Cooper Advances to Final at World Junior Championships
IAAF Junior World Championships Home
EUGENE, Ore. – Kansas track & field sophomore-to-be Mitchell Cooper threw to an eighth-place finish in the qualifying rounds of the discus at the World Junior Championships Friday afternoon inside Hayward Field. The finish earned Cooper, who is competing for his native Australia, one of 12 spots in the event final, to be held on Saturday, July 26 at 6:05 p.m. (CT).
Cooper, who hails from Queensland, Australia, improved on each of his three attempts on the day. Two early tosses of 53.88 meters (176’9″) and 55.14 meters (180’11) saw him drop near the bottom of the standings, however Cooper came up with a big throw when it counted most. On his final attempt, he posted a new personal-best toss of 59.31 meters (194’7″) to jump seven spots up the leaderboard into third in his section. Cooper’s throw was a foot further than his previous best and earned him an automatic pass into the final. His mark put him eighth out of the 12 men to compete in the final round, which will take place on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. (CT).
Cooper is coming off a standout freshman campaign for the Jayhawks, one which saw him take third in the discus at the Big 12 Championships as well as advance to the NCAA West Preliminary. He entered this week’s competition ranked 16th in the world among junior discus throwers after claiming a runner-up finish in the event at the Australian Junior Championships in March.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
