Aug. 2, 2009

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Sophomores Diamond Richardson and Jessica Ubanyionwu, along with signee Gavyn Nero each competed at the Pan American Junior Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad, at Hasely Crawford Stadium on July 31-Aug. 2.

Richardson, who placed fifth at this year's Big 12 Championships in the 400m, won her heat of the 400-meter prelims on Friday morning to qualify second overall with a time of 54.94 seconds. However, a lane violation in the final led to a disqualification. Richardson came back on Sunday to help anchor the United States women's 4x400-meter relay to a gold medal over Jamaica with a time of 3:36.34.

Ubanyionwu, who placed fifth at the Big 12 Championships in triple jump, moved from sixth to fifth in the final round of the event with a leap of 41 feet, 4.5 inches.

Nero, competing in his native Trinidad in the 800 meters, had the second-fastest qualifying time of 1:52.51 in Saturday's prelims. He then went to place second in the finals on Sunday, shaving nearly four seconds off his qualifying time to finish with a time of 1:48.90.