By MileSplit's Johanna Gretschel

The action from the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland may be over, but the memories live on. Here is  Jojo's selection of the top 11 most exciting moments for Team USA.

1. Wil London runs down pre-race favorites Botswana on 4x400m relay anchor

The Team USA junior men's 4x400m relay faced a tough challenge from Botswana, who looked insurmountable after clocking 3:03.75 in the prelim as the U.S. ran just 3:07.87.

A botched hand-off slowed their time in the prelim, but in the final, Champion Allison handed off perfectly to Ari Cogdell. Cogdell faced a powerhouse on the second leg in Botswana's Baboloki Thebe, who was firing on all cylinders and split about 43.5 after a disqualification in the open 400m.

Kahmari Montgomery made up a bit of ground by splitting 45.27, and then it was up to 400m world silver medalist London. He'd been in this position before--he said he drew from experience on 4x400m relays in high school and with Baylor this year--and paced himself perfectly to nip Botswana at the line, 3:02.39 to 3:02.81. According to the IAAF, London split 44.82.

Botswana's time registers as an African U20 record.

2. Sammy Watson, Aaliyah Miller first U.S. duo to sweep 800m

Sammy Watson and Aaliyah Miller of Team USA entered the championship as the top two seeds in the 800m and the only athletes to break 2:03. Though a slew of foreign girls clocked times within a second, many speculated Watson and Miller could pull off the first 800m sweep in U.S. history at this meet.

Only twice in history had a single country swept the top two spots: China at Seoul in 1992, and Germany at Sydney in 1996. 

Watson and Miller acknowledged feeling the pressure in interviews throughout the week, but ran calm and collected to advance at the top of their prelim and semifinal races.
In the final, Watson used her signature move to break the field with a kick at 150m to go--having 52-second 400m speed really helps--but Miller was trapped behind several other runners. She boldly swung wide into lane two down the homestretch, and the move paid off as she finished runner-up behind Watson to secure the sweep: 2:04.52 and 2:05.06.

3. Candace Hill is again a World Champion

The youngest American to turn pro in the history of track and field suffered some growing pains in her first season with ASICS. Candace Hill's dreams of competing at the Olympic Games in Rio were dashed when she did not advance to the final in either the 100m or 200m at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene earlier this month. She also fell short of repeating her sub-11 second 100m that captured the national high school record last year.

Hill torched the field in Cali, Colombia, last year to win both the 100m and 200m titles at the IAAF World Youth Championships, but the field in Bydgoszcz included U20 athletes and featured her toughest competition yet: Trinidad & Tobago Olympian Khalifa St. Fort, a fellow prep-turned-pro based in Florida; and Ewa Swoboda, the world U20 record-holder for 60m who clocked a stunning--albeit, wind-aided--mark of 11.10 in the qualifying round. A native Pole, Swoboda also had the support of the entire stadium, which roared every time she stepped on the track.

St. Fort got out fastest, but Hill was by far the best closer in the field, and ran 11.07 (+0.9) to set a new championship record and win gold. Swoboda was second in 11.12, a new Polish national junior record, and St. Fort placed third in 11.18.

4. Christina Aragon is Team USA's first-ever U20 world 1500m medalist 

No American had ever medaled in the 1500m at the IAAF World U20 Championships--until yesterday.

Two Americans entered the final: Alexa Efraimson and Christina Aragon, who both hoped to be the first to break the curse. Only in two other years--2008 and 2014--have two athletes worn the red, white and blue in the 1500m final at this event. 

Bobby Clay of Great Britain took the pace out in 1:07.63 for 400m and 2:14.96 for 800m with Efraimson right on her shoulder and the full pack of 12 hanging right. As they neared 1200m, Adanech Anbesa of Ethiopia--who ran 4:05 this year--took the lead and passed for the bell lap in 3:20.98.

A pack of four separated themselves on the backstretch: Anbesa, Efraimson, Fantu Worku of Ethiopia--another 4:05 performer--and Aragon. As they rounded the curve for home, Anbesa and Worku slightly separated themselves, and Winfred Nzisa Mbithe of Kenya charged to the top group.

When the dust settled, Ethiopia finished in a 1-2 sweep as Anbesa ran 4:08.07 for gold; Worku clocked 4:08.43 for silver; and Aragon (!) earned bronze with a personal-best 4:08.71 effort that improves her own No. 4 all-time ranking for U.S. preps. The mark also elevates her from No. 5 to No. 4 on the U.S. U20 list, ahead of Suzy Favor Hamilton's 4:09.10 from 1987.

Efraimson, a Nike professional who is the American U20 national record holder at 4:03.39, faded to fifth in 4:10.23 as Mbithe ran 4:09.25 and edged her for fourth. Clay was seventh in 4:13.09.

After the race, Aragon said competing in the Olympic Trials, where she reached the semifinal of the 1500m and was the first athlete to miss advancing to the final, taught her to always run with confidence, even if she didn't believe she belonged there.

5. Marcus Krah, Amere Lattin first U.S. duo to sweep 110m hurdles

Marcus Krah has run undefeated this season, and the UNC Chapel Hill-bound star did not let his streak end in Poland. He won his prelim and semifinal rounds handily, and carried that dominance to the final where he set a new PB and world U20-leading time of 13.25.

