EUGENE, OREGON -- Over a decade has passed since a major international sporting event was held on U.S. soil. However, that will all change July 22-27 with the 177 member federations and the 1,758 junior athletes, ages 16-19, entered to compete in the 16th IAAF World Junior Championships at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
With a highly touted American roster, Team USA will be strong in all categories.
In short sprints, Baylor’s Trayvon Bromell (St. Petersburg, Florida) and North Carolina high schooler Trentavis Friday (Cherryville, N.C.) will be two of the top American men lining up to face the world. On July 5-6 at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, which was the qualifying event to make Team USA’s roster for this international event, Bromell dashed to gold in the 100m, whileFriday won the 200m in 20.03 on the same track where he will compete in a few days.
In June, Bromell won the NCAA 100m title at Eugene, setting a world junior record of 9.97 to become the first junior under 10 seconds. Friday clocked a high school-record 10.00 in the prelims of the 100m at USATF Juniors, and his wind-aided 20.03 to win the 200m was the third-fastest time by a U.S. junior ever in all conditions.
High school sophomore Kaylin Whitney (Clermont, Fla.) stole the show in the women’s sprints at USATF Juniors, where she set a national high school record of 11.10 in the 100 and a World Youth Best of 22.49 in the 200.
Distance phenom Mary Cain (Bronxville, New York) just graduated from high school and was 10th in the 1500m at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow. She will run the 3,000m at World Juniors after cruising to a 9:15.81 victory at the qualifying event, and she has the fastest mile time in the world in 2014 at 4:24.11.
Georgia’s Kendell Williams (Marietta, Georgia) set an American junior record in the 100m hurdles at USATF Juniors, and her 12.87 is the second-fastest ever by a Junior athlete. Better known as a multi-eventer, she will focus on the 100m hurdles, the event where she won bronze at the 2011 World Youth Championships. Williams had a breakout collegiate season, earning NCAA titles in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon, and she was eighth in the heptathlon at the 2012 World Juniors.
Another World Juniors veteran, Kendall Baisden of Texas, returns after winning gold in the 4x400m relay in 2012 at Barcelona. Baisden (Austin, Texas) leads the world junior list in 2014 with her 400m time of 50.46 and was third at the NCAA Championships.
Field events will be highlighted by a pair of highly-ranked throwers. Stanford's Valarie Allman (Longmont, Colo.) leads the world junior discus list for 2014 with a 57.45m/188-6 throw to win the USATF Juniors, and she was second at the PAC-12 meet.
One of the best emerging elite stories in many years, Raven Saunders (Charleston, S.C.) is ranked third among world junior women in the shot put with a best of 17.28m/56-8.5, more than 14-feet better than her top 2013 mark. Saunders holds the national high school record and won USATF Juniors by more than two feet.
Other top medal contenders in the field for Team USA include long jumper Travonn White (Phoenix, Ariz.), who is second on the world list this year with his 8.04m/26-4.5 winning jump at USATF Juniors, and pole vaulter Desiree Freier (Fort Worth, Texas). Freier also ranks second in the world this year with her best of 4.42m/14-6.
Broadcast coverage
Universal Sports will carry blanket coverage of World Juniors both on-air and online via Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com. USATF.tv will also carry the live webcast during this window, which includes morning sessions July 22-25 and afternoon sessions July 23-25. World Juniors action resumes on the weekend with only afternoon sessions also broadcast live on Universal Sports and streaming on UniversalSports.com.
Universal Sports Network TV Broadcast Schedule
*All times ET – Schedule subject to change
*Live broadcasts will be available on the Universal Sports cable/satellite channel
(check your local listings) and UniversalSports.com for authenticated visitors.
Wednesday, July 23
10 p.m.-12 a.m. ET LIVE
Events: Women’s Hammer Throw, Women’s Long Jump, Women’s 5000m, Women’s and Men’s 100m
Thursday, July 24
9 p.m.-12 a.m. ET LIVE
Events: Women’s Pole Vault, Men’s Shot Put, Men’s Long Jump, Women’s Javelin, Men’s 110m Hurdles, Men’s 400m, Women’s 800m, Women’s 3000m, Men’s 1500m
Friday, July 25
9 p.m.-12 a.m. ET LIVE
Events: Men’s Hammer Throw, Men’s High Jump, Women’s Shot Put, Men’s 400m Hurdles, Women’s Discus, Women’s and Men’s 200m, Women’s 400m, Men’s 5000m
Saturday, July 26
6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. ET LIVE
Events: Men’s Pole Vault, Women’s Triple Jump, Men’s Discus, Women’s 400m Hurdles, Women’s 3000m SC, Women’s and Men’s 4x100m Relay
Sunday, July 27
6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. ET LIVE
Events: Women’s High Jump, Men’s Triple Jump, Women’s 100m Hurdles, Men’s Javelin, Men’s 3000m SC, Women’s 1500m, Men’s 800m, Women’s and Men’s 4x400m Relay
UniversalSports.com & USATF.tv Schedule
Tuesday, July 22
1:00pm ET: Day 1: Morning Session - USATF.tv & UniversalSports.com
8:15pm ET: Day 1: Evening Session - USATF.tv & UniversalSports.com
Wednesday, July 23
1:00pm ET: Day 2: Morning Session - USATF.tv & UniversalSports.com
8:30pm ET: Day 2: Evening Session - UniversalSports.com
Thursday, July 24
1:00pm ET: Day 3: Morning Session - USATF.tv & UniversalSports.com
8:50pm ET: Day 3: Evening Session - UniversalSports.com
Friday, July 25
1:00pm ET: Day 4: Morning Session - USATF.tv & UniversalSports.com
8:45pm ET: Day 4: Evening Session - UniversalSports.com
Saturday, July 26
5:20pm ET: Day 5: Afternoon Session - UniversalSports.com
Sunday, July 27
5:50pm ET: Day 6: Afternoon Session - UniversalSports.com
Click here for live results and more information.
USA Track & Field is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s No. 1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org.