Incoming freshman Shayla Sanders (Lauderdale
Lakes, Fla.) brought home the Gold as a member of the U.S. women’s 4x100-meter
relay on the fifth day of the 2012 IAAF World Junior Track & Field
Championships at Montjuïc Olympic Stadium.
Sanders, the Gatorade Florida Girls’ Track and Field Athlete
of the Year, ran the anchor leg of the race and crossed the finish in a
world-junior-leading 43.89.
The Red, White and Blue bested their semifinal time of 43.95
to help the U.S. women win their fifth straight gold medal and 12th medal out
of 14 possible in World Junior Championships history.
Incoming freshman Arman Hall
(Pembroke Pines, Fla.), who already captured silver in the men’s 400 meters
Thursday, ran the anchor leg for the U.S. men’s 4x400-meter relay in the heats
of the event on Saturday.
Hall and the men’s 4x400-meter relay won their heat and
finished first overall in 3:06.26, a new season’s best, and advanced to
Sunday’s final at 2:10 p.m. ET. The U.S. men’s 4x400 has won the last five and
all but two golds in World Junior Championships
history.
Incoming freshman Robin
Reynolds (Miami, Fla.) will participate in a runoff as a member of the
women’s 4x400-meter relay. The U.S. women were originally named the winners of
the first heat in 3:34.12 and then were disqualified and called for a violation
of IAAF rule 170.7 (exchanging outside of zone), as were the Romanian women.
Both teams filed a protest because the track officials
placed the second-leg runners, which was Reynolds for the U.S., in the wrong
position, near the end of the exchange zone.
After both teams’ protests were denied, both the U.S. and
Romanian squads appealed their decision and the jury offered them both an
opportunity for a rerun. Romania rejected the offer, but the U.S. will go ahead
with the race that is slated for 5 a.m. ET. Should the U.S. run 3:39.44, they
will advance to Sunday’s final at 1:45 p.m. ET.
