Team USA finds silver lining in Beijing

BEIJING, China - Justin Oliver (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Nicole Leach (Philadelphia, Pa.) each brought home silver medals for Team USA on day three at the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships at the Chaoyang Sport Centre in Beijing.

2006 U.S. Junior runner-up Justin Oliver claimed the silver medal in the men's 400 meters with his runner-up finish of 45.78 seconds. Oliver had a strong start and was in the lead for much of the race, but was edged out in the last four steps by Trinidad and Tobago's Renny Quow (45.74). "It was a good race, I felt like I had a perfect race," Oliver said afterwards. "I set a huge personal record and I'm very happy with that."

2006 U.S. Junior champion Nicole Leach, who took fourth at the 2004 World Junior Championships, went out strong in the women's 400-meter hurdles but was caught by Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer on the backstretch. Despite a valiant effort to catch Spencer, Leach crossed the line in 55.55 seconds to bring home the silver medal. After the race, Leach said, "I'm disappointed. I was the world leader. I planned to take the race; I just needed to execute the plan. I struggled with my stride pattern."

In other finals, 2006 U.S. Junior champion Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio)was fifth in the women's 400 meters, crossing the line in 52.51 seconds. St. Augustine's standout Joe Kindred took eight in the men's high jump with his clearance of 2.15 meters/7 feet 0.5 inches.

In the men's 1,500 meter final, 2006 U.S. Junior 5,000m champion Andrew Bumbalough (Brentwood, Tenn.) finished in 10^th place in 3 minutes 46.89 seconds. 2006 U.S. Junior runner-up Amy Fowler (Fairfield, Texas) was eighth in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, finishing in 10:11.73 while 2006 U.S. Junior champion Marie Lawrence (Reno, Nev.) was 10^th in 10:17.84.

2006 U.S. Junior champion Shawn Schmidt (Plano, Texas) placed 19^th in the men's decathlon with 5,645 points. Schmidt showed tremendous courage in the event when, after fouling his three attempts in the long jump, he continued with his competition. He trudged on, even after he failed to clear a height in the pole vault, not wanting his trip to Beijing to be for naught.

The opening rounds of the women's 200 meters saw Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calif.) and yesterday's 100m silver medalist Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, N.C.) each win their heats in 23.90 and 23.62 respectively to qualify for the semi-finals later in the night. "I feel blessed to have the opportunity to compete here in Beijing," Tarmoh said after the first round. Mayo came back in the PM session to win her semi-final heat in 23.69 while Tarmoh was third in her heat in 23.91. Both advanced to Friday's final.

In the women's 100-meter hurdles first round, 2006 U.S. Junior champion Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich.) won her heat in 13.68 seconds while high school standout Shalina Clarke (Round Lake, Ill.) took second in her heat in 13.86. Both advanced to Friday's semi-finals.

2006 U.S. Junior champion Chris Carter (Ogden, Utah) qualified for the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles, winning his heat in the fastest time of the day of 50.70 seconds. University of Albany standout Joe Greene (Geneva, N.Y.) was sixth in his heat, crossing the line in 53.24.

In the men's 200 meter opening rounds, 2006 U.S. champion Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) got out to a comfortable start before turning it on to win his heat in 21.11 while Calvin Smith (Tampa, Fla.) was second in his heat in 21.51. In the semi-final round, Perry took third in his heat in 21.45 while Smith was sixth in 21.46.

2006 U.S. Junior champion Natasha Harvey (West Haven, Conn.) was ninth in group A of the women's long jump with a leap of 5.83 meters/19 feet 1.5 inches while soon-to-be Stanford freshman Sarah Matthew (Niwot, Colo.) fouled her three attempts in group B. "I think I made the biggest mistake of my life," Matthew said on her way off the track. "I didn't know I had scratched my first jump, so I went all out on two and three and ended up scratching them too. I didn't get any marks in."

Team USA medal tally as of August 17 - Gold (0) Silver (4) Justin Oliver (Stone Mountain, Ga.), M400: 45.78; Nicole Leach (Philadelphia, Pa.), W400H: 55.55; Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, N.C.), W100: 11.42; Antone Belt (Berkeley Springs, W.V.), MLJ: 7.95m/26-1 Bronze (0)

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.