Summary of Junior Nationals

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Sanya Richards broke an American junior record to earn Verizon Women's Outstanding Athlete of the Meet honors Saturday, the final day of the 2002 USA Junior National Championships held at Cobb Track and Angell Field on the Stanford University campus.

Richards on Saturday won the U.S. junior 400m title and snagged an American junior record to add to her 200m title from Friday. A 2002 recent graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida who will attend the University of Texas in the fall, Richards ran 50.69 seconds to break Monique Henderson's previous junior record of 50.74, set in 2000 – the year Henderson made the final of the Olympic Trials as a prepster. Henderson, who now attends UCLA, was second to Richards on Saturday with a time of 51.52.

"I knew it was going to be a tough race, because I knew of Monique's capabilities," Richards said. "But I've been working hard for it, and I knew I could do it if I just stayed focused and ran a good race."

Ben Shorey was named the Verizon Men's Outstanding Athlete of the Meet for his race walk performance on Friday. Shorey took his second straight U.S. junior title in the 10,000m race walk, shattering Tim Seaman's American Junior record (43:03.37 in 1991) with his time of 42:50.20.

In the men's 400m, Darold Williamson of Baylor finished in 45.54 to beat Jonathan Fortenberry of South Carolina, who was second in 45.99.

Tiffany Ross of South Carolina missed out on a 100m hurdles meet record when her time of 13.01 was run with a 2.3 meters-per-second tailwind. Antwon Hicks of Ole Miss did the honors in the men's 110m hurdles, winning in 13.60 (+1.0mps wind) to beat the old meet record of 13.79 set by Dudley Dorival in 1994. Bershawn Jackson of Miami NW Express won the men's 400m hurdles in 50.33, while LaShinda Demus of South Carolina, the world junior record holder, won the women's 400m hurdles in 56.35 with Ross second in 57.13.

A pair of meet records fell on the field. Laura Gerraughty won the girls' shot put with a meet record 17.57m/57-7.75 to win her second championship of the meet. The University of North Carolina freshman won the hammer throw on Friday. Gerraughty's winning shot put mark beat Eileen Vanisi's 1991 meet record of 16.96m/ 55-7.75 and was just .03m off Vanisi's American junior record.

Lauryn Williams of Miami won the women's 100m with a time of 11.42, ahead of Marshevet Hooker's runner-up time of 11.52. Rashaad Allen of Cal State-Northridge held off Willie Hordge of Track Houston in a photo-finish men's 100m. Both men were timed in 10.39, with Allen getting the nod for the win. Matthew Bruno was third in 10.45.

Kathryn Anderson of Brigham Young ran away with the women's 1,500m in 4:24.04, and Georgetown-bound Chris Lukesic, the 2002 Golden West champion from the Auburn TC in Washington states, won the men's 1,500m with a time of 3:47.32.

Rod Koborski of Georgetown won the men's 5,000m in 14:30.56 with Andrew Coughlin second in 14:33.63; Sara Bei of Stanford won the women's 3,000m (9:32.98) with Jill Miller of Wake Forest second (9:37.72). Lindsey Johnson of Brigham Young won the women's javelin with a meet-record throw of 51.83m/170-0.

Shiloh Whiting of Arkansas won the women's 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 10:42.09, while Daniel Lyon of Sultana HS (Calif.) won the men's steeple in 9:18.67. Kristina Shelton of Texas Express took the women's 800m crown with a time of 2:09.13 and Richard Smith of South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., won the men's race in 1:48.94, edging out Frank Francois of the University of Tennessee (1:48.99).

In the field, Rafeeq Curry was an easy winner in the men's triple jump with a mark of 15.84m/51-11.75; Adra Manson of Brenham (Tx) High School won the men's high jump with a clearance of 2.20m/7-2.5; Sean Shields won the men's 6-kilo shot put with a throw of 20.39m/66-10.75; Billie-Jo Grant of Arroyo HS won the women's discuss with a best of 52.52m/172-4; Brooklyn Hann of Kansas won the women's triple jump at 12.72m/41-8.75; and Lacy Janson won the women's pole vault with a clearance of 4.05m/13-3.5.

The top two finishers in each event at USA Junior Nationals, part of the Verizon Youth Series, are eligible for selection to Team USA for the World Junior Championships July 16-21 in Kingston, Jamaica. Final selection to the team is at the discretion of USATF and its committees.