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Nerud Breaks National High School Record at World JuniorsPublished by
Nerud Breaks National High School Record at World Juniors7/10/2012
BARCELONA, Spain – Nine in the morning is early for most, but, for Team USA’s Brianne Nerud (North Shore, N.Y.), it was the perfect time to demolish the national high school record in the women’s steeplechase. Nerud’s performance was part of a busy morning at the opening session of the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona. Also highlighting the morning session, Team USA’s sprinting duo of Tyreek Hill and Aaron Ernest easily advanced in the heats of the men’s 100. Hill equaled with the top qualifying mark of the field, running 10.37 to Ernest’s 10.39. Women’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase (heats) “I was expecting it to go out a little faster, but the first two laps were really slow so I wanted to pick it up.” said Nerud. “I was waiting for someone to take it out. I didn’t want it to be a kicker’s race. (My coach) told me to run my own race.” Nerud was surprised to hear that she had broken the prep record, and by a wide margin nonetheless, “No, I didn’t know that, wow.” Courtney Frerichs (Nixa, Mo./UMKC) finished eighth in her heat and 16th overall with a time of 10:35.24, seven seconds off a time-qualifying spot. Kenya’s Daisy Jepkemei claimed the world’s best time by a junior this year to win Frerich’s heat in 9:56.33. Men’s 100 (heats) Great Britain’s Adam Gemili also ran 10.37 out of heat two, proclaiming himself as one to break up the American charge. LSU freshman Aaron Ernest had a different perspective on his opening round race which he won in 10.39 – the third-best overall time. “I had a conservative start – trying to be conservative as a whole in the first round,” said Ernest. “I just cruised today. I could tell I had the race at around 70 meters, so I let up a little at the end. Overall, I’m happy with the first round and am looking forward towards competing in the semifinal.” Men’s 110 Hurdles (heats) Echols ran in the final heat of eight and the waiting around was a bit unnerving. “(The race) felt sluggish – we sat so long, so I wasn’t myself. Hopefully in the finals they don’t make us sit so long and I’ll be ready to go. The start was okay, but it could be better, plus I hit a couple hurdles. Good competition (out here) for sure – I’ve got to be ready the next two rounds”. Running into a hefty headwind (-2.1 m/s), Thompson clocked a time of 14.04 seconds. Thompson felt his race was not exactly what he wanted, “I was just coming up on the hurdles too quickly. I need to go back to the practice field and work on a couple things, and I’ll be fine.” There was a call back to the start after the gun initially fired in Thompson’s heat, but that seemed to help the first-time international competitor. “(The call back) calmed me down. I think I was just a little jittery before the gun and it helped me calm down a little bit. (The world-championship atmosphere) and a crowd like this intimidates you, but you just have to work through it and try to go out there and do your best. Women’s Shot Put (qualification) “I knew that that my last throw was good and now I’m ready for (tonight’s finals),” said Hillman. “I’m excited about it and really want to PR and be on that award stand, that’s my goal.” Torie Owers (Athens, Ga.) also qualified for the final with a toss of 14.82/48-7½. Germany’s Shanice Craft had the top qualifier of 16.41/53-10¼. Women’s 800 Wilson led a comfortable pace to run 2:07.07 and nearly took the tape first in her heat. Running in the lead pack throughout, Wilson ran her type of race, “I normally don’t have a set pace.” Adding, “I let the race and the competitors dictate how I run.” Aragon was patient despite a blistering qualifying-round pace that produced an opening lap of 1:01.4. Holding towards the back of the pack, Aragon used the final turn to make her move, flying to the outside to place herself in automatic qualifying position and finish in third in the heat, 2:07.84. “I just wanted to make the semifinals so bad,” said Aragon. “They were going really fast (at the start) and I wanted to hang on and it worked in the end. On the curve, I tried to make sure I didn’t get myself into any trouble and ran on the outside lane – I just wanted to make sure I didn’t box myself in.” Men’s Pole Vault Casey Bowen (Gardner, Kan./U. of Kansas) and Nikita Kirillov (Atlanta, Ga./Georgia Tech) did not advance from the qualification round. Bowen cleared 4.95/16-2¾, but a clearance of at least 5.05/16-6¾ was needed to move on to the finals. Men’s Decathlon Women’s Javelin Men’s 1500 Nixon, Ashe Named Team Captains TUESDAY MORNING 1500 METERS (heats) 110 METER HURDLES (heats) POLE VAULT (qualification) DECATHLON (after 3 events) WOMEN’S RESULTS – ROUNDS 3000 METER STEEPLECHASE (heats) SHOT PUT (qualification) JAVELIN (qualification) Read the full article at: usatf.org
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