a mark of 6.37m/20-10.75. It was the farthest mark in the qualifying round. In group A, A'Lexus Brannon (Port Arthur, Texas) also leapt a personal best, automatically qualifying for the final with 6.11m/20-0.5.
Heat 2 of the girls medley relay saw Jordan Clark (100, Southfield, Mich.), Briana Nelson (200, Greenville, S.C.), Michelle Brown (300, Shamong, N.J.) and Ebony Eutsey (400, Miami, Fla.) dominate their competition, winning their heat in a world youth leading 2:07.51.
Running in heat 4 of the boys medley relay, Colin Hepburn (100, Glenview, Ill.) handed off to Prezel Hardy (200, Killeen, Texas) who stormed down the straight. But three-quarters of the way through his leg, Hardy noticeably slowed before handing off to Jaron Roberson (300, Powder Springs, Ga.) in second. Running the anchor leg, Dedric Dukes (400, Miami, Fla.) held on to that second-place spot and finished in 1:54.82 to qualify for the final based on time. It was later determined that Hardy had strained his left hamstring.
In the boys javelin qualifying rounds, Devin Bogert (Tomball, Texas) started out with two fouls before launching the javelin 66.76m/219-0 to finish 12th overall and claim the last qualifying spot for the final. Christopher Rodgriguez (Tucsan, Ariz.) threw a season best 65.77m/215-9 to finish 10th in group B.
Team USA medal table as of July 10:
Gold (4)
Prezel Hardy (Killeen, Texas) boys 100m, 10.57
Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) girls 400m, 52.88
Dale Morgan (Van Nuyes, Calif.) boys 110m hurdles, 13.28
Ryan Crouser (Damascus, Ore.) boys shot put, 21.56m/70-9
Silver (5)
Kori Carter (Claremont, Calif.) girls 100m hurdles, 13.26
Ryan Crouser (Damascus, Ore.) boys discus throw, 61.64m/202-2
Josh Mance (Pomona, Calif.) boys 400m, 46.22
Michelle Brown (Shamong, N.J.) girls 400m, 53.44
Alex Collatz (Bakersfield, Calif.) girls discus throw, 50.09m/131-6
Bronze (2)
Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) girls 100m, 11.48
Bridgette Owens (Oak Park, Mich.)
For more information on Team USA and the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships, visit www.usatf.org. For complete results, visit www.iaaf.org.
ATHLETE QUOTES
Ryan Crouser - boys shot put gold medalist
"The first throw was too easy and I fouled. On the second, I just tried to get a mark. After that, I started to really go after it. On my fifth throw, everything came together pretty well.
I was frustrated after the discus, not with the silver, but with the way that I threw. After that, I really focused on the shot for the past two days.
To get gold and silver and to get the championship record, it just couldn't get any better than this."
Alex Collatz - girls discus silver medalist
"Shanshan (Li of China) came out strong from the beginning, I knew she would. I knew I was going to have to throw close to a PR if I wanted to win. I did fall a little short in that but I am happy with my throws today. I was consistent. I'm so happy to have won silver.
It's been a long week here. I've been waiting a long time for this final. It was definitely worth it."
Ashton Purvis - girls 200m semi-final
"I just wanted to make the top two to get in the final. I'm trying to conserve my energy because I am running two 200s tomorrow. I'm the the 200 final and running the 200 leg of the relay."
Jennifer Clayton - girls long jump qualifying
"It was great, everything felt perfect. I was nervous in the beginning because my steps were off but I fixed it. Then I saw some girls qualifying, jump 6.0+meters on their first jumps and thought that I had to do it too because they were. I'm really happy that I made it to the final."
A'Lexus Brannon - girls long jump qualifying
"I'm so happy that I made it to the final. This was a personal best for me. I have a lot of marks in the 6.20m range and I jumped 6.42 but they were all windy."
Chelsey Sveinsson - girls 1,500m 4th-place finisher
"I knew it would be fast. I was just trying to go with the front pack, kicking with what I had left which obviously wasn't much. I'm not too happy with my time but I am proud of going out with the front pack and sticking with them."
Cory McGee - girls 1,500m 9th-place finisher
They took off fast, 65 seconds for the first lap. That's a lot faster than I am used to. I eased back a little after that. When 200m came, I thought I don't have anything to lose now and I kicked it in and passed a few girls."
Keenan Brock - boys 200m semi-final
"Another PR. I felt good, I drove good. I executed like I wanted to. It was a great race for me."
Angelica Weaver - girls 400m hurdles 5th-place finisher
"The stutter really threw off my momentum. I started alternating lead legs, something I'm not very string at. This has been a great experience though. I am really happy to have made the team and be here."
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org