By David Lim

After qualifying for the American team with second place finishes at World Youth Track and Field Trials last Wednesday, Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12 will be traveling to France to compete at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Youth Track and Field Championships as members of the 17-under team.

Chapus initially was not placed on the US roster, although the top two in each event usually qualify for the team. Her past CIF records in the 1600-meter did not meet the IAAF standards for her to compete on the team in 1500-meter race.

However, she was added to the team later Wednesday night in a ruling by USA Track and Field officials after Harvard-Westlake coaches protested her omission based on her overall season record with the leading high school outdoor mile time nationally.

Chapus took second place with the eighth fastest 1500-meters time nationwide this year clocking in at 4:25.61.

Her teammate Weissenbach placed second in the 800-meters at the trials with a time of 2:09.52, slower than the first place finisher by a mere thirteen hundredths of a second. At the CIF state championships in June, Weissenbach set the all-time national high school record of 2:02.04 in the 800-meters.

Forty-one high school athletes from the trials last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina will represent the United States in the IAAF World Youth Championships, featuring over 1000 athletes from 175 countries, in Lille, France. Qualifying heats begin July 6 and the competition runs until July 10.