Thelma Davies dropped a huge personal best and it earned the Girard College senior a second place finish and Pan-Ams qualification.
At the USATF Junior (U20) Championships in Miramar, Flordia, Davies ran a wind-legal 11.25 (+2.0) to take second to the University of Mississippi's Brandee Presley (11.19) picking up the win. Those top two finishes qualify Presley and Davies for the Pan-American U20 Championships, set for July 19-21 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Davies closed hard to make up a gap on Indiana high schooler Semira Killebrew to pick up the second place finish. Killebrew came across in 11.31 for third. Davies was ready for a quick race in the 100 final. In the prelims, she dropped a slightly wind-aided 11.32 to qualify through.
Davies' 11.25 breaks her own Pennsylvania state record, which was 11.42, set last year in Bloomington, Indiana at the USATF Junior Championships. Her time on Saturday shatters that previous record. A week ago at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, Davies won the national title in the 200 meters, running a wind-aided 22.95 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Davies told MileSplit after her 100 meter preliminary that she would be scratching the 200 meters prelims, which are scheduled for tomorrow. Davies will close out her prep career representing the United States next month in Costa Rica.
More Saturday Highlights
- To start the day off, Northern's Starliper won the 3,000 meters in a new PA state record.
- Perkiomen Valley's Christina Warren placed third in the women's triple jump. The Arizona State-bound Warren jumped 41-6.5 in a strong series that included two additional jumps over 41 feet. A pair of NCAA athletes took the top two spots, as Warren narrowly missed a qualifying spot on Team USA for the Pan-American U20 Championships by an inch and half. She still has the 100 meter hurdles Sunday (prelims will go off at 4:39pm).
- Jonah Hoey of Bishop Shanahan qualified to the final in the men's 800 meters. Hoey went 1:52.23 in his prelim heat to earn a spot in the final on time. Final is set for 5:28pm Sunday.
- Youngstown State's Zach Gehm, a 2018 graduate of Seneca Valley, won the men's discus. Gehm tossed a throw of 197-10 (60.31 meters) to take the win and a spot on the Pan-Am team.
- 2018 Wyoming Area graduate Marc Minichello, now with the University of Pennsylvania, won the men's javelin with a massive toss of 253-01 for the PR and victory. He, too, makes the Pan-Am team for Costa Rica.
- Sydni Townsend (Neumann Goretti '18; University of Pittsburgh) and Skyla Wilson (Susquehanna Community '18; University of Pennsylvania) both made the finals of women's 400 meter hurdles. Townsend went 1:00.24 and Wilson ran 1:00.81 and we'll see them in the final on Sunday (5:07pm).
- Georgetown University's Katie Dammer (Abington Heights '18) narrowly missed making the Pan-Am team in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Dammer led for most of the race, but ended up taking third in 10:47.66, just outside the top two.
Thelma Davies dropped a huge personal best and it earned the Girard College senior a second place finish and Pan-Ams qualification.
At the USATF Junior (U20) Championships in Miramar, Flordia, Davies ran a wind-legal 11.25 (+2.0) to take second to the University of Mississippi's Brandee Presley (11.19) picking up the win. Those top two finishes qualify Presley and Davies for the Pan-American U20 Championships, set for July 19-21 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
