Who says you need sleep to be at the top of your game? Certainly not American athletes Michelle Sanford and Jerrika Chapple.

Both athletes arrived in Debrecen, Hungary early Thursday morning, 5 a.m. to be exact, and immediately prepared to compete in the biggest meet of their young track and field careers. Working without the benefit of sleep after a 24-hour journey from Chicago, Sanford unleashed a personal best of 12.60/41-4 in the triple jump to advance to the final, while Chapple had the fastest time overall in the prelims of the 400 at 54.82.

Team USA athletes showed well in the sprints, too, with Allyson Felix and Tissilli Rogers qualifying for the final of the women’s 100 and Willie Hordge and Jonathan Wade advancing to the final in the men’s century. Felix had the fastest time overall at 11.76, and Rogers raced to an 11.85. Wade (10.42) and Hordge (10.46) set wind-legal season bests to rank 2-3 on the list of finalists.

Besides Chapple in the 400, Stephanie Smith was an easy winner of her heat at 55.08, also earning a spot in the semifinals. Idaho collegian Matthew Erickson sneaked into the semis of the men’s 400 with a 49.45 clocking.

Controversy swirled in the men’s 400 hurdles, where Atlanta’s Sergio Daniel raced to a PR 51.63 to win heat four, only to be disqualified for a trail leg violation. Jonathan Walker advanced to the semis in the event with a 53.60 effort. Ashley Lodree ran a season-best 13.98 to place second in her 100 hurdles heat and move on to the semis.

On the field, Kristen Michalski (hammer) and Amarachi Ukabam (discus) advanced to the finals in their women’s events, and Julene Bailey moved forward in the pole vault using borrowed poles. Bailey and teammate Elizabeth Boyle had to solicit help from fellow vaulters from Australia, Brazil and Hungary as their personal poles arrived after the competition was completed. Brian Calhoun set a personal best of 7.18/23-6.5 to advance to the men’s long jump final.

In other action Thursday: * Evelyn Dwyer (2:11.72, third in her heat) and Crystal Anyanwu (2:17.02, sixth in her heat) were casualties in the women’s 800 prelims. In the men’s two-lapper, Courtney Jaworski just missed advancing with a 1:53.61 clocking for fourth in his heat, while Richard Allen ran a gutsy race to record a season-best 1:56.68.

* LaToya LeGree recorded a 12.25/40-2.25 to place 14th overall, narrowly missing a spot in the triple jump final.

* Donovan Kilmartin, one of the pre-meet favorites in the octathlon, was forced to withdraw after the long jump (event two of eight) on the advice of team physician Dr. Mark Troxler. Troxler said Kilmartin was suffering from exhaustion. He should recover in time to compete in Friday’s pole vault prelims. Kansan Eric Black is in 29th place after four events with 2593 points.

*High jumper Ceith Creekmur failed to clear a height and did not advance. David Olson set a personal best of 8:54.89 to place 15th in his heat of the men’s 3000, and Mark Walter was 18th in his section at 8:58.05.

*Michelle Carter, better known as a shot put ace, was sixth in her section of the women’s discus with a toss of 41.87/137-4.

***NOTES***

•An unexpected downpour interrupted the women’s 100 heats, bringing much-needed relief from swirling dust that resembled last year’s Olympic Trials in Sacramento.

•The final tally of countries entered in the World Youth Championships is 156, 21 more than were at Bydgoszcz, Poland, for the inaugural edition in 1999. The largest delegation is host Hungary with 76 athletes, followed by the U.S. with 50.

•The 2003 WYC will be in Sherbrooke, Ontario, Canada.

•Mascots come in all shapes and sizes, but the Debrecen choice, a large and muscular turkey, would send shivers down the spine of even the most macho pilgrim.