LIMA, Peru – Six of the nine Florida Gators teams competing in the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, competed on Tuesday, with two athletes advancing past the first round and one achieving a new personal best.
Gracelyn Rathes, the U.S. U20 champion in the shot put and discus, competed in the discus on day one and advanced to tomorrow's discus final. Her best score of 49.79m was good enough for a top 12 finish and a spot in the discus final tomorrow at 5:28 PM ET.
Gator sophomore Miguel Pantojas competed in the 800 meters and placed fifth in heat six with a time of 1:50.75. The top three and next six runners in a heat advanced to the semifinals, and Pantojas' time was good enough to slip into sixth place. The boys' 800 meters semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29.
Australian rookie Gabrielle Schmidt finished seventh in the women's 5,000 meter final on Tuesday night. Her time of 16 minutes 10.87 seconds was a new personal best. Schmidt will also compete in the 3,000 meters, which begins with qualifying on August 29.
Other freshmen also had strong performances: Jayden Wiley finished third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.59 seconds, while Abigail Elmore earned 3,093 points in the first four events of the heptathlon.
World Athletics U20 Championships
First day results
Heptathlete: Abigail Elmore
10:17am – 100mH Heat 3 – 14.85, 862 points
11:07am – High Jump Group A – 1.69m, 842 points
5:05pm – Shot Put – 11.91m, 655 points
7:25pm – 200m – 26.73, 734 points
Men's 100m – Qualification
12:18pm – Jayden Wiley, Heat 4 – 3rd in Heat, 10.59
W Discus – Qualification
12:45pm – Gracelyn Rathes, Group A – 49.79m, advances to final
Men's 800m – Qualifying
1:40pm – Miguel Pantojas, Heat 6 – 5th place in heat, 1:50.75, advanced to semifinals
W 800m – Qualifying
2:03pm – Layla Haynes, Heat 2 – 6th place in heat, 2:08.93
Women's 5000m Final
7:25pm – Gabriel Schmidt – 7th place, 16:10.87, personal best
Day 2 Schedule:
Heptathlon: Abigail Elmore – USA
10:35 AM – Long Jump
1:04pm – Javelin
7:10pm – 800m
Men's 400m Hurdles – Qualification
11:05 AM – Vance Nilsson – USA
Women's Triple Jump – Qualifying
12:50pm – Asia Phillips – Canada
Women's Discus Final
5:28pm – Gracelyn Rathes – USA
