Crouser wins silver at World Youth Champs

Crouser wins silver at World Youth Champs


BRESSANONE, Italy -Ryan Crouser brought home Team USA's first medal as he won the silver in the boys discus Wednesday night at the 6th IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy.
 
In the boys discus, Crouser (Portland, Ore.) took the lead with his first throw of 61.58 meters/202 feet. In the fifth round he was overtaken by Hamid Manssour (SYR) who eventually won the competition with 64.20m/210-7 and Crouser was the runner-up with his fifth toss of 61.64m/202-2. Alex Thompson (Rockford, Ill.) finished in fourth place with a best mark of 59.69m/195-10.
 
Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) easily won heat 2 of the girls 400m first round in 54.97 and Michelle Brown (Winnfield, Ill.) won heat 3 in 54.39 and both advanced to tomorrow's semi-final. Making up the stagger in the first 100m, Josh Mance (Claremont, Calif.) easily won heat 6 of the boys 400m in 46.88. It was the fastest time of the day and qualified him for tomorrow's semi-final.
 
In this morning's 100m first round, Ashton Purvis (Oakland, Calif.) had the fastest time and Jordan Clark (Detroit, Mich.) had the third-fastest. Following this afternoon's quarter-final round it was reversed as Clark had the fastest time winning heat 4 in 11.58 and Purvis had the third-fastest, winning heat 2 in 11.68. In the boys 100m quarter-final, Prezel Hardy (Killeen, Texas) was the runner-up in heat 4 in 10.57 and qualified for the sime-finals. Colin Hepburn (Glenview, Ill.) finsihed seventh in heat 2 in 10.95.
 
In the boys long jump qualifying, Carlton Lavong (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Leon Samuels (Winston-Salem, N.C.) each automatically qualified for the final with best marks of 7.37m/24-2.25 and 7.38m/24-2.5, respectively. Ciarra Brewer (Oakland, Calif.) will jump in the girls triple jump final after leaping 12.79m/41-11.5 for fourth in Group B. A'Lexus Brannon (Port Arthur, Texas) was 14th in Group A with 12.10m/39-8.5.
 
Moving into second place with one lap to go, 2009 Nike Outdoor National mile and two-mile champion Chelsey Sveinsson (Addison, Texas) guaranteed herself a spot in the girls 1,500m final finishing as the runner-up in heat 2 in 4:20.08. Finishing fifth in heat 1 in 4:25.66, Cory McGee also (Pass Christian, Miss.) qualified for the final.
 
Finishing fourth in heat 2 of the girls 400m hurdles, Angelica Weaver (Inglewood, Calif.) was the final qualifier based on time (1:01.64) to make it to the final. Katie Nelms (San Jose, Calif.) was third in heat 3 in 1:01.85. In the boys 400m hurdles, Jaron Roberson (Atlanta, Ga.) hit the 10th hurdle and went down but pulled himself up and to the finish line in 1:02.91.
 
After two misfires of the gun in heat 1 of the girls 2,000m steeplechase, McKinzie Schulz (Naperville, Ill.) was fourth in a season best 6:51.07. Running in heat 2, Eleanor Fulton (Denver, Colo.) ran a strong race, finishing third in a huge personal best 6:41.77. Both automatically qualified for Friday's final.
 
 2008 World Junior team member Shanay Briscoe (Houston, Texas) tied for second place and Tara Richmond (Chicago, Ill.) tied for 11th place in the girls high jump qualifying rounds, each with clearances at 1.77m/5-9.75. They both will compete in Friday's final.
 
Fighting an ankle injury that occurred during the long jump, Justin Gross (Baltimore, Md.) is in 14th place at the end of the first day with 2,748 points of the boys octathlon. Following the 400m, Gross said "I injured my ankle during the long jump but I'm going to try and continue the competition tomorrow. I want to finish my first international competition."
 
For more information and complete results from the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships, visit www.iaaf.org. 
 
 ATHLETE QUOTES
 
Alex Thompson - boys discus 4th-place finisher
 
"It was a good day. I threw almost 60 meters. I would have liked to bring home some hardware but you can't PR every day."
 
Chelsey Sveinsson - girls 1,500m 1st round
 
"It was fast, but I did what I wanted to do. I just wanted to be up at the front and cruise at the end to make it to the final."
 
Josh Mance - men's 400m 1st round
 
"I just wanted to win my heat and go 47 today. I went 46 so I'm really happy and confident about tomorrow."
 
Ashton Purvis - girls 100m 2nd round
 
"I just wanted to take it easy and make it to the final. I feel very postivie about the final but it is not going to be easy. There are some good competitors here. I have been trying to relax and have fun, take it easy."
 
Jordan Clark - girls 100m second round
 
"Tomorrow is going to be harder but I'm just going to keep working hard and praying. I want to get on that medal stand."
 
McKinzie Shulz - girls 2,000m steeplechase 1st round
 
"It was tough. I just wanted to stay with Gesa (Krause of Germany) and qualify for the final. In the final, I'm going to run my own race. I'm not going to go out too fast and kick at the end."
 
Eleanor Fulton - girls 2,000m steeplechase 1st round
 
"It was tough but good. It was a big pr for me. In the final I want to run smarter, run harder and find another gear to be able to stay with the leaders."
 
Angelica Weaver - girls 400m hurdles 1st round
 
"I'm so glad that I got to come to the World Youth Championships even though I didn't run my best. This has been a great experience...what? I made the final? That's great."
 
Katie Nelms - girls 400m hurdles 1st round
 
"I feel like I ran fast but I didn't. I think I'm just tired, it's the end of an 11.5 month season for me. I've been having fun and that made it kind of hard to focus."
 
Colin Hepburn - boys 100m 2nd round
 
"It's been a good experience for me, being here. I just wish I would have run better."
 
Prezel Hardy - boys 100m 2nd round
 
"I didn't like that. My hamstring was tight because I got lazy and didn't stretch before this round. I'll do better tomorrow."
 
Ebony Eutsey - girls 400m 1st round
 
"It was alright. If somebody pushes me, I want to go 51. I picked it up tonight at 100m to go because I could feel Sandrae (Farqhuharson of Jamaica) on my shoulder and then I cruised at the end."
 
Michelle Brown - girls 400m 1st round
 
"I just did what I had to do to win my heat. My goal was to win my heat and I want to do well in the semi-final so that I get a good lane for the final."
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
 
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