Jelmini 7th in discus at World Juniors

Shafter's Jelmini finishes 7th in discus at World Junior finals
BY ZACH EWING, Californian staff writer
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | Sunday, Jul 13 2008 9:41 PM

Last Updated: Sunday, Jul 13 2008 9:59 PM

Shafter High's Anna Jelmini never really did unleash one of her trademark massive discus throws in Poland this weekend.
Our readers recommend:

* Flash floods strike Kern
* Twelve people arrested in cocaine investigation
* Seventeen-year-old girl drowns in bathtub
* When youths beat an elderly man to death, parenting questioned
* Ask the Calfornian: How loud can car stereos be?

Photos:

Photo by Casey Christie / The Californian

Shafter's Anna Jelmini took seventh in the discus at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Poland on Sunday.

She still finished seventh in the world.

Jelmini, a senior-to-be who turns 17 on Tuesday, used a throw of 49.46 meters (about 162 feet, 3 inches) to move on to the final eight in Sunday's discus finals at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. But, in rainy conditions she's not used to, Jelmini couldn't improve in any of her last three throws.

"She said she would have liked to throw farther but that it was kind of hard because of the rain," said Michele Jelmini, Anna's mom, who talked to her daughter for about a minute between a post-event party for the U.S. team and their departure by bus to Berlin at 2 a.m. Polish time.

Jelmini ended up seventh, far back of Chinese winner Shanqxue Xi, who threw a 54.96 (180-4), her best mark of the year. Jelmini's personal best came this April in Salinas, when she unleashed a 183-11 (56.06). She's also came close to 180 several other times during the high school season.

"I talked to (coaches Matt Godbehere and Dawn Dumble-Godbehere), and Matt was saying she's had a long season," said Rick Jelmini, Anna's dad. "A lot of those Europeans and Chinese, they're just getting their season started and Anna's season is at an end."

Jelmini already has a double CIF state championship under her belt in both the discus and shot put and a U.S. Junior National title in the discus. Junior competitions are for 19-and-younger, meaning Jelmini could participate in the 2010 Junior Worlds in Canada after her freshman year in college.

This time around, Jelmini's first two throws were her best of the day, 49.10 (161-1) and 49.46. After the cut was made to eight, her longest throw was 45.82 (150-4), on her last attempt.

Germany's Julia Fischer was second in 54.69 (179-5), and Croatia's Sandra Perkovic threw 54.24 (177-11) to place third. The only other American in the finals, Erin Pendleton, had a top mark of 48.45 (158-11) on her first throw, not good enough to reach t