Trojans Reach Finals At IAAF World Junior Championships
July 22, 2010 | Track & Field
July 22, 2010
USC's incoming freshman are excelling at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships being held at Stade Moncton in Moncton, Canada with Josh Mance representing USA taking fifth in the men's 400m race today (July 22), while Loudia Laarman and Aaron Brown representing Canada placed seventh and fifth respectively in the 100m finals yesterday. Brown also cruised through two rounds of the 200m dash today to reach tomorrow's finals, while 2009-10 USC freshman Lauren Chambers competed for the U.S. in the women's hammer throw competition.
The World Junior Championships are an international competition held every two years for the world's best track and field athletes under the age of 20. The early action at this year's competition has been impacted by heavy rains.
Mance, the 2009 World Youth Games silver medalist, took fifth in the men's 400m finals with a time of 46.84. Kirani James (Alabama) running for Grenada and the 2010 NCAA champion in the 400m dash won today with a time of 45.89. Mance reached the finals by winning his preliminary round heat with a time of 47.29 on Tuesday and his semifinal round heat with a time of 46.43 on Wednesday.
Mance, of Don Lugo HS in Chino, Calif., won the 2010 California state 400m title with a nation's best high school time of 45.90.
Laarman of Winston Churchill High in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada reached the women's 100m final by running a PR of 11.64 in the preliminary rounds and then posting a time of 11.73 in the semifinals to be the final runner to advance on time. In the finals she placed seventh with a time of 11.81 into a 0.7 wind.
Brown of Birchmount Park High in Ontario, Canada had a time of 10.48 in the men's 100m dash finals (-0.7w) to place fifth. He posted a time of 10.37 (+2.2w) to place second in his preliminary heat and third overall to advance to the semifinals. He then won his semifinal heat to advance to the finals with a time of 10.62, beating eventual 2010 champion and defending champion Dexter Lee of Jamaica (won in the finals with a time of 10.21 to become first person in the history of the IAAF World Junior Championships to retain the 100m title).
"It was kind of a David and Goliath type of thing," said 2009 World Youth silver medalist Brown to the media covering the championships. "I knew if I had a good start I could compete with anybody here. I didn't get a good start in the final, but definitely in the semi(finals). It felt good to beat one of the top guys in the world."
Brown then competed in two rounds of the men's 200m dash today and advanced to the finals. He placed second in his preliminary round heat with a PR of 21.21 to advance to the semifinals. Brown then placed second in his semifinal heat with a wind-aided time of 21.12 to automatically advance to the finals.
The bad weather early in the day took its toll on Chambers who had a throw of 151-0 (46.02m) in her first throw before registering fouls in her final two throws, keeping her from advancing out of the preliminaries. She was not the only top-flight thrower to struggle with the conditions at Yirisleydi Ford of Cuba who came in with the top junior mark in the world of 222-10 (67.93m) had three straight fouls and also did not advance to the finals.
Chambers of Acworth, Ga. competed as a freshman in 2010 at USC and set the U.S. Junior record in the hammer with a throw of 206-5 (62.93m) in April. She went on to place second in the hammer throw at the Pac-10 Championships with a throw of 195-2 and second at the U.S. Junior Championships with a best mark of 188-9.
Players Mentioned
