Fred Kerley anchors USA 4x400 relay to silver medal at IAAF World Championships
Aug 13, 2017 | Track and Field
Kerley ran a split of 44.76 seconds on the final leg of the race as Lalonde Gordon anchored for Trinidad & Tobago and produced a winning time of 2:58.12. Great Britain earned a bronze medal in 2:59.00. On the first three legs for the United States were Wil London, Gil Roberts and Michael Cherry.
Rounding out the field in the final were Belgium (3:00.04) in fourth, followed by Spain (3:00.65), Cuba (3:01.10), Poland (3:01.59) and France (3:01.79).
"It felt good to finish my season off with a global medal," said Kerley. "It's a blessing to just compete on a stage like this. I gave it all I had. My body was just pushed to the line. I look forward to getting back healthy and the next stage of my career. Just to put the USA uniform on my body is a wonderful feeling.
Texas A&M athletes claimed three relay medals during the World Championships with a gold by Aaliyah Brown (USA 4x100), silver for Kerley (USA 4x400) and bronze by Simone Facey (Jamaica 4x100). Aggies finishing among the top eight in their respective individual events included Ameer Webb (fifth, 200m), Ioannis Kyriazis (sixth, javelin) and Kerley (seventh, 400m).
Overall, athletes with SEC ties collected a total of 20 medals (8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze) by eight conference schools at the World Championships.
In the women's 4x400 relay, Phyllis Francis anchored the United States to a world-leading winning time of 3:19.02 with a split of 50.22. Francis, who trains in College Station with Texas A&M assistant coach Vince Anderson, enjoyed a lead that stretched to 50-plus meters
The Americans produced the largest winning margin in World Championships history, bettering the previous margin of 3.32 seconds set by USA in 2009. The first three legs on the United States relay included Quanera Hayes, Allyson Felix, and Shakima Wimbley.
Runner-up to USA's dominating performance were Great Britain (3:25.00), Poland (3:25.41), France (3:26.56), Nigeria (3:26.72), Germany (3:27.45) and Botswana (3:28.00). Jamaica did not finish the second leg of the relay.
