Noble Wins U.S. Junior 800 Title in USA Champs Second Day
CARSON, Calif. ? In second day action Friday in the USA Outdoor Senior and Junior Championships at the Home Depot Center near Los Angeles, Duck signee and recent Rogers High School graduate Rebekah Noble won the women’s junior 800 in a personal best (2:03.73).
The Spokane, Wash., native Noble broke the tape 1.26 seconds ahead of BYU freshman Heidi Magill (second, 2:04.99) and California’s Alysia Johnson (third, 2:07.20). The top two finishers from each junior event also earned invites to the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, July 28-31.
Noble entered the meet as the third seed with a previous best of 2:06.75, and qualified for Friday’s final after she ranked fourth in Thursday’s prelims (2:09.66) behind Magill (2:07.27), Sarah Bowman (2:07.73) and Johnson (2:08.86).
Freshman Galen Rupp opened action in the junior men’s 1,500, and ranked second in the prelims after he won the second of two heats (3:56.89), 1.61 seconds behind first heat winner and unattached entrant Mark Matusak (3:55.28). Another Duck freshman, J.K. Withers, took fourth in the second heat (3:57.68) and eighth overall and also advanced to Saturday afternoon’s final.
On the track among current Duck men, junior Matt Scherer and senior Kedar Inico took 16th and 17th in the 400 semifinals in times of 46.65 and 46.99, respectively, and ranked eighth and ninth in the first and second heats. Overall, Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner of adidas paced the field by .01 seconds (44.82) over Nike’s Darold Williamson (second, 44.83) and adidas’s Andrew Rock (third, 45.08).
In the 110 hurdles, junior Eric Mitchum ranked eighth in the second semifinal (13.92, w:-2.3) that was was won by Mizuno’s Terence Trammell (13.41), while Nike’s Dominique Arnold won the first section (13.46, w:-1.1). Barely 1 1/2 hours later, Olympic champion Allen Johnson came back to win the event final in a .04-second season best (12.99, w:0.2) in a photo finish over Arnold (second, 13.01) and Trammell (third, 13.02).
In the 400 hurdles prelims, junior AK Ikwuakor ranked 23rd overall (51.08) and took fifth in the second of five heats. The Arvada, Colo., native was only .47 seconds off his personal best from the Pac-10 Champs (50.61) that ranks him eighth all-time in school history.
Nike’s James Carter led the opening round results (49.65), ahead of Nike’s Kerron Clement (second, 49.67) and unattached entrant Kenneth Ferguson of South Carolina (third, 49.78).
In distance action, redshirt senior Eric Logsdon capped his Duck career in 14th in the 5,000 (13:51.10) and ranked 10th among his collegiate counterparts (several of which made their post-collegiate debuts after competing in the NCAA Champs two weeks ago). Tim Broe of Adidas repeated as the U.S. champion (first, 13:12.76) over Ian Dobson of adidas (second, 13:15.33), Ryan Hall of Asics (third, 13:16.03) and Jorge Torres of Reebok (fourth, 13:25.00).
In the women’s shot put, redshirt senior Bree Fuqua wrapped up her collegiate career and took 17th (48-4 1/2) in her U.S. debut. Nike’s Kristin Heaston won by 1 foot 4 1/2 inches (61-3 1/2) over Texas sophomore Michelle Carter (second, 59-11) and the New York Athletic Club’s Elizabeth Wanless (third, 59-6 1/4).
On the men’s side in other junior action, a pair of Duck signees and freshmen-to-be competed in the junior men’s javelin. Matthew Maloney of Providence, Rhode Island ranked sixth (205-0) followed by Newberg, Ore., native Alex Wolff (seventh, 200-9). Overall, Corey White of the Redlands won by three feet (221-4) over unattached entrant Cody Fillinich (second, 218-4).
In the junior men’s 5,000, Duck freshman Scott Wall added 12th in the 5,000 (14:51.77) in an event that featured top-two placings by collegiate freshmen Paul Hefferon of Kansas (first, 14:15.18) and Daniel Nunn of Georgetown (second, 14:17.67).
Among former Ducks, two-time All-American and Pac-10 champion Adam Kriz registered his highest career U.S. finish Friday in the hammer (eighth, 220-9) and was barely four feet behind Eugene-affiliated post-collegian Travis Nutter of Pacific Bay (sixth, 224-10). James Parker of the U.S. Air Force led the field (243-3), and was followed by Jake Freeman of the New York Athletic Club (second, 238-2) and A.G. Kruger of the Ashland Elite club (third, 234-6).
Returning Olympic Trials runner-up Grace Upshaw improved one place Friday and won the long jump (21-11 3/4, w:1.3) on a tie-breaker over Tennessee’s NCAA champion Tianna Madison (second, 21-11 3/4, w:0.5). Upshaw jumped her best mark of the day on her first attempt, and earned the blue ribbon with her second-best jump of 21-8 (6.60m, w:0.2) that was 2 centimeters better than Madison’s second-best windy attempt of 21-7 1/4w (6.58m w:2.8). Brianna Glenn of adidas followed in third place (21-11, w:0.5).
Live results from track races and final field event results are available at the http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/schedule.asp website.
The top three finishers from the USA senior events are eligible for spots on the U.S. team for the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 6-14.
Both the U.S. senior and junior meets will continue through Sun., June 26 at the Home Depot Center, and television coverage will be available on Sat., June 25 starting at 1 pm Pacific Time on ESPN, and again on Sun., June 26 at 2 pm Pacific Time on ESPN 2. Viewers should confirm TV times and stations at the www.tvguide.com/listings website.
Several current, former and future Ducks are again slated to compete Saturday in the third day of the four-day meet and include:
8:30 am Javelin Jr. Women Final (Ashley McCrea, Rachel Yurkovich)
11:00 pm Hammer Jr. Men Final (Matt Maloney)
1:00 pm Triple Jump Men Final (Leonidas Watson)
1:20 1500m Jr. Men Final (Galen Rupp, J.K. Withers)
4:00 pm Hammer Women Final (Britney Henry)
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