Oregon's Klotz and Youngblood Take Pan Am Titles

A future Duck-to-be and recent prep senior Jamesha Youngblood won the long jump with a new personal best (21-0, 6.40m, w:0.9).

Photo: goducks.com

SAO PAULO, Brazil - University of Oregon freshman Kenny Klotz and incoming freshman Jamesha Youngblood became the second and third Ducks to win titles in the third day action Saturday in the Pan American Junior Championships.

The Portland, Ore., native Klotz won the 25-lap race (31:04.57) by 1.48 seconds over Jefferson Pena of Colombia (second, 31:06.05). Ademilson de Morae Santana of Brazil followed in third place (31:28.28).

Klotz won the U.S. junior title in the same event two weeks ago (30:51.75), barely 24 hours after he took runner-up honors in the 5,000m.

This past outdoor season, Klotz led UO freshmen in the 5,000m (14:07.79) and 10,000m (29:50.26), and was a Pac-10 scorer in the 10,000m (eighth) and a West Regional qualifier.

In the winter, he ran for the U.S. national team in the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya in March and was the top American finisher (56th overall) a month after he finished second in the USA Junior Cross Country Championships.

A future Duck-to-be and recent prep senior Jamesha Youngblood won the long jump with a new personal best (21-0, 6.40m, w:0.9), and easily edged Bianca Stuart of the Bahamas (second, 20-1w, 6.12m, w:2.2) and Arantxa King of Bermuda (third, 20-0 1/4, 6.10m, w:-1.1).

Youngblood won the recent U.S. junior title with a then-personal best (20-8 1/2) and is a two-time state high school champion for Hercules High School in Hercules, Calif.

She added the state 300m hurdles title as a senior and placed third in the state triple jump.

On Saturday, the pair followed the lead of fellow frosh Nicole Blood who won the Pan Am Junior 3,000m title Friday (9:22.35).

The Simi Valley, Calif., native Blood earned her spot on the U.S. team after she won the USA junior outdoor title two weeks ago (9:27.81) by more than 10 seconds.

In 2005, she was also the top American in the Pan Am Junior 5,000m (second overall, 16:55.17).

Duck freshman Ashton Eaton also competed Friday in the men’s long jump (11th, 22-5 3/4, w:-0.2).

Looking ahead to Sunday’s final day action, Duck freshman A.J. Acosta and freshman-to-be Matthew Centrowitz will compete in the 1,500m final.

The pair were the top two finishers, respectively, in the recent USA Junior Championships.

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