BELGRADE, Serbia — Team USATF is off to a strong start after a solid day one morning session at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships with one bronze, four qualifying for semi-finals, and five qualifying for finals. 2022 USATF Indoor men’s triple jump champion Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan/USATF Michigan) claimed the bronze medal, jumping a season’s best 17.21m/56-5.75 and starting off day one at the World Athletics Championships in Belgrade’s Stark Arena in the capital city of Serbia. Scott held off Will Claye (New York/USATF New York) who leapt 17.05 in the first round to take the third-place position then improved to 17.10 in the third round. Claye finished fourth, just out of medal contention, with a best of 17.19m/56-4.75 in round five. In the women’s pentathlon, Kendell Williams (Kennesaw, Georgia/USATF Georgia) started the day with a season’s best in the 60m hurdles in 8.20, while teammate Chari Hawkins (San Diego, California/USATF San Diego-Imperial) finished fourth in the same heat in 8.24. Hawkins followed up with a 1.83m/6-0 clearance in the high jump and a season best 14.02m/46-0 in the shot put, with Williams going over 1.80m/5-10.75 in the high jump and throwing a season best 12.81m/42-0.5. Hawkins enters the afternoon session in third after three events with 2,886 points, 21 behind the leader, and Williams is fourth with 2,777.
After three events Garrett Scantling (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) was fourth with 2,724 points, just five points behind third, after zipping to a season best 6.84 in the 60m and long jumping 7.40m/24-3.5. Scantling had the best throw of all the athletes in the shot put with a 16.37m/53-8.5 on his first attempt. Steven Bastien (Ann Arbor Michigan/USATF Michigan) is in ninth place with one event remaining on the first day.
Showing the same form that carried them to a 1-2 finish at the USATF Indoor Championships, Mikiah Brisco (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) and Marybeth Sant Price (Denver, Colorado/USATF Colorado) both advanced to the semifinal with speedy wins in the heats of the women’s 60m. Sant Price took the top spot in heat one at 7.09, and then Brisco cruised to a lifetime best of 7.03 to win heat three, the fastest time overall.
Trevor Bassitt (Elida, Ohio/USATF Ohio) was second in his heat to earn an automatic qualifier for the semi-finals, finishing in 46.47 behind Julien Watrin’s Belgian national indoor record of 45.88. Marqueze Washington (Fayetteville, Arkansas/ USATF Arkansas) ran a strong 46.66 and led from start to finish to win Heat 3.
A fast final heat in qualifying knocked out Americans Lynna Irby (Indianapolis, Indiana/USATF Indiana and Jessica Beard (Ocoee, Florida/USATF Florida) from advancing in the women’s 400m. Beard missed the autoqualifier in heat two finishing in 52.72, while Irby crossed the line in 52.78 finishing fourth in her heat.
It was two-for-two advancing in the women’s 1,500m as Josette Norris (Tenafly, New Jersey) clocked 4:06.27 to finish second in heat one of the women’s 1,500m and automatically move on to the final, while USATF indoor champion Heather MacLean (Brighton, Massachusetts /USATF New England) also made it as a time qualifier after running 4:08.13 to place fourth in her heat.
Both Team USATF men in the 800m advanced automatically to the next round. Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine/USATF Pacific Northwest) dominated from the start to win the second heat in 1:47.00, the best time of all the heats, and Bryce Hoppel (Lawrence, Kansas/USATF-Missouri) held on to finish second in his heat in 1:48.77.
Dillon Maggard (Logan, Utah/USATF Utah) finished fourth in the first heat with a time of 7:48.58 to advance to the men’s 3,000m final. A full schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtags #USATF and #WorldIndoorChamps.
Photo credit: Getty Images for World Athletics