2025 World Championships, Day 5

Women’s 200 Meter Round 1

 All four Americans advanced to the final.  In fact their times were four of the top seven.  It was Anavia Battle (Wayne, MI/Ohio State), 100 Meter champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (Carvers Bay, SC/Coastal Carolina), Brittany Brown (Claremont, CA/Iowa)  and Mc Kenzie Long (Pickerington Central, Pickerington, OH/Mississippi) who led the way, with Battle the fastest at 22.07.

Men’s 200 Meter Round 1

Courtney Lindsay (Rock Island, IL/Texas Tech), Noah Lyles (TC Williams, Alexandria, VA) and Kenny Bednarek (Rice Lake, WI/Indian Hills CC) were three of the top five qualifiers. Robert Gregory (Wheatley, Houston, TX/Florida) finished 26th overall and did not advance.

Women’s 400 Meter Hurdle Semi Finals

All three Americans (and all U of Southern California grads) advanced to the final.  Dalilah Muhammad (Cardozo, Queens, NY), Anna Cockrell (Providence Day, Charlotte, NC) and Jasmine Jones (Greater Atlanta Christian, Norcross, GA) were three of the top 6 finalists.  Anna was on the 2015 NSAF CSI team, and Jasmine was on the the 2019 team.

Femke Bol (Netherlands) was the leading qualifier at 52.31.  Gianna Woodruff of Panama, who attended St. Mary’s HS in Berkeley, CA, was the second fastest qualifier at 52.66.  She also attended USC!

Men’s 400 Meter Semi Finals

2024 NCAA Champion Caleb Dean (DeMatha Catholic, Hyattsville, MD/Texas Tech) and defending World and Olympic champion Rai Benjamin (Mt. Vernon, NY/USC) both advanced as seven of the eight qualifiers ran 47.95 or better.

Men’s Triple Jump Qualifying

The U.S. had only two entrants, Salif Main (Taft, Bronx, NY/Fairleigh Dickinson), the 2024 NCAA Champion and veteran two time World Indoor champion Will Claye (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, AZ/Oklahoma).  Main’s jump of 16.86m (55-03.25) qualified him for the final.  Will jumped 16.52 (54.02.25) and finished 19th, not enough to advance.  Three Cuban natives qualified for the final:  Pedro Pichardo (Portugal), Andy Diaz Hernandez (Italy) and Lazaro Martinez (actually Cuba).

Men’s Javelin Qualifying

There were seven auto qualifiers and Curtis Thompson (Florence, NJ/Mississippi State) was one of them.  Curtis threw 84.72 (277-11) to finish seventh overall.  Marc Anthony Minichello (Wyoming Area, Exeter, PA/Georgia) finished 20th in a large field of 37, cracking the 80 meter barrier, throwing 80.47 (264-00). 

The finals include a “who’s who” of javelin throwers:  Anderson Peters, Grenada (2022 World Champ), Julian Weber, Germany (the year’s only 90 meter thrower so far this year – 91.51 [300-02], Julius Yego, Kenya (2015 World Champion), Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan (2024 Olympic Champion), Neeraj Chopra, India (2020 Olympic and 2023 World champ) and Keshorn Walcott, Trinidad and Tobago (2012 Olympic Champion)

Men’s 1500 Meter Final

Only one American made the final since Cole Hocker was DQed in the semis.  Paul Koech (St. Patrick’s, Eldoret, Kenya/Texas Tech) was 13th.  The surprise winner was Isaac Nader (Portugal) in a tactical race.

Women’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase Final

The Americans have had better days, but something could be said for the fact that three of them made the final.  Angelina Napoleon (Allengany-Limestone, Allegany, NY/NC State)  was 9th, Kaylee Mitchell (Astoria, OR/Oregon State) 10th and Lexy Halladay (Mountain View, Meridian, ID/BYU) 14th.  The event was won by Faith Cherotich in a meet record 8:51.59.

Men’s Long Jump Final

Only one American qualified, Isaac Grimes (Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley, CA/Florida State), and he finished 10th with a jump of 7.85 (25-09).  The winner was Mattia Furlani (Italy) with a personal best of 8.39 (27-06).

Women’s Pole Vault Final

It was quite a battle between Katie Moon (Olmstead Falls, OH/Ashland)  and Sandi Morris (Greenville, SC/Arkansas), with Katie ultimately prevailing 16-00.75 to 15-11.  It was Katie’s third straight world title.  She also won the 2021 Olympics in this very stadium.  It was Sandi’s fourth silver medal, though she is two time World Indoor Champion.  Twins Hana and Amanda Moll (Capital, Olympia, WA/Washington) finished tied for sixth at 15-03.

 Waiting for the subway: