Busy First Day Of Competition Includes East African Sweep Of Women's 3,000, Men's 5,000

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The United States made its international debut in the mixed 4x400-meter relay Monday as the World Athletics U20 Championships began in Cali, Colombia. 

A team comprised of Charlie Bartholomew, Madison Whyte, Will Sumner and Kaylyn Brown ran 3 minutes, 18.65 seconds in the prelims to break the meet record. 

INTERVIEWS | TIMETABLE/RESULTS

This is only the second time the event has been contested at the World U20 Championships and its the first time that the U.S. has entered a team because the country skipped last year's meet in Kenya. 

Sumner, who ran the third leg for the U.S., was a late addition to the team after falling ill during the USATF U20 Championships with the flu and strep throat. He has worked his way back into fitness after taking an uncharacteristic seventh in the 800-meter final in late June. 

"When I got the call that I was still invited to be back on the team I switched my mindset (about the season being over) to getting back to where I was," Sumner said. 

The mixed 4x400 relay is one of many medal potential chances for the U.S. team.

In the first two finals, the East African nations of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya split the six medals awarded for the women's 3,000 meters and the men's 5,000 meters. 

Both races were tactical and slow with fast closing final laps. Betty Chelangat from Kenya won the women's 3,000 meters in 9:01.03, outkicking 15-year-old Ethiopian Tsiyon Abebe (9:03.85) and Kenya's Nancy Cherop (9:05.98). 

Heidi Nielson (Arkansas) finished 12th for the United States and Kate Peters (Lake Oswego OR) was 14th. 

In the men's 5,000, Ethiopian's Addisu Yihune outkicked Etritrean duo Merhawi Mebrahtu and Habtom Samuel to win in 14:03.05 -- more than a minute slower than his personal best. Mebrahtu and Samuel were within a second of him at the finish line. 

Tyrone Gorze of the United States (Crater OR) tried to stay with the lead group as long as he could, but in the final 1,200 fell off the pace and finished 12th in 14:32.23. U.S. teammate Dylan Throop did not finish. 

Most of the rest of the action involved preliminary rounds and field event qualifying. 

Twin sisters Amanda Moll and Hana Moll from Olympia, Wash. both advanced to the finals of the women's pole vault and are the top seeds in the event. 

Juliette Whittaker ran the fastest time in the first round of the 800 meters, 2:04.92, and will be joined in the semifinals by U.S. and future Stanford teammate Roisin Willis. 

Nathan Green of the University of Washington advanced to the final of the men's 1,500 meters, running 3:45.80. 

"I got tripped up a couple of times but I managed to stay on my feet," Green said. "Usually when I get tripped up I accelerate and go crazy, I get super anxious and impatient. But I stayed fairly relaxed throught the entire thing and think I did as well as I could have."

Karrie Baloga (Cornwall NY) and Harper McClain (University of Oregon) both advanced to the final in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

Johnny Brackins (USC) and Curtis Williams (Florida State) both survived the qualifying round of the men's long jump. 

TJ Caldwell (Pittsburg State) and Malik Mixon (Westlake GA) both advanced in the men's 110-meter hurdles. 

In the first round of the men's 100 meters, Michael Gizzi (Alabama-Huntsville) and Laurenz Colbert (Baylor) both advanced to the semifinals. Botswana's Letsile Tebogo put the field on notice, however, by breaking the meet record with 10.00 seconds. Tebogo recently broke the World U20 record in Eugene when he ran 9.94. 

Siniru Iheoma (Princeton) made it through the the qualifying round of the women's discus with the sixth-best mark (50.41m). 

Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan (Woonsocket RI) threw a personal-best 64-5.75 (19.65m) to automatically qualify for the men's shot put final.