A&M's Shamier Little adds USATF 400 Hurdles title to her collection
Jun 28, 2015 | Track and Field
EUGENE – Texas A&M sophomore Shamier Little maintained her undefeated run in the 400 hurdles this season by winning the USATF Championships in a time of 53.83 seconds as she claimed her fifth title over the past two years at Hayward Field.
"I'm just pleased overall with my performance," noted Little. "I've made it so far and accomplished so much. It's amazing, I never thought I'd get this far. I'm so happy with all of the love and support I'm receiving."
Aggie All-American Jeneba Tarmoh joined Little in making Team USA for the World Championships this summer in Beijing, China, as she finished third in the 200 meters with a time of 22.44. The final day of the U.S. national meet also included a school record for Aggie senior Jena Hemann as she scored 6,022 points to place sixth in the heptathlon.
Little entered the 400 hurdle final as the current world leader with her 53.74 from winning the NCAA title two weeks ago on the same track. A solid start by Little in lane five kept her in contention as Cassandra Tate held the early lead from her lane six position.
Coming off the curve and approaching hurdle eight, the top five positions were nearly even with Tate, Tiffany Williams, Georganne Moline, Lashinda Demus and Little. In lane three, Moline crashed at the eighth hurdle, knocking over the hurdle in lane two before Kori Carter reached the barrier.
"There was a lot of commotion going on around the eighth hurdle," said Little. "One girl fell, two more hit a hurdle and I hit a hurdle. From that point on I had to just keep pushing it, and I had a lot push from my outside and inside."
At the next hurdle Little shared the lead with Tate. Meanwhile, Williams and Demus were even but facing a challenge from Carter for third place.
Going over hurdle 10, Little and Tate held an edge over the rest of the field. Little's drive to the finish enabled her to move a couple of strides ahead of Tate for the victory with a 53.83 to 54.01 margin. Carter also closed well to claim third place in 54.41 ahead of Demus (54.44) while Williams (54.81) finished fifth.
The 20-year-old Little became the first hurdler to win NCAA and USATF titles in the same season since Sheena Johnson in 2004. Little also became the first U.S. Junior champion to win the senior title the following year since Edna Brown of Temple in 1978-79.
"Every day I'm learning more new stuff about my accomplishments," stated Little. "Its mind blowing, I never expected any of this to happen."
Over the past two seasons Little is undefeated at Hayward Field in the 400 hurdles as she claimed the following five championship victories – 2014 NCAA (55.07 world junior leader), 2014 USATF Junior (55.43 meet record), 2014 World Junior (55.66), 2015 NCAA (53.74 world leader), 2015 USATF Championship (53.83 final, 54.14 semifinal).
Little has won six finals in 2015 amid a total of 12 races. Dating back to placing third in the 2014 SEC Championships, Little has a current winning streak of nine finals among 21 total races. In the past two weeks Little has posted the world leading time of 53.74 for the 2015 season followed by the second (53.83) and fifth (54.14) best performances this year.
Tarmoh had a strong start in the 200 final from lane seven and finished well to post her 22.44 (0.4 wind) behind Jenna Prandini (22.20) and Candyce McGrone (22.38) while placing ahead of a 22.47 by Kaylin Whitney. NCAA champion Dezerea Bryant of Kentucky finished fifth in 22.48 ahead of SEC champion Kyra Jefferson of Florida with a 22.56.
Hemann continued to produce stellar marks on the second day of the heptathlon and managed to add 20 points to her previous best score of 6,002 as runner-up at the Texas Relays in March.
"It's definitely exciting to score over 6,000 points again and break the school record," exclaimed Hemann. "I knew yesterday there was a chance to PR since I was just five points off my first day score at Texas Relays. So I came in today with the mindset to have fun, with no stress or pressure to do that, and it helped."
Leading off with the long jump Hemann reached a distance of 19-10 ¼ (6.05) with a 2.1 wind for 865 points, which was fourth best among the field of 16. A throw of 158-5 (48.28) in the javelin topped the field by over five feet and added 827 points to Hemann's tally.
Finishing off the multi-event with the 800 meters, Hemann clocked a best of 2:19.87 for 825 points. Bringing her total to 6,022 placed Heman sixth overall, one point behind Lindsay Lettow in fifth place.
"I was one point shy of fifth, but still very excited," said Hemann, who will be part of the USA multi-event squad that competes against Germany in the Thorpe Cup on August 8-9 in Bernhausen, Germany.
The winner of the seven-event multi with 6,500 points was Barbara Nwaba with Sharon Day-Monroe runner-up at 6,458 while Mississippi State's Erica Bougard claimed third place with a score of 6,288.
In the men's 200 final Ameer Webb placed sixth with a time of 20.30 (0.4 wind). The winner of the race in a meet record of 19.57 was Justin Gatlin ahead of Isiah Young (19.93) and Wallace Spearmon (20.10).
During the semifinals of the 200 meters Webb advanced to the final by placing fourth with a 20.42 while Curtis Mitchell, the defending USATF champion, placed sixth in the same heat at 20.68.
In the women's 200 semifinals Tarmoh reached the final by placing third in her heat with a 22.71. Kamaria Brown posted a 22.74 for fifth place in the next heat while Porscha Lucas placed eighth in 23.30.
At the Jamaica national championships, Simone Facey placed fourth in the 200 final with a time of 23.05 into a -2.4 wind. She finished behind Elaine Thompson (22.51), Sherone Simpson (22.77) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (23.02).
Players Mentioned
