U.S. Paralympics News Breanna Clark Breaks...

Breanna Clark Breaks Own World Record On Final Night In Tempe

By Brianna Tammaro | June 17, 2018, 4:51 a.m. (ET)

Breanna Clark broke a world record in the women's T20 400-meter on the final day of the Arizona Grand Prix. 

TEMPE, Ariz. – Breanna Clark (Los Angeles, California) continued to show her dominance in the women’s T20 400-meter, smashing her own world record by more than three-tenths of a second to close out the Arizona Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Paralympic and world champion has experienced unprecedented success since joining the sport in 2016. Clark distanced herself from the field early, crossing the finish line in 55.99 seconds to break her own world mark of 56.33 set at the 2017 world championships. 

In the men’s T64 200, Jarryd Wallace (Athens, Georgia) cruised to another victory after winning last night’s 100, clocking 22.11. The reigning world champion was in strong form, getting out of the gates quickly to pull away for the title. 

Paralympic and world champion Deja Young (Mesquite, Texas) put the finishing touches on her victorious run in Tempe, winning the women’s T46 100 in a time of 12.42. 

Running away with wins in the 400 were Chelsea McClammer (Richland, Washington) in the women’s T53 (56.57); Ray Martin (Jersey City, New Jersey) in the men’s T52 (57.51); Kym Crosby (Yuba City, California) in the women’s T13 (1:01.90); Brian Siemann (Millstone, New Jersey) in the men’s T53 (50.55); Tanner Wright (Fort Worth, Texas) in the men’s T46; Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) in the men’s T54 (46.70); and Amanda McGrory (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania) in the women’s T54 (54.61). 

Martin (3:47.57), McGrory (4:11.78) and Romanchuk (2:53.64) all added their second wins of the night in the 1,500 to cap off an undefeated streak at this weekend’s event. 

In the field events, world record holders Jeremy Campbell (Perryton, Texas) and David Blair (Eagle Mountain, Utah) won their respective classes in the men’s discus. Campbell, who is now classified as an F64, threw 62.51 meters while Blair posted a mark of 62.92 in the F44 class. 

Three-time world champions Lex Gillette (Raleigh, North Carolina) and guide Wesley Williams (Visalia, California) continued their dominance in the men’s T11 long jump, leaping 6.20 meters to secure the win and go out on top on the final night of competition. 

Hagan Landry (Winnsborro, Louisiana) stole the show in the men’s F41 shot put, winning his first event with the U.S. national team with a personal best throw of 13.30 meters on his fifth attempt to capture a meet and American record. In the men’s F53 class, U.S. Army veteran Scot Severn (Caro, Michigan) threw 8.52 to win his first event of the meet. 

QUOTES
Breanna Clark
On how the race felt…
“It was tiring but I went through it just like I practiced…I crossed the finish without slowing up, breaking a world record basis.”

On what it takes to break a world record…

“Breaking the world record takes hard work…[I hope to break more records] by next year and 2020 [Paralympic Games].  

Lex Gillette
On his long jump performance…
“I’m always shooting for the stars so I’ll take this one. I was able to hit one of my [national] standards and I’m going to Berlin in a couple of weeks so I’ll plan to get on the moon there.”

Hagan Landry
On his mentality heading into today’s event...
“The past two weeks, I’ve been struggling. My numbers have been super low and I was honestly pretty nervous coming into this, but you’ve got to trust the process. I stuck to it and trusted it, keep myself strong mentally and physically, and it paid off.” 

On bringing the energy to the throwing ring...
“I started out kind of low, actually, but that’s normal for me. I come out a little low until I get adjusted to the ring and find my rhythm. My dad actually came up to me and hyped me up a bit to help bring out the bigger throws, but I do usually start out in the lower numbers and build. I just told myself that I wanted to bring the energy and...after the first big throw I had, I brought the hype. I was screaming, hollering and yelling, and I loved it. It helped carry into my following throws and the energy was there. That’s how I like competing.”

RESULTS
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