TORONTO -- Kendall Baisden and Shakima Wimbley went 1-2 in the women’s 400 meters and Clayton Murphy and Ryan Martin went 1-3 in the 800m as Team USA picked up eight more medals, three of them gold, Thursday night at the Pan American Games at CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Athletics Stadium. The U.S. remains atop the medals table with 25, already surpassing the 17 medals won in 2011 and the 24 earned in 2007.
 
Baisden (Austin, Texas) was true to her traditional race strategy, running well within herself until the 250-meter mark. She gained momentum coming out of the curve and was even with a group chasing the leader before she turned on her signature finish to win it in the final 20 meters in 51.27. Teammate Wimbley (Coral Gables, Florida) left it all on the track for the silver medal in 51.36. It was the first ever sweep of the top-two spots for Team USA, and it was only the second U.S. gold in Pan American Games history in the event.
 
In the men’s 800m, Clayton Murphy (New Paris, Ohio) won gold in 1:47.19 after tucking into third place a quarter of the way into the race. Murphy firmly establishing himself in second with teammate Ryan Martin (Lake Forest, California) close in tow for third. Coming around the final bend, Murphy attacked the leader, moved out into lane 2 and sprinted to the line with 10 meters to go to claim his gold medal. Martin remained strong and claimed the bronze in 1:47.73.
 
After a relatively pedestrian first half of the race in the women’s 10,000 meters, Desiree Linden (Washington Twp, Michigan) and Liz Costello (Newtonville, Massachusetts) started to take the pace with 3,000 meters to go, stretching the gap to five meters with seven laps remaining. With five laps to go, challengers from Canada and Mexico rejoined the pack to make four contending for the medals. Approaching the final 1,000 meters, the challengers moved into first and second places, but Davila surged back into the fore briefly with two laps to go. At the bell, Davila pushed the pace with Flores of Mexico in tow. Flores had the better speed over the final 300 and came away with the gold, as Davila took silver in 32:43.99 and Costello was fourth in 32:53.52. The top four finishers were all faster than the existing Pan American Games record.
 
In the men’s 400m final, Kyle Clemons (Lawrence, Kansas)  lined up with the two favorites but ran a controlled first 200 metes and moved confidently through the final turn on the way to a lifetime-best 44.84 and the bronze medal.
 
Jenn Suhr (Churchville, New York) won bronze in pole vault, clearing her best bar at 4.60m/15-1 before missing three attempts at 4.65m/15-3. Teammate Demi Payne (Haslet, Texas) finished in fourth with a top mark of 4.50m/14-9 with one attempt at 4.60m/15-1 and two at 4.65m/150-3. 
 
Russ Winger (Colorado Springs, Colorado) earned the bronze in the discus after throwing 62.64m/205-6 on his second attempt, and Jared Schuurmans (Norfolk, Nebraska) threw 62.32m/204-5 in the fourth round for fourth place.
                       
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles final, Kerron Clement (Gainesville, Florida) and Jeshua Anderson (Gilbert, Arizona) were both in medal contention through 300 meters. Clement drew closer as they entered the home stretch and looked to be in medal contention, but Jeffrey Gibson of the Bahamas powered through over the final 30 meters to grab the gold in 48.51, with Clement missing bronze by two-thousandths of a second in 48.72. Anderson was fifth in 48.95.
 
At the conclusion of all 10 events in decathlon, Austin Bahner (Wichita, Kansas) was eighth with 7,451 points and Derek Masterson (Placerville, California) finished ninth with 7,436 points.
 
In the women’s 200 semifinals, Kaylin Whitney (Clermont, Florida) made up a lot of ground down the stretch to catch and pass Kerron Stewart of Jamaica, winning the first heat in 22.68. In the second semifinal, Kyra Jefferson (Gainesville, Florida) finished third, running 22.65 after making up a one-meter deficit entering the straightaway.
 
Wallace Spearmon (Little Rock, Arkansas) was in lane 6 in semifinal 1 of the 200m, and he had to run a lot harder than expected but responded with a season-best 20.03 to place second and qualify for the final behind the Pan Am Games record 19.80 set by Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer in that same heat.
 
BeeJay Lee (Chino, California) was running blind in the outside lane and had a good curve. Moving to the finish, he was edged out at the line from third to fifth, but still advanced to the final as the field’s final time qualifier in 20.23.
 
Click here for quotes from the morning session.
 
Click here for the complete schedule and results.
 
Fans can join the conversation by following USATF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and by using the hashtag #TO2015.
 
Track & field will air as part of ESPN’s Pan American Games coverage across their family of networks, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3/WatchESPN.
 
 

Pan American Games TV Coverage
Time (ET)	Date	Network
10 a.m.-11:30 p.m.	July 24	ESPN3
8-11 p.m.	July 24	ESPN/ESPN2
11 a.m.-11 p.m.	July 25	ESPN3
4:30-11 p.m.	July 25	ESPN/ESPN2

 
Team USA Medals at the Pan American Games (25)
 
Gold (6)
Kendall Baisden, 400 (51.27)
Clayton Murphy, 800 (1:47.19)
Kibwe Johnson, hammer (75.46m/247-7)
Jeff Henderson, long jump (8.54m/28-0.25w)
Shamier Little, 400 hurdles (55.50)
Queen Harrison, 100 hurdles (12.52, meet record)
 
Silver (9)
Desiree Davila, 10,000 (32:43.99)
Shakima Wimbley, 400 (51.36)
Marquis Goodwin, long jump (8.27m/27-1.75w)
Jill Camarena-Williams, shot put (18.65m/61-2.25)
Alysia Montaño, 800 (1:59.76)
Tenaya Jones, 100 hurdles (12.84)
Amber Campbell, hammer (71.22m/233-8)
Aron Rono, 10,000 (28:50.83)
Kara Winger, javelin (61.44m/201-7)
 
Bronze (10)
Russ Winger, discus (62.64m/205-6)
Jenn Suhr, pole vault (4.60m/15-1)
Kyle Clemons, 400 (44.84)
Ryan Martin, 800 (1:47.73)
Conor McCullough, hammer (73.74m/241-9)
Barbara Pierre, 100 (11.01)
Cory Leslie, 3000 steeplechase (8:36.83)
Jake Blankenship & Mark Hollis, pole vault (5.40m/17-8.5)
Kellyn Taylor, 5000 (15:52.78)
Lindsay Flanagan, marathon (2:36:30)