Chapus Qualifies for 1,500 Final in France

Even on foreign soil, Cami Chapus can run with the best girls her age and she is demonstrating that now on the international stage at the seventh IAAF World Youth Track & Field Championships in Lille, France.

The Palisadian ran a personal-best 4:22.69 in the 1,500 meters to finish in sixth place in her heat on Wednesday and earn one of the 12 spots in this Saturday's final. Competing on another continent is just another "fun" experience for the former St. Matthew's School multi-sport star and she is sure making the most of her opportunity.

The other U.S. participant, Hannah Meier of Grosse Pointe South High in Michigan, also qualified for Saturday's finals. She finished 69 hundredths of a second ahead of Chapus at the World Youth Trials last week in Myrtle Beach, S.C., but Wednesday's effort (4:25.28) was more than two and a half seconds slower than Chapus' time.   

Chapus finished second in 4:25.61 at the World Youth Trials and was initially left off the United States' 17-under roster, but when her high school season was reviewed and her 1,600 times factored in, she was added to the team. She is, after all, the national prep outdoor leader in the mile (4:42.71) and has clocked the second-fastest 1,600 time (4:40.88).

USA Track & Field officials must be patting themselves on the back for selecting Chapus. Or simply saying "I told you so," because she has rewarded their faith by doing what comes so naturally to her--rising to the level of her competition.

A junior at Harvard-Westlake High in North Hollywood, Chapus has now tried the 1,500 distance on three occasions and has dropped her time significantly with each successive race. 

That bodes well for her fortunes Saturday, when she will try to catch top qualifier Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon of Kenya, who ran 4:16.95 to win Chapus' heat. The final is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. local time at the 18,000-seat Stadium Lille-Métropole in northern France, near the Belgian border.

While she mentally and physically prepares for the biggest race of her life, the teenager must also tend to another all-important task: replacing her cell phone. She accidentally dropped it in an ice bucket while icing down after her race, temporarily rendering her "phonetically challenged."

The first four finishers in each heat Wednesday qualified for the finals along with the next four fastest times. As shown below, Chapus' Heat 2 was faster. Her time would have placed her second in Heat 1.

IAAF WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Lille, France

Girls 1,500 Meters

HEAT 1

1. Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia) -- 4:21.44 Q

2. Sheila Chepngetich Keter (Kenya) -- 4:25:03 Q

3. Hannah Meier (United States) -- 4:25.28 Q

4. Anna Laman (Australia) -- 4:25.53 Q

5. Maya Rehberg (Germany) -- 4:25.70 q

6. Shiho Takeda (Japan) -- 4:25.89 q

7. Lenuta Simiuc (Romania) -- 4:32.47

8. Jaime Phelan (Canada) -- 4:33.28

9. Emine Hatun Tuna (Turkey) -- 4:34.91

10. Margot Gibson (New Zealand) -- 4:34.96

11. Kelly Hennessy (Canada) -- 4:46.49

HEAT 2

1. Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (Kenya) -- 4:16.95 Q

2. Genet Tibieso (Ethiopia) -- 4:17.68 Q

3. Georgia Peel (Great Britain) -- 4:19.14 Q

4. Yui Fukuda (Japan) -- 4:21.76 Q

5. Katelyn Simpson (Australia) -- 4:22.27 q

6. Camille Chapus (United States) -- 4:22.69 q

7. Prescilla Duponcheei (France) -- 4:26.26

8. Yohana Zemuy (Eritrea) -- 4:27.71

9. Frida Berge (Norway) -- 4:31.61

10. Meropi Panagiotou (Cyprus) -- 4:32.82

11. Kriszta Koszas (Hungary) -- 4:46.66