FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Winitz
Pacific Association/USATF Communications Manager
Tel: (650) 948-0618 Direct
FOLSOM, Calif. - September 4, 2007 - Athletes with Pacific Association/USA Track & Field (PA/USATF) ties competed at the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held August 25-September 2 in Osaka, Japan. A summary of their performances follows.
2004 Olympian Paul Terek (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) placed 10th in the decathlon with 8,120 points. Jake Arnold, a Santa Rosa, Calif. native (Mario Carrillo High School) and two-time NCAA champion, finished 13th with 8,004 points.
"It wasn't the performance that I wanted and the place I wanted," said Terek. "I had a lot of bigger aspirations especially since it was so wide open after Bryan Clay and Tom Pappas dropped out. I'd rather have a great meet and finish well and have everybody there."
Arnold said, "I'm so happy to come out here and score 8,000. I had a great first day. The second day was real rough to get through. I'm looking forward to the [Olympic] Trials."
Three-time Olympian and six-time USA champion Amy Acuff (Isleton, Calif.) placed 12th in the women's high jump with a best clearance of 1.94 meters/6 feet, 4.25 inches. It was Acuff's 8th appearance in the World Championships, and her 7th final.
"I felt like a cooked rice noodle today," Acuff said about Osaka's high temperatures and humidity after her qualifying round. After the high jump final, she said: "I just didn't jump high enough today. I felt like I had a lot of power. I just wasn't real smooth or real precise."
In other action:
Women's Discus Throw: American record holder Suzy Powell (Modesto, Calif.) failed to advance to the final, finishing 8th in her qualifying section with a best throw of 59.57m/195-5. Cecilia Barnes (Fresno, Calif.), a 3-time NCAA Division II discus throw champion for Cal State Bakersfield, had a best toss of 53.02m/173-11 for 13th in her qualifying section.
Women's Shot Put: Three-time USA Outdoor champion Kristin Heaston (Walnut Creek, Calif., now residing in Auburn, Ala.), placed 10th in her qualifying section (17.40m/57-1), and did not advance.
Women's 800 Meters: 2007 NCAA Division I champion Alysia Johnson (Canyon Country, Calif., UC-Berkeley) did not advance to the final with a 4th place time of 2 minutes, 2.11 seconds in Heat 2 of qualifying.
"I think I may have let up a little too much in the backstretch, and I couldn't get my legs moving quick enough [over the final stretch]," Johnson said.
Men's Long Jump: 2002 World Junior bronze medalist Trevell Quinley (Sacramento, Calif.), successfully made it through qualifying, but in the final he fouled on three attempts and had no mark.
Men's High Jump: 2004 Olympic Games 4th placer Jamie Nieto (Valley High School and Sacramento City College, currently residing in Chula Vista, Calif.) finished 8th in his qualifying section with a 2.26m/7-5 jump and did not advance.
Overall, Team USA, which finished first in the medals table, had a superb World Outdoor Championships. At the close of competition, the U.S. tied the all-time World Outdoor Championships record for gold medals with 14, matching its feat from 2005, and tied the American all-time medals tally at a World Outdoor Championships with 26. Team USA led a medal table in which a record 46 countries won medals.
For additional information about the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including full results (via IAAF), visit www.usatf.org.
The Pacific Association is the largest member association of USA Track & Field (USATF). We serve northern California and northwestern Nevada. USATF is the National Governing Body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking in the United States. For more information about the Pacific Association, visit our Web site at www.pausatf.org.
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