Baton Rouge, La. – Michael Cherry (Team USA) and Mondo Duplantis (Team Europe) won individual titles at The Match, a two-day duel between track and field athletes from America and Europe that took place in Minsk, Belarus.
Duplantis, a two-time SEC champ, the indoor NCAA champ, and a finalist for 2019 Bowerman award, won his title on Tuesday in the pole vault with a clearance of 19′ 2.25” (5.85 meters) to score nine points for the European squad. Cherry earned nine points for the Americans in the 400 meter dash with a gold medal on Monday; his winning time was 45.13. Cherry was a eight-time All-American during his days with the LSU track and field program
Team Europe wound up winning the inaugural meeting of ‘The Match’ by a final tally of 724.5-601.5. Kortnei Johnson (4×100 meter relay) and Lynnika Pitts (triple jump) competed for the United States as well. Johnson ran the second leg of USA’s 4×100 meter relay to help them place second and earn seven points; Pitts took sixth place with a season best bound of 44′ 11.75” (13.71 meters) to score three points for the Americans.
The Match pitted four Americans vs. four Europeans in each of the 37 events contested with a scoring table of 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 in order of finish.