Despite a torrential downpour, Ebony Eutsey, a rising senior at Miami Southridge, easily won her heat of the 400 meter semis at the World Youth Championship in Bressanone, Italy on Thursday. She will enter tomorrow's finals at as the top seed with a qualifying time of 53.99 and will be considered the favorite to win gold.
Reflecting on Wednesday's preliminary round, where she won heat 2 with a time of 54.97, Eutsey said "It was alright... 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." As she looks forward to the finals, she believes she can run much much faster, saying "If somebody pushes me, I want to go 51."
Her current PR is 52.42 from the Miami Elite Invitational earlier this year. That is second all-time for a Florida high schooler. Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards holds the all-time record mark in Florida, hitting a 50.69 in 2002.
Check out great "Live" Coverage with Photos and Summaries at the NSSF web site.
