FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 10, 2003

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS – THURSDAY MORNING SESSION NOTES

SHERBROOKE, Canada - Javelin thrower Chad Brown of Lake Charles, La., was the surprise of the first morning of qualifying at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, uncorking a lifetime best of 238-1 to lead all qualifiers. Brown’s previous best was 207-0, but on his second attempt he launched the 700-gram spear past the automatic qualifying line to earn a spot in Friday’s final. His mark is the best ever in the youth javelin by an American.

Team USA looked strong on the track, too, where Texan Jason Richardson (Cedar Hill, Tex.) led all qualifiers in the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a 50.95 run, almost half a second faster than the next-best qualifier. Another Texan, Jamaal Charles of Beaumont, had the fourth best qualifying time, clocking 52.53 to win his heat.

New York sprint star Natasha Hastings (Rosedale, N.Y.) turned in the fastest qualifying time in the women’s 400 at 54.20 to win her heat, while teammate Brandi Cross of Missouri City, Tex., was second in her section at 54.86 to move on to the semifinals. Hastings has the fastest youth time in the world this year at 52.09.

After watching Kenya’s Augustine Chore romp to a Championships record 7:52.34 in the first heat of the men’s 3000, Oregon’s Galen Rupp (Portland) was content to stay in the lead pack of heat two and nab a top-five automatic qualifying spot. Rupp had laps of 70.6, 70.1, 67.6, 66.4 (4:34.7 1600), 67.5, 62.6 and 63.4, and finished a very easy fourth in his heat at 8:22.92.

Triple jumpers Erica McLain (Plano, Tex.) and Britanny Daniels (Tracy, Calif.) advanced to the final, but not without some drama from Daniels, the California state champion. After two fouls, Daniels managed a 12.29/40-4 leap on her third and final attempt to move on. McLain’s first-round 12.40/40-8.25 was good enough to advance.

Other field eventers advancing to the finals were pole vaulter Scott Duckworth (The Woodland, Tex.), who matched his lifetime best of 4.80/15-9 in the qualifying, and shot putter Nick Panezich (Poland, Ohio), who set a personal best of 18.24/59-10.25 to move on to tonight’s final.

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS – THURSDAY AFTERNOON SESSION NOTES

Less than four hours after blitzing the field in the prelims of the men`s 400 meter hurdles, Jason Richardson raced to the fastest qualifying time in the 110 meter hurdles to highlight the Thursday afternoon session at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke.

Richardson, who is more used to the U.S. high school hurdle height of 39 inches, adjusted quickly to the 36-inch international youth barriers and clocked 13.39 to win heat two and advance to the final. The Cedar Hill, Tex., runner struggled over the first two barriers before making an adjustment and cruising over the final eight. Teammate Kevin Craddock finished second in heat one at 13.90 to automatically advance to the final.

“I think I can go faster in both races,” Richardson said. “It took a while to get used to the lower sprint hurdles, but I think I made a good adjustment. I want to run under 50 seconds in the final of the 400 hurdles.”

New Hampshire’s Chantelle Dron was another bright spot for Team USA in the women’s 1500 qualifying heats, notching a lifetime best of 4:22.08 to take sixth in her heat and advance to the final. Dron came through 400 in 67.8, passed 800 in 2:19.5 and 1200 in 3:29.8 on her way to a finals spot. She covered the final lap in 69.1 seconds.

Both Team USA entrants advanced in the men`s 400, with Cedric Goodman winning his heat at 48.92 and Jarrith Jones finishing second in his section at 49.28.

Zack Midles was a mildly surprising qualifier for the men’s hammer final, whirling the 11-pound ball 62.07/203-8.

After the first day of the men’s octathlon, Adam Fretwell is seventh with 3062 points, while Daniel Kinsey sits 21st with 2801 points. Fretwell’s marks in the individual events were 11.19 (100m), 7.05/23-1.75 (long jump), 13.52/44-4.25 (shot put) and 52.18 (400m).

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS – THURSDAY EVENING NOTES

SHERBROOKE, Canada - It didn’t take long for Team USA to step into the limelight in the third session of day one at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke.

Jessica Onyepunuka started the evening session with some fireworks in heat three of the women’s 100 meters, setting a Championships record and a lifetime best with her 11.44 clocking. That record didn’t last long, though – 18 minutes to be exact -- as teammate Krystin Lacy rocketed to an 11.43 in heat six for a lifetime best and Championships record.

Both U.S. women’s discus throwers advanced to the final, with D’Andra Carter ranking eighth overall and Misti Barber just behind her in ninth. In the men’s 800 heats, Michael Haddan ran well to finish second in his heat at 1:53.39 and advance to the next round.

In the evening’s two finals, Team USA nabbed a tenth-place finish from Maria Michta in the women’s 5000 racewalk, the best finish ever by a U.S. walker at the Championships, and a twelfth-place effort from shot putter Nick Panezich.