Mixed 4x400 grabs first Team USATF gold at World U20 Championships

EUGENE, Oregon — Shattering the all-time best in the U20 mixed 4x400 relay, Team USATF romped to gold Wednesday on the opening night of the 21st World Athletics U20 Championships at Hayward Field. The American quartet of Joshua Shelton, Taylor-Nicole Overton, Jaelen Hunter, and Olivia Harris clocked 3:15.31 to take more than two seconds off the previous world U20 best of 3:17.69 set by the national team at the 2022 World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.

Shelton gave the U.S. quartet an early lead with his 46.22 leadoff leg, and then Overton blew the race wide open with the fastest split of the evening, a 51.70 carry that gave the team a 1.56 second margin over Australia. Hunter stretched the lead even farther with the fastest men's split of the race, clocking 45.57 to go up by 2.35 seconds as he made the final pass to Harris. Sure and steady as she was in the heats, Harris brought the baton around in 51.82 to seal the victory. Czechia finished very well to claim silver in 3:18.16, with Australia earning bronze in 3:18.45.

In the heats, the quartet of Shelton (47.11), Natalie Dumas (52.61), Hunter (47.01), and Harris (51.53) ran the fourth fastest U20 time ever to lead all qualifiers for the final with a 3:18.26 on heat three. Harris had the fastest split of any of the women in the three heats and pulled away from Australia in the home stretch.

In the evening's other finals, Michael Kpomassy ended up 11th in the men's shot put with a best of 18.85, and Juan Gonzales and Jack Bidwell placed 12th and 16th in the men's 5000. Gonzales finished in 13:59.00, with Bidwell crossing the line in 14:18.90.

As expected, the American sprinters acquitted themselves very well and all four 100 meter representatives qualified for the final. Tate Taylor looked very comfortable in recording the fastest men's time of the semifinal, a 10.06 in the third section that was .07 faster than the nearest challenger. Kyler Brown ran the third fastest time of his career, finishing second in semi one in 10.16. In the heats Taylor also had the fastest time overall with a 10.05 to take section six, and Brown won the eighth heat in 10.19, the fourth fastest overall.

Twins Mia and Mariah Maxwell were similarly untroubled in advancing to the women's 100 final. Mia had the fastest time overall by .08 seconds with the 11.13 she ran to win semi two, and Mariah went 11.25 for second in semifinal three behind pre-meet list leader Shanoya Douglas of Jamaica. Mariah won heat three in 11.33, and Mia took heat six by a big margin in 11.37.

The women's discus saw Jaslene Massey and Jillian Scully notch the fourth and fifth farthest throws. Massey nailed an auto qualifying mark of 55.47 on her first attempt in group A, while Scully's 54.15 in round one of group B was easily enough to earn her a spot in the final 12.

There will be two Americans in the 13-woman final in the pole vault, with all qualifiers clearing 4.10. Katie Blue went over that height on her second try in group B, and Kylie Neira needed three attempts but was safely over to move on.

Sierra Wall advanced to the final of the women's 3000 steeplechase with a seventh-place finish in heat two at 10:14.92. Wall was 11th at one kilometer in 3:20.09 and then moved up to ninth at 2K in 6:49.41. Needing to be in the top eight to make the final, Wall ran a gutsy final kilometer to stake a claim to seventh and advance. Bella Nelson was 11th in heat one at 10:44.05 and did not move on.

After day one of the heptathlon Chiora Enyinna-Okeigbo is 16th with 3,229 points, only 100 points out of the top 10, and Destiny Look is 23rd with 3,033. Enyinna-Okeigbo ran a season best of 14.00 to win her section of the 100 hurdles to stand eighth after one event and then cleared 1.69 in the high jump to drop to 10th. After a shot put best of 10.33 she dropped to 19th, but she recovered some ground with a 25.32 200 to end the day.

Morning Session

Kayden Hulet was in a little bit of trouble through the first two rounds of qualifying in the men's hammer after a 69.30 opener and then a foul, but on his final try he launched a near-PB 72.83 to exceed the automatic qualifying distance and earn his spot in the final. His throw was only five centimeters short of his lifetime best set at the USATF U20 meet, a distance that ranked him No. 10 on the all-time U.S. performer list. Hulet was one of only four athletes to earn an auto spot in the final, and he ended up fourth overall.

All four Team USATF half milers advanced to the semifinal. Ellie Barada was second in the final heat of the women's 800 in 2:06.57 and had a fairly easy road to the next round. Barada was third at the bell in 63.49 and steered clear of trouble around the final bend to enter the straight in good position to secure a spot in the top five and automatically advance. 

USATF U20 champ Paige Sheppard was fourth through 400 in the third heat, passing the mark in 63.29, and she had to run wide over the final 300 to put herself in the top five. Hanging on and holding off a late push by a trio of challengers coming to the finish, Sheppard ended up third in 2:06.40 to move on automatically.

U.S. men had a tougher time in their heats. Kaleb Burroughs was side by side with Jamaica's Joel Morgan through 400 in heat three, passing it in 55.68, and was in a crowd led by Morocco's Imad Bouchajda at 600. Burroughs was boxed in on the final turn but worked his way into safety and finished fifth in 1:51.77, just .05 in front of Portugal's David Moura for the final auto berth in the semi.

In the middle of the pack at the halfway point, going by 400 in 58.34, USATF U20 champion Stefon Dodoo moved into third with 200 to go but had a little stumble when another runner clipped his heel. Dodoo recovered well and powered home in fourth in 1:53.01 to advance.

Throwing in group B of the men's shot put qualifying, Michael Kpomassy hit 18.59 on his first attempt and then added a centimeter in round two to squeak into the final as the 12th qualifier. Kpomassy had a four centimeter edge on the 13th place competitor as only three athletes hit the auto qualifying standard of 19.50. The favorite heading in with a PB of 20.97, USATF U20 champion Omar Hussein finished 14th overall with a best of 18.54 and did not advance.

Neither of the U.S. women in the long jump qualifying round finished in the top 12 to earn a spot in the final, as Abby Mecklenburg placed 18th with a wind-aided best of 5.96 and Parker Coes was 20th at 5.93. Men's javelin hopeful Nolan Carey also did not make the final, finishing 17th overall with a best of 64.07.

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