INDIANAPOLIS - Team USA dominated the competition by capturing more
medals than any other country and rewriting the record books at the 2008
NACAC Under-23 Track & Field Championships, July 18-19 in Toluca,
Mexico.
The NACAC Athletic Associations U23 Championships are held every two
years in one of the 32 member nations of the North America, Central
America and Caribbean Athletic Association, one of six regional
athletics associations affiliated with the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Team USA easily dominated the medal count with 62 total medals: 28 gold,
26 silver, 8 bronze. Mexico finished a distant second with 19 medals,
followed by Canada (3rd-15 medals), Jamaica (4th-11 medals) and the
Dominican Republic (5th- 6 medals).
Standout performers for Team USA include University of Louisville jumper
Andre Black, who won the gold medal in the men's triple jump and the
silver medal in the long jump. The 2007 NCAA Indoor triple jump
champion, Black won that event in Toluca with a best effort of 15.91
meters/52 feet 2.50 inches. He earned his runner-up finish in the long
jump with a leap of 7.83m/25-8.
2005 USA Junior champion J-Mee Samuels of Fayetteville, Ark., set a meet
record with his winning time of 10.09 seconds in the men's 100m. His
performance bettered the previous championships record of 10.15 by
Bahamian Derrick Atkins set in Santo Domingo in 2006. After finishing as
the runner-up to Samuels in the 100m, Evander Wells of Knoxville, Tenn.,
set his own NACAC U-23 record with his winning 200m time of 20.34
seconds. In winning the men's 400m, LaJerald Betters of Waco, Texas,
posted a new personal best and meet record with his time of 44.75
seconds.
Other U.S. men mining gold and setting new championship records include
Jason Richardson of Columbia, S.C., in the 110m hurdles (13.32 seconds),
Joe Kindred of Raleigh, N.C., in the high jump (2.27m/7-5.25) and Raven
Cepeda of Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the decathlon (7,504 points). The Team
USA quartet of Jeremy Hall, Teddy Williams, Christopher Dykes and J-Mee
Samuels combined for a new championship record with their win in the
4x100m in 38.89 seconds.
The Team USA women's squad was led by Sara Stevens of Tempe, Ariz., who
was victorious in the women's shot put with her winning toss of
16.04m/52-7.50. She also won the hammer throw with her best performance
of 62.79m/206-0.
Team USA women standouts winning gold medals and setting championship
records include Meghan Armstrong of Tualatin, Ore., who won the 10,000m
in 37:31.28, Tiffany Ofili of Ann Arbor, Mich., in the 100m hurdles
(12.82 seconds), Katie Stripling of Jonesboro, Ark., in the pole vault
(4.35m/14-3.25) and Joemi Maduka of Arlington, Texas, in the long jump
(6.66m/21-10.25). The Team USA women's foursome of Jessica Onyepunuka,
Tawanna Meadows, Lynn Layne and Scottesha Miller captured the women's
4x100m relay in the new NACAC Under-23 record time of 43.64 seconds.
For more information on Team USA at the 2008 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Toluca, Mexico, visit USATF.org.
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