CALI, Colombia — A meet record and a pair of medals in the women's 800m keyed a four-medal night and lifted Team USATF atop the medal table and the team point standings after day three of the World Athletics U20 Championships at Pascual Guerrero Stadium. With three golds and six total medals, the U.S. has 64 points to lead by 26. The meet was delayed by torrential rainfall, pushing most events later by at least two hours. Just as she had in yesterday's semifinal of the women's 800m, Roisin Willis (Stevens Point, Wisconsin/USATF Wisconsin) went to the front quickly in the final and hit the bell in 59.41 with Juliette Whittaker (Laurel, Maryland/USATF Potomac Valley) in fourth a stride behind her and running on the outside of lane one. Switzerland's Audrey Werro was right on Willis' shoulder through 600m and made a strong move to take the lead, but Willis dug deep down the final straight to pass Werro again and came away with gold and a meet record of 1:59.13. Whittaker also finished well to take bronze in 2:00.18. Willis moved to No. 2 on the all-time high school performer list as she became only the third prep ever to dip under the 2:00 barrier. Ranked fifth coming into the final, Malik Mixon (College Park, Georgia/USATF Georgia) gave up ground from the blocks in the men's 110m hurdles, but he focused on his own lane and ignored the drama around him to sprint off the final barrier and run himself onto the podium as the silver medalist with a lifetime best 13.27. Mixon came into the meet with a best of 13.64 and his almost flawless run in the final elevated him to the No. 5 spot on the U.S. all-time high school performer list. Shawnti Jackson (Wake Forest, North Carolina/USATF North Carolina) ran a lifetime best of 11.16 to win the first semi in the women's 100m, moving to No. 9 on the all-time U.S. high school performer list, but she couldn't keep pace with Jamaica's Tina Clayton in the final, earning bronze by .001 in 11.15, another personal best. Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego, Oregon/USATF Oregon) clocked 11.33 for seventh. USATF U20 women's discus champion Siniru Iheoma (Southampton, Pennsylvania/USATF Mid-Atlantic) was in medal position after her first-round throw of 53.15m/174-4, but couldn't improve on her next five attempts and finished just off the podium in fourth. It was the second best throw of her career, trailing only the mark that won her the U.S. title in June. The men's 1,500m followed the formchart pretty closely with pre-meet favorite Reynold Cheruiyot of Kenya winning in 3:35.83 ahead of Ethiopia's Ermias Girma and countryman Daniel Kimaiyo. Nathan Green (Boise, Idaho/USATF Snake River) made a play for a podium spot and finished fifth in 3:39.44. Bolstered by her high jump clearance of 1.84m/6-0.5, JaiCieonna Gero-Holt (Puyallup, Washington/USATF Pacific Northwest) closed out day one of the heptathlon in eighth place with 3,367 points. Gero-Holt opened the competition with a 14.76 in the 100m hurdles and after her high jump performance she threw the shot put 11.87m/38-11.5 and ran 25.84 in the 200m. Bryanna Craig (Ruston, Louisiana/USATF Southern) was 19th with 3,066, clocking 14.65 in the 100H and clearing 1.72m/5-7.75 in the high jump before a 9.91m/30-2 shot put dropped her down the standings. Craig recovered a few places with her 25.72 in the 200m. Before the deluge hit, two semis and two wins were the order of the day for the U.S. in the women's 400m hurdles. Winning the first section with a lifetime best 57.28, Akala Garrett (Charlotte, North Carolina/USATF North Carolina) had the fastest time overall, and she will be joined in the final by Michaela Rose (Suffolk, Virginia/USATF Virginia), who won the third semi in 57.83, the fifth-fastest time overall. World U20 men's 400m leader Steven McElroy (Pickerington, Ohio/USATF Ohio) assured himself of a place in the final with a 45.67 second runner-up finish in the third semi. Ashton Schwartzman (Wautoma, Wisconsin/USATF Wisconsin) did not advance after placing third in the second section at 46.50. Brandon Miller (Fenton, Michigan/USATF Michigan) was the lone American in the men's 200m heats and he easily advanced to the semifinal with a 20.79 to place second in the final heat. Improving on that after the lengthy weather delay, Miller zipped to a 20.57 in the third semi and grabbed the last time qualifier berth for the final. Despite hitting the ninth and tenth barriers, Grant Williams (Celina, Texas/USATF Southwestern) pushed through the finish to take second in heat two at 51.12 and automatically qualify for the semifinal. Running in lane one in the third heat, Kody Blackwood (McKinney, Texas/USATF Southwestern) didn't look completely comfortable as he pushed hard over the first three barriers and then held on to place third in 52.50 and advance. Neither American athlete in the women's 400m semifinal qualified for the final, as Mekenze Kelley (Stone Mountain, Georgia/USATF Georgia) was fourth in the first section in 53.09 and Zaya Akins (Kansas City, Missouri/USATF Missouri Valley) was fifth in the second semi at 53.62. On her only legal throw in the women's hammer, Emily Fink (West Point, New York/USATF New York) hit 58.54m/192-1 and did not advance, while Kali Terza (Woodstock, Georgia/USATF Georgia) threw 53.08m/174-2 and also did not make the final. Neither U.S. athlete in the women's long jump moved on to the final, either, with Alyssa Banales (McKinney, Texas/USATF Southwestern) jumping 6.02m/19-9 for 20th overall and India Alix (Houston, Texas/USATF Gulf) 25th at 5.94m/19-6. Men's 3,000m steeplechasers Peter Visser (Thayne, Wyoming/USATF Snake River) and Bryce Lentz (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF Colorado) did not qualify for the final. Visser was 19th overall with a 9:06.47 to place sixth in the first heat, while Lentz ran 9:07.67 for seventh in heat two and ended up 21st overall. Lucas Guerra (Highland, Indiana/USATF Indiana) was 11th in the second heat of the 3,000m in 8:21.90 and also did not advance.
A full list of results can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #JourneyToGold.