Day two of the IAAF World Junior T&F Championships saw some amazing Team USA performances, led by junior Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett, TX) winning the men's long jump with a mark of 25-04.75. Goodwin dominated his competition, setting his mark of the first attempt of the day, making everyone else chase after him. Elsewhere, Leslie Brost (SD) and Rachel Laurent (LA) qualified for the women's pole vault final, while Christian Taylor (GA) placed seventh in the men's long jump and Lanie Whittaker (FL) advanced to the women's 400m dash final.

IAAF World Junior Champs. - Day 2 Highlights

USATF Summaries: AM - PM / Jim Spier Blog (NSSF) / Joy Kamani Photo Gallery (NSSF) / Official Website

Men's Long Jump Final

The amazing season of junior Marquise Goodwin (Rowlett, TX) (pictured left by Joy Kamani of NationalScholastic.org) concluded Wednesday with a World Championship gold medal in the men's long jump competition. All season Goodwin has shown to flight jumping ability, combined with a consistency to perform at the highest caliber, a combination rarely seen at the prep level. That consistency came in handy, as the Texas star lept 25-04.75 on his first attempt of the final, a mark good enough to earn him the top spot.

Goodwin's gold also marked the first USA gold medal earned at the event. Heading into the day's final Goodwin had a lot of momentum, after finishing second in his group the day before and entering the final as the third ranked performer. Goodwin's sequence was as follows: 7.74m (25-04.75), foul, 7.62m, 7.51m, foul, 7.48m. His winning performance was also his top performance of the year if you discount the wind-aided marks he scored throughout the season.

Christian Taylor (Sandy Creek, GA) also competed in the final, finishing in a respectable seventh place, but looking for something much bigger. Heading into the final, Taylor had won his prelim grouping, while having the second best leap on Tuesday. Going into the finals Taylor's goal was to win, but inconsistency for top marks showed. The University of Florida-bound athlete lept 24-03.75 (7.41m) on his third jump, which could end up as his top mark of the day. Taylor will come back later in the week in the men's triple jump, where he'll be looking to take home a gold medal.

Women's Pole Vault Prelims

Despite being nervous and not having the best sequence of clearances, both Rachel Laurent (Vanderbilt Catholic, LA) and Leslie Brost (Watertown, SD) (pictured right by Joy Kamani of NationalScholastic.org) advanced to the finals of the women's pole vault Wednesday. Needing to only clear 12-09.50 (3.90m), Brost just cleared the height, missing at 13-01.50 (4.0m), while Laurent cleared 13-01.50. Both athletes told USATF media that they were nervous and looked forward to Thursday's final because they would be feeling more relaxed having learned a lot from the prelims.

Men's 800m Dash Semi-Finals

Hoping to reach the final was Elijah Greer's (Lake Oswego, OR) goal in the men's 800m dash, but the junior sensation came up just short, sighting a lack of a final gear to push him to the finish. Greer, who was competing in his first international event, placed sixth in his heat with a 1:50.47 effort, running a touch faster than his 1:50.73 preliminary effort from the day before. Greer now closes out his track season, which included a junior class record and a U.S. #4 performance in the event all-time, and starts to focus on cross country.

Women's 400m Dash Semi-Finals

After finishing second in her preliminary heat on Tuesday, Lanie Whittaker (Miami Booker T. Washington, FL) headed into Wednesday's semi-final in the women's 400m dash with a lot of confidence. Showing late season strength helped guide her onto the U.S. junior squad, and now the junior is taking advantage of it even further.

In the semi-final Whittaker got off to a fast start in Heat 1, finishing third overall in 53.61 and qualifying for the final. Whittaker's time finished up very close to her all-time PR of 53.43.

Men's 10,000m Run Finals

Donn Cabral (Glastonbury, CT) came up against the toughest competition of his career thus far, as the senior faced the best junior age athletes from the top distance running nations in Africa. Finishing over three minutes behind the race winner, Cabral earned a personal best mark of 30:47.55, finishing 17th overall and the top American. Cabral, who's headed to Princeton University in the fall, will now focus his attention on preparing for his collegiate cross country season.

Women's 400m Hurdle Prelims

California sophomore Kori Carter (Claremont, CA) finished her season with a 1:01.20 effort in the women's 400m hurdle prelims. The hurdle standout missed the next round of competition just barely, but seemed pleased with her effort and gaining valuable experience that she'll be able to use in the future. Being only a sophomore, Carter has at least two more years of competition available to her at this meet, which could mean great things down the road.

Women's Shot Put Prelims

Despite having a lot of momentum from double wins less than three weeks ago at the USATF Junior Nationals and Nike Outdoor Nationals in the shot put, Maine senior Becky O'Brien (Greely, ME) couldn't capitalize at the World Championships, finishing a disappointing ninth in Group A. O'Brien came up against some incredibly strong competition, finishing with a best throw of 48-05.50 (14.77m).

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