After both capturing bronze medals last year at Pan American U-20 Championships in Peru, talented hurdlers return to American roster to compete in Finland; Bradford pulls off big pole vault win

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

BLOOMINGTON – Two of the nation’s most promising freshman hurdlers didn’t have the NCAA Division 1 postseason experiences they had envisioned.

But that didn’t stop Florida’s Cory Poole and Oregon’s Joseph Anderson from dreaming big entering the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships at Hayes Track at the Haugh Complex, with aspirations of making consecutive appearances on the American U-20 roster to compete internationally this summer.

CORY POOLE INTERVIEW | JOSEPH ANDERSON INTERVIEW | WATCH LIVE WEBCAST

Poole won the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 13.34 seconds, with Anderson clocking 13.58 to finish runner-up for the second year in a row. Both athletes secured berths on the U.S. roster to compete July 10-15 at the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.

“I was just coming here trying to redeem myself,” said Poole, who placed 21st out of 22 competitors in the NCAA semifinals June 6 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

“It’s not really tough if you love doing it. I really love the sport and I just look at each week and each meet as a chance to get better. I wanted to get better here and hopefully get even better in Finland.”

Anderson didn’t even get an opportunity to run in the final meet on his home track after a fall resulted in him placing 23rd at the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento and not advancing to the Division 1 semifinals.

“I was nervous coming into this race because I wasn’t running as fast, not only over the hurdles, but also in my open events. I had the fastest time in the first round, so I was really excited, but then I got a little light-headed and my trainers got me right for the finals and I made it,” said Anderson, who secured a bronze medal last year in the 110 hurdles in 13.43 at the Pan American U-20 Championships in Trujillo, Peru.

“This one feels better than last year. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to PR this week just by the way my body felt and obviously the way Cory ran, it was going to take a PR to win. But now I’ll have some time to work with my coach since he was so busy with NCAAs and hopefully I’ll be able to PR in Finland.”

Poole ran two 110 hurdles races in addition to a 400 hurdles qualifying heat in a span of 2 hours, 30 minutes, leading all athletes advancing to the final in the latter in 51.30.

Poole placed second in last year’s 400 hurdles final in 49.88, before earning a bronze medal in Peru.

“It’s kind of like what I’ve been doing at SECs and NCAAs, it’s just one more race, and since the hurdles were (39 inches), it wasn’t as much strain as if it had been over the (42-inch hurdles),” Poole said. “Adjusting to the 42s just helped me come back down. I’ve been working on improving my 110 hurdles for a long time, so I’m just happy to come in here and have a good race. College has really prepared me for doubling in both hurdles, so I feel good right now.”

American Heritage FL star Anthony Schwartz continued his impressive season before heading to Auburn, clocking a wind-legal 10.23 seconds to win the 100-meter dash ahead of Ohio State freshman Eric Harrison in 10.26. Hinds Community College standout Khance Meyers (10.34) and Benson OR sophomore Micah Williams (10.37) ran the second-fastest time in state history to also add himself to the U.S. 4x100 relay pool.

ANTHONY SCHWARTZ INTERVIEW

“My goal the whole season was to qualify for (World U-20 Championships),” Schwartz said. “I just try to relax, instead of trying to force the time because I’ve learned if stay relaxed, I run faster. It’s just knowing what people expect of me every meet and making sure I deliver on that because I don’t want to make anyone sad. They want to see fast times and I want to run fast. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, including myself.”

Bloomington IL senior Zachery Bradford won the pole vault with a first-attempt clearance at 18-2.50 (5.55m), equal to the No. 7 all-time outdoor prep performer. Arizona State freshman Cole Riddle qualified for the American U-20 roster for the second year in a row, clearing 18-0.50 (5.50m) on his first attempt.

ZACHERY BRADFORD INTERVIEW

Lee’s Summit MO senior KC Lightfoot, the No. 2 outdoor prep performer in history at 18-5 (5.61m), missed three attempts at 18-2.50 and finished third.

Wichita State had two athletes qualify to compete in Finland, with Taran Taylor winning the javelin competition with a first-round throw of 233-2 (71.08m), holding off a late surge by national prep leader and Parkview Baptist LA senior Tzuriel Pedigo, who produced a sixth-round effort of 231-3 (70.48m).

Rayvon Allen took second in the long jump for the Shockers with a wind-legal third-round leap of 24-10 (7.57m), but it wasn’t enough to catch LSU freshman JuVaughn Blake, who had a second-round wind-legal performance of 25-2.50 (7.68m).

Brothers Michael Feldman and Steven Feldman took the top two spots in the hammer throw. The Penn redshirts improved from Steven placing sixth and Michael seventh at last year’s meet in Sacramento.

Michael had a sixth-round throw of 223-2 (68.03m) and Steven produced a fourth-round mark of 216-6 (65.99m).

Homestead WI junior Drew Bosley won the 5,000 in 14:32.75, surging in the final 300 past Oregon freshman Cooper Teare (14:33.54). Bosley, who had already decided ahead of the meet it would be his final track race of the season, didn’t meet the World U-20 standard of 14:15.00.

Teare already had the standard after clocking 13:52.19 at the NCAA Division 1 West Regionals.

Germantown Academy PA senior Kyle Garland improved his personal-best first-day score in the decathlon by 133 points to lead all athletes with 4,090. Garland took runner-up last year in Sacramento and captured the silver medal in Peru, trailing Texas’ George Patrick in both competitions.