Jenny Barringer Sets Steeplechase AR at World Champs

Johnson,
the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up from Los Angeles, Calif.,
came up with the clutch performance of her life in winning the silver
medal in the women’s pole vault with her season’s best clearance of
4.65 meters/15 feet 3 inches. Also receiving a silver medal will be
Poland’s Monika Pyrek, who’s series was identical to Johnson’s except
for one failed attempt at 4.80m/15-9, to go along with her two misses
at 4.75m/15-7.

Johnson
opened with first attempt clearances at 4.40m/14-5.25, 4.55m/14-11 and
4.65m/15-3, before missing all three attempts at 4.75m/15-7. With her
performance, Johnson joins Stacy Dragila (Gold – 1999, 2001) as the
only U.S. women ever to medal at a World Outdoor Championships in the
pole vault.

Anna Rogowska of Poland won the gold medal with a clearance of 4.75m/15-7.

Jeter captures bronze in women’s 100m

Carmelita
Jeter (Los Angeles) posted a lifetime best of 10.83 in winning the
second semifinal earlier this evening before finishing third in the
final in 10.90 seconds. This matches Jeter’s performance at the 2007
World Championships in Osaka, where she also won the bronze medal with
her time of 11.02.

Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica won the gold
medal in a world leading 10.73, with her countrywoman Kerron Stewart
the runner-up in 10.75.

After
posting a season’s best 11.01 in this evening’s first semifinal, 2005
world champion and 2007 silver medalist Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.)
duplicated that performance with her sixth-place finish, also in 11.01.

Two-time
Olympian Muna Lee (College Station, Texas), just missed making the
final by finishing fifth in the second semi final in 11.18.

Barringer sets American record in Steeple final

Two-time
U.S. champion and American record holder Jenny Barringer came storming
from behind over the last 200 meters of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase
final to finish fifth in a new American record time of 9:12.50.

Barringer,
who spent the majority of the race at the back of the pack, shattered
her previous American record of 9:22.26 from the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, where she finished ninth.

Earlier
this year, Barringer won her second U.S. 3,000m steeplechase crown with
her time of 9:29.38. She captured the 2009 NCAA steeple crown with her
winning time of 9:25.54.

Ritz leads Team USA in men’s 10,000 meters

Two-time
Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.) posted a personal best time
of 27:22.28 with his sixth-place finish in the men’s 10,000 meters.

Ritzenhein’s
effort this evening clobbered his previous personal best of 27:35.65
that he set in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 30, 2006. His performance
makes him the fourth-fastest American ever behind only Meb Keflezighi,
Abdi Abdirahman and Mark Nenow.

For
Ritzenhein, it’s an improvement on his ninth-place finish at the 2007
World Outdoor Championships, where he crossed the finish line in
28:28.59. Ritzenhein finished ninth at the 2008 Olympic men’s marathon
in 2:11:59.

2009 USA Outdoor Championships third-place finisher Tim Nelson (Redding, Calif.) finished 17th in 28:18.04.

Lagat, Lomong, Manzano advance to 1,500m final

Reigning
USA Outdoor 1,500m men’s champion Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs,
Colo.) and 2007 world outdoor champion Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.)
each qualified for the men’s 1,500m final on Wednesday as a result of
their performances from this evening’s initial semifinal.

The
entire field was together with 200 meters to go when the real race
began. Lomong and Lagat took up the third and fourth places
respectively until the last 20 meters when Lomong advanced to second
and Lagat to third, which is where they finished.

Tosta, Williams & Demus advance to semis

2008
Olympic Games silver medalist and 2007 Pan Am Games champion Sheena
Tosta (Chula Vista, Calif.) got off to a blistering start in heat 1 of
the women’s 400m hurdles. Tosta held a commanding lead with 200 meters
to go and saw it slip away just past the final hurdle. Tosta finished
fourth in 56.00 and will move on to tomorrow evening’s semifinals.

2008
Olympic Trials champion Tiffany Williams (Orlando, Fla.) looked strong
in heat 4 running out of lane 7. Williams ran at a consistent pace
throughout and finished second in 55.25, which was the fifth-fastest
time in qualifying.
Completing the American threesome advancing to
the semis was 2005 World Outdoor silver medalist and current world
leader (52.63, July 28) Lashinda Demus of Palmdale, Calif.  The
suspense of this race ended early as Demus took control from the start
and won easily in posting the fastest time of the night of 54.66.

Women’s 800m semifinal action

Shortly
into the second semi-final of the women’s 800 meters, three-time
Olympian and five-time USA Outdoor champion Hazel Clark (Knoxville,
Tenn.) found herself in fourth place, and that’s exactly where she
ended up after crossing the finish line in a season’s best time of
1:59.96. Clark’s performance was not good enough to qualify for the
final.
Two-time NCAA champion and 2009 USA Outdoor runner-up Geena
Gall (Ann Arbor, Mich.) finished sixth in the first semi final in
2:01.30, and 2009 USA Outdoor Championships fourth-place finisher
Maggie Vessey (Seacliff, Calif.) finished seventh in the third semi in
2:03.55.  Neither will advance to the final

Team USA Medal Table – 2009 World Championships in Athletics

Gold (1)

Christian Cantwell (Columbia, Mo.), men’s shot put, 22.03m/72-3.50

Silver (2)

Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.), men’s 100 meters, 19.71
Chelsea Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.), women’s pole vault 4.65m/15-3

Bronze (1)

Carmelita Jeter (Inglewood, Calif.) women’s 100 meters, 10.90
For complete results, quotes and Team USA reports, visit www.usatf.org.

Fans
can watch Team USA on national television broadcasts on NBC and Versus,
or online via live, daily Webcast at www.universalsports.com. For
complete TV listings, visit
http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/mediaCoverage.asp.

For
more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit
http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/.