BRESSANONE, Italy - The boys medley relay team of Colin Hepburn, Keenan Brock, Dedric Dukes and Josh Mance broke the World Youth best as Team USA brought home five more medals on the final day of competition at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy.
Colin Hepburn (Glenview, Ill.) led off the boys medley relay, handing off to Keenan Brock (Birmingham, Ala.) who took the lead over his 200m leg. Brock handed off to Dedrick Dukes (Miami, Fla.), who opened up a sizeable lead on the field before handing off to Josh Mance (Pomona, Calif.), who continued to gap the competition. Mance powered down the final straight to cross the line in a world youth best 1:50.33. The previous world youth best of 1:50.46 was set by Poland at the 2001 World Youth Championships.
When the gun when off in the girls medley relay final, Jordan Clark (Southfield, Mich.) shot out of the blocks and was even at the exchange when she handed off to 100m and 200m bronze medalist Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.). After a shaky handoff, Purvis flew into the lead before handing off to Briana Nelson (Greenville, S.C.) who continued to extend the lead until it was well over 10 meters. Running the anchor leg, 400m gold medalist Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) won her second gold medal of these championships when she finished in 2:04.42, almost five seconds ahead of runner-up Hungary who finished in 2:09.22.
The medal stand in the girls 200m was identical to that of the 100m with Great Britain's Jodie Williams winning gold in a world youth leading 23.074, Allison Peter second (ISV, 23.076) and Ashton Purvis again claiming bronze in a personal best 23.15. Briana Nelson was fourth in a personal best 23.63.
In the boys 200m final, Kirani James had a several meter lead coming off the turn and it was a battle for second and third between Keenan Brock, Dedric Dukes and Spain's Alberto Gavalda. Galvada edged Brock for the silver in 21.33 and Brock earned bronze in 21.39. Dukes finished fourth in 21.61.
Jennifer Clayton (Monsey, N.Y.) had her best effort on her second attempt in the girls long jump final with a leap of 6.05 meters/19 feet 10.25 inches. The mark was good enough to earn Clayton the bronze medal. A'Lexus Brannon (Port Arthur, Texas) finished eighth with 5.90m/19-4.25.
Devin Bogert (Tomball, Texas) launched a huge personal best of 70.61m/231-8 on his first throw in the boys javelin final. This would be Bogert's best effort of the day which earned him seventh place.
Zachary Wills (Mason, Ohio) and Erik Olson (Nevato, Calif.) ran the fastest races of their young careers in the boys 3,000m final. Working as a team to push the pace once they fell off the lead pack, Wills finished ninth in 8:18.24 and Olson was 10th in 8:18.84. It was the first time any American, let alone two, has made the boys 3,000m final.
Team USA medal table as of July 10:
Gold (6)
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
Boys medley relay: Colin Hepburn (Glenview, Ill.), Keenan Brock (Birmingham, Ala.), Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.), Josh Mance (Pomona, Calif.), 1:50.33 WORLD YOUTH BEST
Girls medley relay: Jordan Clark (Southfield, Mich.), Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.), Briana Nelson (Greenville, N.C.), Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), 2:04.42
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 (5)
Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) girls 100m, 11.48
Bridgette Owens (Oak Park, Mich.) girls 100m hurdles, 13.39
Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) girls 200m, 23.15
Keenan Brock (Birmingham, Ala.) boys 200m, 21.39
Jennifer Clayton (Monsey, N.Y.) girls long jump, 6.05m/19-10.25
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
Briana Nelson - girls 200m 4th-place finisher
"It was a good race. I wanted to do better but it was a personal best so I'm happy. I'm looking for to the relay."
Zachary Wills - boys 3,000m 9th-place finisher
"I knew I wanted to stay as close to the lead as possible. But at the same time just try to run my own race and get a PR. Just getting here was an accomplishment."
Eric Olson - boys 3,000m 10th-place finisher
"In the last race, I felt like I was holding back so I wanted to take the first mile out fast. Zach and I worked together and that really helped me. With four laps to go, the leaders took off. Me and Zach and the Japanese athlete were together and Zach and I were pushing each other to a PR. It was a great race. The last time I raced Zach I was way back so this time was much better."
Keenan Brock - boys 200m bronze medalist
"My drive wasn't as good as it should have been. My curve was off. But it feels good, real good to win the bronze medal. "
Keenan Brock - boys medley relay gold medalist - 2nd leg
"My 200 felt good. Colin got us in the lead and I extended it. And then (Dedric) Dukes extended it even more and Josh brought it home. It feels great to win two medals, this was the meet of my life."
Dedric Dukes - boys medley relay gold medalist - 3rd leg
"During the 200m final, I had felt a sharp pain in my knee. But once the race was over, I went and got it worked on and it feels better now. I really wanted to get that gold medal."
Josh Mance - boys medley relay gold medalist - anchor leg
"I felt good. I wanted that one real bad, we all did. Dukes opened it up for me. I was comfortable and able to bring it home and get that record. The record was really important to all of us."
Jennifer Clayton - girls long jump bronze medalist
"I'm kind of disappointed because I had the big jump yesterday. Every time I was on the runway there was a big gust of wind and I didn't know whether to move my steps backward or forward because the wind was swirling.
I came in third and that was great. I'm happy to have even been on this team. It's been great.
Jordan Clark - girls medley relay - 1st leg
"The false start in the beginning threw me off a little. I got out of the blocks late after that because I was afraid to false start. Overall, I did good, I had a good race.
It feels really good to win a gold medal on the international stage. This is a first for me. And I would love for it to happen again."
Briana Nelson - girls medley relay - 3rd leg
"I felt really comfortable. I got a good lead for Ebony. It was a good run.
Any time you go overseas, it's a good experience. I made a lot of friends here with my teammates and with athletes we met from other countries."
Ebony Eutsey - girls medley relay - anchor leg
"There was no pressure on me because we had such a big lead. I feel good. I thought that after all of this racing that my legs would hurt and be tight but I feel good. I'm real relaxed and just so happy. This has been a great experience for me."
About USA Track & Field
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