Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Team USA collects four medals in morning session at Pan Ams

 

7/21/2015
 
TORONTO - Team USA collected four medals and set a Pan Am record to launch the first full day of track & field competition at the CIBC Athletics Stadium.

Two-time Olympian Kara Winger (Colorado Springs, Colorado) was first on the javelin runway, tossing 56.88m/186-7 on her opening attempt to remain in third place after the first two rounds. On Winger’s sixth and final throw, the javelin soared 61.44m/201-7 to briefly take the lead. However, Winger finished second after Liz Gleadle (CAN) edged her out on the event’s last throw of the day. Team USA’s Hannah Carson (Chandler, Texas) was eighth with a throw of 51.93m/170-4.

Mark Hollis (Knoxville, Tennessee) and Jake Blankenship (Blacklick, Ohio) tied for the bronze medal in men’s pole vault after both cleared opening height at 5.40m/17-8.5 on second-attempts. The two missed three times at 5.60m/18-4.5 to tie for third place and a place on the podium.

In the first event on the track, Kellyn Taylor (Flagstaff, Arizona) took command of the women’s 5,000m from the start, moving up to the front of the pack in the early going and creating a 20-meter advantage with eight laps to go, passing the 1 km mark at 3:06.74. She maintained her pace and took the field through 2 km in 6:14.31 and the 3 km in 9:25.53

Still leading through 4 km in 12:41.38, Taylor was overtaken heading into the opening curve of the final lap by Brenda Flores (MEX) and Julia dos Santos (BRA). She held on to third and the bronze medal in 15:52.78. Alisha Williams (Colorado Springs, Colorado) finished sixth in 16:01.59.

BeeJay Lee (Chino, California) ran 10.07 to win heat 2 of the men’s 100m, but was unaware of a recall gun being fired and had to come back and rerun his race after the third heat. He ran even faster in the rerun, clocking 9.99 with a hefty tailwind to win the heat and move on to Wednesday’s semifinal. Remontay McClain (Irvine, California) cruised to a windy 9.98 to take second in heat three and snag a spot in the next round.

Barbara Pierre
set a Pan Ams record in the 100 meters heats, Kara Winger won silver in the javelin, and the U.S. produced three bronze medalists.

An early morning start didn’t seem to faze Pierre (Knightdale, North Carolina) who cruised to a Pan American Games record 10.92 in heat 2 of the 100m, slicing a tenth of a second off the previous record held by Miki Barber of the U.S.

Teammate Morolake Akinosun (Austin, Texas) ran a windy 11.12 to take third in heat 3 as both advance to the semifinal.

Shamier Little (College Station, Texas) controlled the second semifinal of the women’s 400mH all the way, winning by a large margin in 56.08, the fastest of the two sections.

Marquise Goodwin (Buffalo, New York) was the first competitor down the runway in Group A of the men’s long jump. He leaped to a very windy 8.05m/26-5, qualifying for Wednesday’s finals after just one jump. A healthy gust also helped push Jeff Henderson (Little Rock, Arkansas) to 8.18m/26-10 on his first attempt in Group B, giving Team USA the top two qualifiers for the final.

The Pan American Games continue at 6:05 p.m. with the women’s triple jump final.

Click here for quotes from the Morning Session.

Click here for the complete schedule and results.

Team USA Medals at the Pan American Games (4)

Gold (0)

Silver (1)
Kara Winger, javelin (61.44m/201-7)

Bronze (3)
Jake Blankenship & Mark Hollis, pole vault (5.40m/17-8.5)
Kellyn Taylor, 5000 (15:52.78)
Lindsay Flanagan, marathon (2:36:30)


Christa Mann
Marketing & Communications Manager
USA Track & Field
317.713.4672
e-mail


No comments: