Park, Cochran Are Favorites

Jane Park of Oak Valley and Amie Cochran of Torrance will be among the favorites in the U.S. Girls Junior Championship beginning today at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn.

Park, 16, is coming off an appearance in the U.S. Women’s Open. She finished tied for 30th place and was the second-lowest amateur. Cochran, 17, won an American Junior Golf Assn. tournament June 27 in Rancho Mirage and shot a course-record, nine-under-par 62 during an AJGA tournament July 10 in Arizona.

Park and Cochran advanced to the quarterfinals in the U.S. Girls Junior last year. Park lost, 1 down, to Allison Martin of Bakersfield. Cochran lost in 20 holes to Jenni Tangtiphaiboontana of Long Beach.

The boys’ U.S. Junior Championship also begins today at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md. Both events begin with two rounds of stroke play. The top 64 players advance to single-elimination match play. The finals are Saturday.

-- Peter Yoon

Shalonda Solomon of Long Beach Poly and Usain Bolt of Jamaica each won 200-meter final races to highlight the final day of competition in the Pan American Junior (under 20) track and field championships at Bridgetown, Barbados.

Solomon won the women’s race in 22.93 to become the sixth-fastest high school runner of all time. Among those ahead of her are: Allyson Felix of North Hills Los Angeles Baptist at 22.11, Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks at 22.58 and Kinshasa Davis of Long Beach Wilson at 22.90. Solomon also anchored the U.S. 4 x 400 relay team that won with a time of 44.00. Mackenzie Hill of Long Beach Wilson was third in the 400 hurdles in 58.61 behind Amanda Dias of Brazil, who won in 58.09.

Bolt, who is 16 and won the World Youth (under 17) championship last week in Sherbrooke, Canada, took the men’s 200 in 20.13 to equal the World Junior record set by Roy Martin of Dallas Roosevelt High in 1985.

Bolt’s mark ranks him sixth in the world this year.