Three Deacs to Appear at World U20 Championships
7/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
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By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeTrack)
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – Three athletes with Wake Forest track and field ties will compete in the IAAF World U20 Championships at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland this week.
Rising sophomore Robert Heppenstall will represent Canada in the men's 800m, which will kick off on Friday with the first round. The semifinal will take place on Saturday and the final will be held on Sunday.
Heppenstall, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, is coming off a freshman season in which he was an ACC champion and All-American in the 800m both indoors and outdoors. His breakout campaign brought in ACC Freshman of the Year accolades in both seasons. Heppenstall's top indoor time of 1:47.35 broke the Wake Forest, ACC Championship meet and Canadian junior records and his best outdoor time of 1:46.92 was good enough to win the event in a loaded field at the Virginia Challenge.
The first Demon Deacon to compete will be incoming freshman Ággelos Vasilíou of Greece. He will run in the 1,500m, which kicks off Tuesday with a Thursday championship.
Fellow incoming rookie Jessica Molina will take part in the women's shot put, representing Ecuador. The qualification round and final for that event are both on Wednesday. Molina, who attended Westwood High School in New Jersey, has a dual citizenship in both Ecuador and the United States and broke the Ecuadorian junior record.
The last Deacon to compete at the IAAF World Juniors was rising senior Charlie Ionata, who placed 20th in the preliminary round of the 6kg hammer throw in 2014. He posted a personal record mark of 69.93m at the meet in Eugene, Ore.
Players Mentioned
