US junior 100m hurdles champion Tia Jones (© Kirby Lee)
Tia Jones is giving it another go for gold. So are former IAAF age-group champions Tara Davis and Sammy Watson.
Jones won the 100m hurdles in 12.89 on Saturday (16) night on day 2 of the USA Junior Championships at Bloomington, Indiana.
Cortney Jones was second in 12.91, knocking U20 record-holder Chanel Brissett off Team USA. Brissett, third in 12.95, set a pending record of 12.75 a month ago. Davis was fifth in 13.12.
Jones, at age 15, was bronze medalist in the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016. Her PB that year was 12.84.
Top two in each event qualify for selection to next month’s junior worlds at Tampere, Finland.
Davis missed making it in the hurdles but set a world junior lead of 6.71m in the long jump to make the team in that event. She won long jump gold in the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Watson will try to repeat her gold from Bydgoszcz, after taking the 800m in a season best of 2:01.46. Caitlin Collier was second in 2:01.66.
Watson ran relatively even splits of 59.69/1:01.77. That came one week after winning an NCAA title in Eugene with 61.08/63.13 for 2:04.21.
“I feel like I have been in every kind of race,” she said.
The high jump champion was Shelby Tyler, whose victory came three weeks after a school shooting in her hometown of Noblesville, Indiana. She was barricaded for hours in her high school English class. Science teacher Jason Seaman, protecting his students, was injured in the shooting at a nearby middle school.
“It was terrifying, honestly,” Tyler said. “It was an awful experience, but definitely one that brought the whole community together.”
Tyler, coming off a 9 February surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her left knee, jumped a PB of 1.85m on her first attempt. She was first on countback over Sanaa Barnes, whose 1.85m was also a PB.
In men’s events, Cory Poole became the third in meet history to sweep the hurdles. One day after winning the 110m barriers in 13.34, he took the 400m hurdles in 49.71. "I never thought I would be doubling,” he said, but completed the sweep after waiting out a 90-minute delay because of a storm warning.
“I kept saying to myself, ‘Be strong mentally, be strong mentally,’“ Poole said.
Previous hurdles sweeps were achieved by Kenneth Ferguson in 2003 and Jeffrey Jackson in 1993.
Adrian Piperi won the shot put at 21.50m, moving up to No. 2 among U20 athletes this year. Jordan West was second at 21.16m, worth No. 4 on the yearly list.
Josh Hoey came off a slow 55.28 opening lap to take the 800m in 1:49.48, a second off his 1:48.37 PB.
Roy Jordan for the IAAF