Not as sure of a bet to medal was his American teammate Amere Lattin, who nonetheless advanced through the rounds--both of which were marred by false starts from other competitors. While the 2016 U20 Championships marks Krah's first international competition, Lattin was looking for redemption from his last Team USA run that saw him suffer an injury and fail to advance through the rounds at the World Youth Olympics in 2014.

But he fired on all cylinders on Thursday by setting a new PB of 13.30 to capture a much-deserved silver behind Krah's gold. They are the second duo from one country to ever sweep this event.

6. Junior Women's 4x400m relay takes down Team Jamaica

The Team USA junior women's 4x400m relay clocked a U20 world-leading time of 3:34.64 in the prelims only to be one-upped by Jamaica in the next section as they ran 3:33.18 to make short work of their heat.

For the final, the U.S. added Lynna Irby, the 400m silver medalist, and Anna Cockrell, the 400m hurdles gold medalist, to the lineup that already included Karrington Winters and Sammy Watson.

Irby handed off evenly with Jamaica, and then Cockrell faced 400m gold medalist Tiffany James, who ran 51.32 to win on Thursday. Cockrell split about 51.0 to close the gap. Winters, the third leg, blew the race open ahead of the Jamaicans to safely hand off to Watson, who closed in about 52.47 for a time of 3:29.11 over Jamaica's 3:31.01.

7. Wil London trusts his own pace to steal silver in 400m

Wil London entered the 400m final seeded fourth behind Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar, who has run 44.27; Karabo Sibanda of Botswana, who has run 45.15; and U.S. teammate Kahmari Montgomery, whose PB is 45.13.

Haroun and Sibanda got out blazing and seemed completely clear of the field once they turned onto the homestretch. But Sibanda began to tie up in the final 50m as London, who trusted his own race strategy, turned on the burners to snatch second place.

Haroun won in 44.81, while London recorded a new PB of 45.27.

8. Anna Cockrell reigns supreme in 400m hurdles

Anna Cockrell won the 400m hurdles over Jamaica's fierce Shannon Kalawan with an incisive, well-executed race. Her time of 55.20 won convincingly over Kalawan's 56.54, registers as a new PB and ties for No. 2 all-time in U.S. prep history. Leslie Maxie ran the same time in 1984--a mark that stood as the national high school record for 32 years until Syndey McLaughlin lowered it to 54.15 this July.

9. Taylor McLaughlin digs deep for last-moment silver

After winning the USATF Junior Nationals title in Clovis, California, four weeks ago, Taylor McLaughlin complained of fatigue from a long collegiate season that saw him earn All-American honors in the 400m hurdles for Michigan. Since then, he advanced to the semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and competed through all the rounds in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

But that fatigue gave way to adrenaline on Saturday night. McLaughlin calmly lined up next to Jamaica's Jaheel Hyde, the defending world junior champion, and followed him as best he could through 200 meters. As the athletes hit the homestretch, Hyde was clearly in the lead and McLaughlin looked like he was running out of steam as Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and Mikael de Jesús of Brazil surpassed him. 

But with 60 meters remaining, McLaughlin found his fire and fought through the line to win silver in a new personal-best time of 49.45.
Hyde won gold in 49.03, while McMaster took bronze in 49.56--a new national junior record for the British Virgin Islands.

10. Noah Lyles proves 100m dominance, turns pro

Was there a more ubiquitous face at the U20 Championships than that of Noah Lyles? The 19-year-old 200m national record holder stole the show in the 100m final by clocking 10.17 (+0.2) over runner-up Filippo Tortu of Italy's 10.24. Lyles later led Team USA with the same dominance in the 4x100m relay. He received the baton from Brandon Taylor just behind Team Japan, but quickly made up the deficit and blasted through the line in 38.93 as Japan ran 39.01.

The biggest non-Poland-specific news to break during the championships was his decision to forego his scholarship to the University of Florida in favor of signing an eight-year professional contract with adidas. He made the announcement late on Friday night via Twitter along with his brother, Josephus; they chose that date because it was Josephus' 18th birthday.

11. Deakin Volz steps up big-time to win Team USA's first-ever U20 pole vault gold

All eyes were on Australian Kurtis Marschall, who recently cleared 5.70m to rank No. 8 on the world U20 all-time list, to win the Australian senior championships and qualify for the Olympic Games.

If there was to be an upset, no one was looking at Virginia Tech rising sophomore Deakin Volz. The Indiana native was off his form for most of his freshman year due to a wrist injury from last summer. His career best of 5.47m/17-11.5 dated back to his senior year of high school.

But he cleared 5.50m for a new PB, then followed with a miss at 5.55m and another at 5.60m as Marschall succeeded at 5.55m. It was down to the two athletes, and Volz cleared his second attempt at 5.55m, as well as his next at 5.60m.

Marschall could not clear 5.60m, and Volz won the competition, but not before taking one more attempt--this time at 5.65m--which he cleared to set a new PB and No. 3 all-time U.S. junior ranking.