09 Mar USATF Foundation Grantees Rise Up at the World Indoor Championships
BIRMINGHAM – The IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England allowed for an exhilarating weekend filled with tears and heartache but Team USA still dominated the podium walking away with 18 medals – 6 Gold, 10 Silver and 2 Bronze. 24 members of those who competed are recent USATF Foundation grant award winners announced Foundation Executive Director Tom Jackovic and Chairman Bob Greifeld.
“I was very pleased with the performances from the USATF Indoor Championships and overall representation of our Foundation grantees at the IAAF World Indoor Championship meet,” said Preston Johnson, USATF Foundation Board Director.
Though there were several disqualifications, the USATF Foundation grantees persevered and came away with hardware.
The 2017 Stephen A. Schwarzman grantees to bring home medals were:
- Kendra Harrison – Gold medal with a championship record of 7.70 in the 60m hurdles
- Will Claye – Gold medal in the Triple Jump at 17.43
- Quanera Hayes – Led off Team U.S.A. in the 4x400m relay and helped win them a Gold medal at 3:23.85, which was a championship record
- Christina Manning – Silver medal in the 60m hurdles at 7.79
- Vashti Cunningham – Silver medal in the High Jump at 1.93
- Sam Kendricks -Silver medal in the Pole Vault at 5.85
- Drew Windle – Silver medal in the 800m in 1:47.9
Elite Athlete Development grantees from this year to stun the field and took home medals were:
- Georganne Moline – Gold medal in the 4×400 relay
- Jarret Eaton – Silver medal in the 60m hurdles at 7.47
- Vernon Norwood – Silver medal in the 4×400 relay at 3:01.97
- Ronnie Baker – Bronze medal in the 60m at 6.44
Athletes will continue training for the upcoming 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha and ultimately the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. “The hard work never ends for athletes at this level,”said Foundation Executive Director Tom Jackovic. “It’s nice to see so many of our grantees rewarded for their efforts with medals.”