We are on site here in Miramar for the Pan American Junior Championships involving the best 19-and-under athletes from North America, Central America, the Carribean, and South America. It's going to be a great show! Our five-person international coverage team will be covering the meet with photo, video, and editorial coverage starting Friday morning through the meet's completion on Sunday evening.
Our team will include Todd Grasley, Jason Byrne, and Alex Bundez from flrunners.com/MileSplit and Kermit and Keton Taylor of Bahamas Atheltics.
Floridian High Schoolers Highlights
- FRIDAY MORNING: Marvin Bracy is second fastest going into the finals tonight after winning his heat of the prelims on Friday morning in 10.28
- FRIDAY EVENING: Bracy wins the title and at fist is pleased to hear 10-Oh for his time (10.09), that quickly turns to a little frustration though after it is announced that it is wind-aided. Most of us around shook our heads though because the flags were barely moving... I honestly don't know how that was aided. Great job, Marv! He had this to say about it: "It feels great to be here at home and have my family and friends here to watch and then run fast and win. I didn't run real hard in the prelims. My hamstring was tight after relay practice Wednesday and the Team USA medical staff did a good job treating me. I know I can run under 10 in the future. Recruiting is out of the way (he committed to Florida State) and now I will focus on football next." Race Video | Interview
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SUNDAY EVENING: Bracy added another gold medal as a member of Team USA's 4x100 relay team that smoked the field with a 39.43, over half a second better than second place Canada. Afterwards Marv said: "We weren't going to let anything bad happen to our handoffs. We had a target on our backs but that makes us work that much harder. We just had to come out and execute and get the job done."
Florida Alumni Highlights
- Eddie Lovett (Palm Beach Lakes) wins 110 Hurdles in Pan Am Record 13.14 (13.03 in prelims). Lovett said: "I kind of lost my balance trying to speed up my rhythm around the third hurdle. My goal was to break the record, but it was a great feeling to win. It feels weird to run over the 39-inch hurdles again. It's like there's a short box, and you know it looks real easy to clear that box, but it's really not easy at all. This race takes a lot of technique to get right. The mission after the prelims was to go sub-13, but I am happy and it was a fun race." Video Interview with Lovett
- Miami Northwestern alum Roy Smith was just behind with the silver in 13.24. Smith said: "I have been racing against Eddie since the 10th grade, which made this one fun. It's a technique race over 39's, and I guess I ran well. I tried to stay as close to Eddie as I could and run a fast time to have a chance to win." Video Interview
- Phillip Young (Key West) earned silver in the triple jump with a 52-6.5. Quote: "My high school coach and my mom were here to watch, which was really nice. I felt pretty good and had one big foul. It felt like the runway was giving more back than it did in practice the other day."
- Novian Middleton (Dr. Phillips) represented Belize in the 800. Interview
- Jonathan Farquharson (Orlando Christian Prep) represented The Bahamas in the long jump... his first time ever competing in the event! 22-1.75. Video interview
- Though she's actually from Mississippi, she's a Floridian now! Cory McGee of the University of Florida wrapped up a 1500 Meter gold medal with a 4:35.46. Cory said "Going out I wanted to approach it like USA nationals, wait for the last lap and see how I feel. It was good to have some advantage in these conditions because it is difficult weather, but this race is still hard work. I wasn't sure what my coach was going to have me do. I could probably have gone out faster and tried for a PR, but the last lap was a great note to end the season on."
- Ebony Eutsey led off Team USA on their way to a Women's 4x400 gold with a 3:34.71 stellar showing that was four second better than the Canadians.
Coverage
- Live Results
- Photo Album by Alex Budenz
- Photos Album of Video Captures by Jason Byrne and Todd Grasley
- Meet Results and Coverage Index
- Videos
Florida Preview (Excerpt from USATF Press Release)
Local fans will have multiple reasons to cheer on Team USA. Florida high schooler Marvin Bracy won the Junior national 100 with a wind-aided 10.05, one of the fastest times ever by a prep, and he will be joined on the track by University of Florida hurdler Eddie Lovett, who will be a favorite in the 110H after winning the U.S. crown with a speedy 13.33.
Roy Smith of North Carolina, who prepped at Plantation, Fla., will also be in the 110H, while triple jumpers Donald Scott of Eastern Michigan and Phillip Young of Florida State are also products of the Sunshine State. For the women, 2009 World Youth 400 champion Ebony Eutsey of Florida attended high school in Miami and will be among the medal hopefuls in the one-lapper and on the 4x400 relay.
