Team USA dominates relays in Beijing

BEIJING, China - Team USA brought home three gold and one silver medal in the relays on the final night of the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships at the Chaoyang Sport Centre in Beijing.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calif.), Alexandria Anderson (Chicago, Ill.), Elizabeth Olear (Woodland Hills, Calif.), and Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, N.C.) got the night started off right, bringing home the gold in their world junior leading time of 43.49 seconds. "It was great," said Anderson after the team's victory. "I'm proud that we won. We all knew what our part was and we did an excellent job."

After a hard fought race, the men's 4x100-meter relay team of Evander Wells (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Gordon McKenzie (Queens, N.Y.), Willie Perry (Lenior, N.C.), and Brandon Myers (Houston, Texas) claimed the silver medal with their runner-up time of 39.21 seconds. "It felt good," said Perry. "We all got out and did our best. The only thing was Brandon isn't comfortable with the baton in his left, but we did our best with what we had."

The U.S. contingent of Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio), Brandi Cross (Missouri City, Texas), Sa'de Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Nicole Leach (Philadelphia, Pa.) took the lead on the second leg of the women's 4x400-meter relay and never looked back, crossing the line in a world junior leading 3 minutes 29.01 seconds. After their victory lap, Leach said, "I'm so excited. This was my third gold medal on a world junior team. We're proud, we had confidence in ourselves and did what we set out to do. We want to thank out teammates, the coaches and USATF for sending us on this trip."

In winning the men's 4x400-meter world relay title, Quentin Inglehart-Summers (San Antonio, Texas), Justin Oliver (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Bryshon Nellum (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Chris Carter (Ogden, Utah) easily beat out runner-up Russia, sprinting to the finish in 3 minutes 3.76 seconds to Russia's 3:05.13. "It felt great," said anchor leg and 400mH champion Carter. "I was honored to be a part of the relay." Summers said, "I'm happy we ran as good as we did. We got gold and we're all happy about that."

Also on the track, Darius Reed (Denver, Colo.) took sixth place in the men's 110-meter hurdle final, clocking in at 13.64 seconds. Erin Bedell (Plano, Texas), a freshman at Baylor, was 10^th in the women's 1,500m final, crossing the line in a personal best 4:20.01. "I tried my best to give myself a shot. I took a chance and don't regret anything I did on the track," said Bedell. "I'm taking a short break now right before cross country starts."

Team USA medal tally as of August 20 - Gold (4) Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calif.), Alexandria Anderson (Chicago, Ill.), Elizabeth Olear (Woodland Hills, Calif.), and Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, N.C.), W4x100m relay: 43.49; Jessica Beard (Euclid, Ohio), Brandi Cross (Missouri City, Texas), Sa'de Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Nicole Leach (Philadelphia, Pa.), W4x400m relay: 3:29.01; Quentin Inglehart-Summers (San Antonio, Texas), Justin Oliver (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Bryshon Nellum (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Chris Carter (Ogden, Utah), M4x400m relay: 3:03.76; Chris Carter (Ogden, Utah), M400H: 50.08 Silver (5) Evander Wells (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Gordon McKenzie (Queens, N.Y.), Willie Perry (Lenior, N.C.), and Brandon Myers (Houston, Texas), M4x100m relay: 39.21; 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 (2) Rebekah Noble (Spokane, Wash.), W800: 2:04.90; Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich.), W100H: 13.37

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.