Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ashton Purvis and Joshua Mance advance

Stinson's record 10K finish tops Team USA performances on day two of IAAF World Junior Championships



MONCTON, CANADA -- Texas high schooler Parker Stinson turned in the best finish ever by an American in the men's 10,000-meters Tuesday, crushing his lifetime best by more than a minute to take sixth in 29:32.23 at the IAAF World Junior Championships. The previous best finish was seventh by Tom Paskus in 1986. Stinson, who recently graduated from Cedar Park High School, also moved to sixth on the all-time prep 10K list with his effort.

"My goal coming in was to break 30 and finish in the top 12," Stinson said. "This feels so good! I was in great shape all year and it feels great to finally have a performance that shows that. I knew I had to stay with the second pack no matter what, and after the 14:42 first 5K I knew I was on good pace. Even when I was running by myself later in the race it felt good because I was picking people off. My USA teammates were going crazy for me and that helped a lot. This is a great finish to my high school career." Maryland high schooler Graham Bazell ran well early but struggled later in the race and finished 16th at 30:59.57.

In the evening's other final, Brittany Smith of Illinois State took seventh in the women's shot put with a 15.47-meter throw.

All eight Team USA athletes in qualifying races advanced to the next round, including pre-meet women's 100 favorites Ashton Purvis and Takeia Pinckney, and Errol Nolan in the men's 400.

Pinckney, the US junior champ from LSU, had a superb technical effort in heat three of the 100 to record the day's fastest time at 11.48, and Purvis overcame a poor start to win heat two in 11.73. "I was feeling good and relaxed, and made it through to the next round," Pinckney said. "I maybe could have got out stronger, but my transitions were good and I was happy with my phases. I love being the 'surprise" runner and getting the silent treatment."

Purvis, the double California prep sprint gold medalist, said, "I stumbled out of the blocks. They wouldn't let me bring my measuring tape out for the blocks, so I didn't have them set right. I had to overcome that, and I felt I did a good job. I just want to keep improving into the final."

In the men's 400, Nolan, an NCAA qualifier for Houston as a freshman, had the fastest time of the day at 46.67. California high school champ Joshua Mance, the World Youth silver medalist last year, also had an easy road to the next round with a 47.29 to win his heat. "This was a good race to build back my confidence after not racing for a few weeks," Nolan said. "I feel fine, and after my unexpected improvement this year, I look forward to getting even better."

Mance, who has a season best of 45.90, said, "I wanted to run 47 in this round and I did it. I didn't want to do too much today, and I was able to back off a bit near the end. I didn't mind running in lane eight since I have been a target all year and I am used to people chasing me."

Collegians Donique Flemings of Texas A&M and Evonne Britton of Penn State were among the fastest qualifiers for the semifinals in the women's 100 hurdles, with Flemings winning the first heat in 13.50, the third best of the round, and Britton placing second in heat two at 13.57. Flemings, who had a slowish start and made up ground on hurdles 7-9, said, "The starting noise was unusual (electronic clap) and it left me in the blocks for a bit. I just focused on qualifying after that and it went pretty well."

Britton said, "I was a little nervous because I was late to check-in. I got more into my rhythm on hurdles 3-5, and I know I need to drive a bit more and focus on technique. I feel good and confident."

Team USA's decathletes had varying levels of success on day one. Neamen Wise of South Florida won the 100 in 10.84 and had a solid long jump at 7.29 before a subpar shot put brought him back to the field. He cleared 1.92 in the high jump to stay in the top 10, but a 50.33 in the 400 gave him 3,923 points after five events to put him in 11th. Tennessee high schooler Kevin Lazas, a better second day performer, stands 14th with 3,732 points.

"My shot was not very good," Wise said. "I have been transitioning from the glide to the spin. You just try to set PR's in every event in the decathlon, and then you have to forget and move on. You can't think about what happened in the last event. Hurdles and discus are some of my strongest events, and I have been improving a lot in the pole vault, so the second day should be good for me."

Lazas said, "It was not a good day for me. I was not happy with any of my events. The second day is my stronger day, so I should move up."

Men's long jump qualifying saw Virginia prep Justin Hunter advance to the final with a 7.64 leap, the seventh best effort of the day. Pennsylvania high schooler Carlton Lavong was below par and finished 28th with a 7.14 jump.

Day three of the Championships starts at 9 am Wednesday with the decathlon 110 hurdles.

(For stats nuts, here are Parker Stinson's 400 splits for the 10K -- 69.5, 74.7, 73.7, 71.9, 72.2, 69.0, 69.2, 68.9, 69.5, 69.8, 69.6, 70.4, 70.0, 69.8, 69.4, 70.2, 69.8, 69.8, 69.7, 69.9, 72.8, 74.9, 74.6, 72.7, 71.0)

For more information on the IAAF World Junior Championships, visit www.usatf.org.

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