Aug 15, 2013
Flotrack Interview | Complete Results
MOSCOW, Russia - Nittany Lion volunteer assistant Ryan Whiting started his competition slate the IAAF World Championships with a bang, posting the top throw in the qualifying round, Thursday morning at Luzhniki Stadium. Whiting will automatically advance to the event finals, which are slated for Friday at 12:20 p.m., ET.
"I feel good," said Whiting in a post-competition interview with Flotrack.org. " I'm ready. So, there's not much I can say about it. I've been working for this all year. It's the one goal."
Whiting - an Olympic finalist in 2012 - wasted no time in moving on to the next round, launching a toss of 70-7 (21.51) on his first attempt, easily surpassing the automatic-qualifying standard of 67-9 (20.65).
"I've been healthy all year, and it's paid dividends in my meets," said the Harrisburg, Pa., native. "Today was easy, and hopefully tomorrow is. Today was a safe qualifying throw, and I didn't expect it to go that far, for what it felt like. Tomorrow's going to be fun if it's like that."
Whiting's performance was far and away the best of the day, with Ladislav Prá?il of the Czech Republic posting the second-best toss of the morning at 68-7 (20.90). Whiting's US teammates Reese Hoffa, and Cory Martin would also qualify for Friday's final, thanks to top 12 performances during the preliminary round. Two-time defending Olympic Champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland, and 2011 World Champion David Storl of Germany are also through to the final, posting third and fourth-best tosses in qualifying.
Joining Whiting in action on Friday will be all-time Nittany Lion greats Shana Cox and Aleesha Barber. Barber will represent Trinidad and Tobago in the qualification round of the 100-meter hurdles at 1:45 a.m., ET, while Cox is slated to run for Great Britain in the women's 4x400-meter relay preliminaries at 3:30 a.m., ET.
For more on Nittany Lion track and field, log on towww.GoPSUsports.com.