MOSCOW, Russia — With international veterans Jessica Beard, Natasha Hastings and Hampton's Francena McCorory in the lineup, Team USA's chances in the women's 4x400 relay final at the track and field world championships on Saturday looked golden.
It was a rookie team member, Ashley Spencer, though, who got the Americans in trouble.
A relay-zone glitch — Spencer, running third leg, cut to the inside lane instead of maintaining her clear path ahead, as she neared McCorory, the Bethel High and Hampton University alumna running anchor. Only problem was that Russia's Kseniya Ryzhova got to the exchange area before Spencer and was able to get the baton off cleanly to Antonina Krivoshapka while McCorory lost critical ground in the process.
McCorory, an Olympic gold medalist in the event and a member of past world championship teams, gave chase but couldn't make up the lost ground. With the big home crowd screaming encouragement to Krivoshapka, McCorory simply couldn't ...
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