June 23, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Freshman Austin Davis fresh off a personal best jump and All-America finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago claimed the junior title at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships with a leap of 52-8 1/4 to earn a spot on the US team that will head to Poland later this summer for the World Championships. Fellow freshmen Gabby Gioia, Christine Johnson and Mary Angell also competed in the US Junior Championships in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend.

Davis also competed in the long jump and finished ninth with a top jump of 17-7 1/2 but was able to claim the top spot in the triple jump edging Christian Taylor by a quarter of an inch as the duo will represent the United States at the Junior World Championships later this summer in Poland.

Also competing at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships were a trio of freshmen as Christine Johnson placed seventh in the 400 with a time of 55.36 after tallying a 55.13 during the qualifying round which was a World Junior Championships qualifying time. Mary Angell picked up a pair of top 10 finishes in the shot put and the discus during the weekend as she placed seventh in the shot put (48-1 1/4) and fifth in the discus (161-3), both of which were WJC qualifying marks.

Gioia finished fifth in the heptathlon with a final point total of 4753 as she finished 13th in the 200 with 700 points (27.14), fourth in the 800 with 762 points (2:24.59), 13th in the 100 hurdles with 734 points (15.84), tied for fourth in the high jump as she cleared 5-2 1/2 for 724 points. A ninth-place finish in the long jump tallied her 651 more points (17-6) before closing out the competition with a third-place showing in the shot put with 545 points (33-7 1/4) and a first-place showing in the javelin with a 637 point finish (126-1).