Katie Moon gets second Wanda Diamond League win of the season in Paris...
At the Meeting de Paris, the eighth stop of the season-long Wanda Diamond League tour, former Pullman resident Katie Moon's (photo courtesy Wanda Diamond League) second attempt clearance at 15-6.25 (4.73m) was good enough to take the victory over long time friend and rival Sandi Morris Friday evening at the Stade Charléty.
Moon opened the meet in a deficit, after needing two tries to clear her opening height of 14-10.25 (4.53m), which Morris cleared on her first attempt.
The reigning world champion and Tokyo Olympic champ passed the next height of 15-2.25 (4.63m), and took the lead at the eventual winning height of 15-6.25 (4.73m) with a second attempt make.
Morris needed all three tries to make 15-6.25 (4.73m).
As Moon wasn't clear yet, she passed the next bar of 15-8.25 (4.78m), while Morris missed on her first attempt.
Morris' miss forced her to pass to the next bar of 15-10 (4.83m) for two attempts. Both Moon and Morris missed their attempts at the height to give Moon the win.
Afterwards, she told reporters in the mixed zone, "It was a little inconsistent for me and I guess that this is okay. These days are equally if not more important than the days you feel great. So, I am very happy to come away with the win but I was on my smallest poles and had some issues figuring out my steps. Overall I was still very happy to have taken the win. I competed in South Dakota after Rabat, just a local meet but I jumped 4.81 there."
"I got in a day later than we originally planned. So I just had a little bit of a jet lag and tried to stay between the two time zones. Because the meet was so late it was easier to get away with that".
With her second win of the Diamond League season, Moon moved to third in the Wanda Diamond League women's pole vault standing with 23 points, five behind Morris.
The highlight of the meet came in the men's 1500 where Azeddine Habz of France led five other runners under 3:30, with his win in a meet and national record time of 3:27.49.
The Wanda Diamond League returns to action July 5th with the Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene.
BRAELYN BAKER WINS USATF U20 400M TITLE...
In Eugene, Carnation resident and Duke University freshman Braelyn Baker (Paul Merca photo) won the women's 400 meter race at the USATF Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus Friday.
Baker's path to the title began on Thursday as she won her semifinal heat in 52.74. That time was the fastest in the heats.
Baker, who attended the Bear Creek School in Redmond, won in a time of 51.78, just off her best time this season of 51.69, set in a second place finish at the ACC championships last month.
Baker, who competed for Team USA as a high school senior in the 400 hurdles at the World U20 championships last year in Lima, Peru, where she advanced to the semifinals, opted to compete in the flat 400 at the national championships.
In the men's discus, Washington State's Kai Twaddle-Dunham finished second in that event, throwing 202-9 (61.80m) on Thursday.
Friday, Twaddle-Dunham, who will be looking for a new school to compete for after Monday's decision by Washington State to cut all field event athletes from its track and field program, threw 58-5.75 (17.82m) to place eleventh.
In the women's shot put, Western Washington freshman Jessica Polkinghorn finished ninth with a best of 45-3 (13.79m).
NOTE: The Wanda Diamond League and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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