Mayo and Belt win silver in Beijing

BEIJING, China - Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, N.C.) and Antone Belt (Berkeley Springs, W.V.) won the first medals for Team USA on day two at the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships at the Chaoyang Sport Centre in Beijing.

After a roughstart, 2006 U.S. Junior 200m champion Gabby Mayo had a tremendous finish to claim the silver medal in the women's 100 meter final, inching out Carrie Russell of Jamaica who took third, both with a time of 11.42 seconds. "I'm very happy I got second, it's so exciting," said Mayo. 2006 U.S. Junior champion Alexandria Anderson was fifth in 11.49.

Antone Belt, a freshman at the University of Louisville, brought home the silver medal with his personal best leap of 7.95 meters/26 feet 1 inch. Belt sat in second for most of the competition until gold medalist Robert Crowther of Australia, who had been sitting in third, surpassed Belt on his fifth attempt, pushing him into third position. Belt immediately responded with his best leap of the night which put him back into the second position, where he stayed for the remainder of the competition.

2006. U.S. Junior champion Tori Anthony (Palo Alto, Calif.) advanced to Friday's final in the women's pole vault with her clearance of 4.0 meters/13 feet 1.5 inches. "I am so excited," Anthony said of her performance. "I had two goals: to make the final and to set a big personal record. One down, one to go."

In the men's hammer throw, American junior record holder Walter Henning (South Huntington, N.Y.) hit the automatic qualifier on his third attempt with his heave of 71.51 meters/234 feet 7 inches to advance to Friday's final. "I was trying to get it (the automatic qualifier) in the first round," said Henning. "But I'm not disappointed. Knowing that I am in the finals, I can sleep good tonight."

Both Chris Carter (Ogden, Utah) and Joe Greene (Geneva, N.Y.), the 2006 U.S. Junior champion and runner-up respectively, will move on to Thursday's semi-final in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Carter won his heat in 51.49 seconds while Greene placed fourth in his heat in 52.75. "I felt tired, but my performance was good," said Carter. "I did what I wanted and I felt strong." In the women's 400m hurdles, 2006 U.S. Junior champion Nicole Leach (Philadelphia, Pa.) won her semi-final heat in 56.10 to move on to Thursday's final.

2006 NCAA champion Rebekah Noble (Spokane, Wash.) crossed the line in 2 minutes 5.56 seconds in the women's 800 meter semi-final to place third in her heat and qualify for Friday's final. It the first time an American has ever advanced to the final in the women's 800m at the World Junior Championships.

2006 U.S. Junior runner-up Justin Oliver (Stone Mountain, Ga.) took second in his semi-final heat of the men's 400 meters in 46.22 seconds while 2006 U.S. Junior champion Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio) was fourth in her semi-final heat of the women's 400m in 52.97. Oliver said, "It was a good race, I ran smart at the end. I feel good about tomorrow." Both Oliver and Beard advanced to their respective finals.

Also at the track, 2006 U.S. Junior champion Adam Montague (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was ninth in group B of the men's javelin with his heave of 66.30 meters/217 feet 6 inches while Oregon freshman Matt Maloney was 18^th in group A with his throw of 57.76m189-6. In the men's steeplechase, 2006 U.S. Junior champion Cory Thorne (Portsmouth, N.H.) was 14^th in heat two in 9:24.10 and Georgetown freshman Alex Mason (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was 17^th in heat one in 9:51.61.

Brittany Parker (McKinney, Texas) cleared 3.80 meters/12 feet 5.5 inches for 11^th place in group B of the women's pole vault. Shannon Leinert (Gainesville, Fla.) placed fourth in heat one of the women's 800m semi-final, crossing the line in 2:07.67. Quentin Inglehart-Summers (San Antonio, Texas) was fifth in heat three of the men's 400m semi-final in 47.04 while Brandi Cross (Missouri City, Texas) finished fourth in heat one of the women's 400m semi-final in 53.25.

Ebony Collins (Los Angeles, Calif.), the 2005 World Youth champion, was eighth in her semi-final heat of the women's 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 60.70 seconds. University of California freshman Jake Schmitt (Kentfield, Calif.) was 17^th in the men's 10,000m, finishing in 31:38.22.

For more information on the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships, including results and complete coverage of this year's event, please visit the USATF website at www.usatf.org.