A&M incoming frosh Ashley Collier anchors USA 4x100 to World Junior gold

Team USA wins in 43.44 seconds, equals fourth-fastest time ever on World Junior list

	Ashley Collier anchors Team USA 4 x 100 relay to a gold medal

July 24, 2010

MONCTON, Canada - Texas A&M incoming freshman Ashley Collier anchored Team USA to victory in the 4 x 100 relay on Saturday afternoon at the IAAF World Junior Championships.

Following the opening relay carries from Clemson's Stormy Kendrick and LSU's Takeia Pinckney, once the baton reached Collier she increased the Team USA lead and crossed the finish line to stop the clock at 43.44 seconds, well ahead of the German silver-medal effort of 43.74. The Netherlands claimed third in 44.09 with Jamaica placing fourth at 44.24.

"I had to do it for my team and bring it home for the USA," stated Collier as the relay crew set the world leading time for juniors in 2010.

Collier, who competed in high school for Ft. Worth Dunbar, became the third consecutive incoming Aggie sprinter to claim a World Junior gold medal in the 4 x 100 relay. Current A&M sprinters Gabby Mayo (2006) and Jeneba Tarmoh (2006 and 2008) also achieved the same accomplishment.

Team USA's time equals the fourth-fastest ever on the all-time world junior list and it's the third fastest American clocking. Tarmoh ran the second leg and Mayo anchored the World junior record effort of 43.29 in Eugene, Oregon, prior to the 2006 World Juniors in Beijing, where the U.S. squad won gold in 43.49.

This year's U.S. crew posted the second-fastest time ever in a World Junior final, trailing only the meet record of 43.40 set by Jamaica back in 2002 when another then-future Aggie sprinter, Simone Facey, anchored the team to victory.

Collier also anchored Team USA in the prelims Friday evening when the team posted the top qualifying time of 43.56 in winning the heat over Great Britain (44.62) and Canada (44.77). Germany won the first heat over Jamaica, 44.52 to 44.68.

"The hand-offs were good, but they can be better," noted Collier of the prelim race. "We will work on that for the final. We did our job, now we just need to win the final."

Printer-friendly format

Email this article