Press Release
Preview - Boys

by Pete Cava

LANDOVER, Md., March 10, 2003 - Here's an event-by-event preview of the
boys competition at this weekend's Nike Indoor Championships. The NIC,
presented by the National Scholastic Sports Foundation, takes place Saturday
and Sunday at the Prince George's County Sports Complex in Landover.

60m: Willie Hordge (Houston, TX), Ivory Williams (Beaumont, TX),
J-Mee Samuels (Winston-Salem, NC), Joe Robinson (Dumfries, VA), Arel Gordon
(Rochester, NY), Demi Omole (Whitefish Bay, WI) and Mark Jelks (Gary, IN) are
among the nation's finest high school sprinters. Hordge and Williams were
members of the gold medal-winning American 4x100m relay team that broke the
global junior record at last summer's World Junior Championships in Kingston,
Jamaica. Samuels is only a sophomore, but his 6.76 is the season's No. 2
U.S. prep time. Robinson is the U.S. prep leader at 55m at 6.26, while
Gordon's 5.77 tops the 50m list. Omole was a 10.45 100m performer last
summer. At last month's AAU Youth Nationals in Merrillville, Ind., he bested
Jelks, one of TCU's top recruits, in the 60m.

200m: Top contenders are Ivory Williams, J-Mee Samuels, Nate Yorks
(Denver, CO), Creighton Kiper (Denver), Jason Craig (Huber Heights, OH),
Wallace Spearmon (Fayetteville, AR). Williams was 3rd a year ago as a
sophomore. Samuels ran 20.99 outdoors last year as a freshman. Spearmon's
dad, Wallace Sr., was the 200m gold medalist at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Robert Woodard (Germantown, MD) was 4th in this event last year.

400m: Drew Eckman (Oxford, PA), Randy Lee (Washington, DC) and Adian
Sanderson (Trenton, NJ) are the top entries. Eckman is a Villanova signee
whose father, Greg, ran for the legendary Jumbo Elliott on the Wildcats'
distance medley relay squad in the 1970s. Drew is a 47.65 performer this
season. The talented Lee, a freshman from Archbishop Carroll in Washington,
is a native of Guyana who'll be competing in his first major meet in the U.S.

800m: The deepest prep indoor field in history, according to NSSF
director A.J. Holzherr, with eight runners under 1:54.8 this season. The
best bets are Gabriel McLaren (Freeport, NY), Russell Brown (Hanover, NH),
Kenneth Sinkovitz (Oradell, NJ), Tad Schoedel, (Buena Vista, CO), Alex
Clayton (Colorado Springs), Mark Korich (Springfield, PA), Clay Ragan
(Winston-Salem, NC) and Josh Ferry (Bloomington, IN). McLaren is the
current U.S. prep leader at 1:52.12. Brown, the 800m runnerup at the '02
National Scholastic meet in New York, comes to Landover this year. His
1:19.41 for the 600m last month is No.2 all-time on the U.S. indoor prep
list. Brown (Stanford) and Sinkovitz (Princeton) will be two of the top
incoming freshman this fall.

Mile: Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.), Matt DeBole (Winston-Salem,
NC), Michael McGrath (Portland, OR), Joaquin Chapa (Portland, OR), Alex Tatu
(Chester, VA), Steve Shepard (North Ogden, UT), Alex McClary (Shelton, WA)
and Jeremy Zagorski (Parsippany Hills, NJ) are leading entries. Curtis comes
in looking for a third consecutive NIC mile crown. He'll enter Villanova
this fall. Virginia recruit Tatu was last year's runnerup and DeBole, a
Georgetown signee, placed 4th. Intra-city rivals Chapa (Grant HS) and
McGrath (Lincoln HS) will travel 3,000 miles to square off in this one-mile
race. They'll continue their rivalry next year in the Pac-10, with Chapa
attending Stanford while McGrath's headed for Oregon. Ironically, Joaquin's
father, Rudy Chapa, was one of Oregon's top distance runners in the late
1970s. Shepard had a 1600m time of 4:08.68 last season. As a sophomore
last year, McClary, ran an outdoor 800 in 1:50.72. Zagorski won last
month's Eastern States mile title in New York City.

2-mile: Keep an eye on Chris Solinsky (Stevens Point, WI), Joshua
McDougal (Peru, NY), Brian Dalpiaz (Sayville, NY), Andrew Keino (Fork Union,
VA), Bobby Mack (Winston-Salem, NC) and Galen Rupp (Portland, OR), six of
this season's fastest prep indoor distance runners. Solinsky, a Wisconsin
recruit, was last year's 2nd-place finisher and led American prep lists at
four distances (1500, 1600, 3000, 3200). Dalpiaz was 3rd a year ago. Keino
is the son of legendary Kenyan Olympian Kip Keino, a four-time Olympic
medalist (gold in '68 1500 and '72 steeplechase; silver in '68 5000 and '72
1500). Mack, a North Carolina State signee, has 4:11 mile speed and at the
longer distance projects in the 9:20 range. Rupp, a junior, ran 8:58.11 last
outdoor season.

60m hurdles: An excellent field, with a dozen runners at 7:45 or
below this season. Leading entries are Kerron Clement (LaPorte, TX), Jeff
Porter (Somerset, NJ), Basil Campbell (Trenton, NJ), Verrol Jackson
(Schenectady, NY) and Jason Richardson (Cedar Hill, TX). Florida signee
Clement is a native of Trinidad who won the 110m hurdles title last June at
the adidas Outdoor Championships in Raleigh, N.C. Porter was 3rd at last
year's National Scholastic Championships in New York. Jackson and Richardson
are juniors.

Mile walk: Zach Pollinger (Mahwah, NJ) is the class of the field. A
runnerup in this event last year as a sophomore, Pollinger checks in with a
seed time of 6:27.00 this year - well ahead of the rest of entries. At the
Feb. 7 Millrose Games in New York's Madison Square Garden, he was a boy among
men, competing against national-caliber athletes - and he finished first.
Also back this year is Mark Dennett (Winthrop, ME), who placed 4th in the
2002 NIC.

4x200m relay: Central HS (Trenton, NJ) has the top seed time,
1:28.90, and will contend along with Glenville HS (Cleveland, OH), Prospect
Heights HS (Brooklyn, NY) and Taft HS (Woodland Hills, CA). Also back is
Oxon Hill, Md., HS, the 2002 winner.

4x400m relay: Five teams check in with times of 3:20 or better,
including Vineland (NJ) HS, Winslow Township (Atco, NJ), and Archbishop
Carroll (Washington, DC).

4x800m relay: The field includes seven teams at 8:00 or better.
North Forsyth HS (Winston-Salem, NC), fueled by Matt DeBole, comes in with a
time of 7:49.50. There's also West Springfield (VA) HS and Deering HS
(Portland, ME). The Maine squad pulled off a surprising win at this year's
New England Championships.

4xMile relay: Rockford (MI) HS, Herndon (VA) and Tappan (NY) all have
qualifying times in the 18-minute range.

4x55m shuttle hurdle relay: Defending champion Wayne (OH) and Central
HS (Trenton, NJ) are the top entries.

1600 sprint medley relay: Vineland HS looks strong here, too, with a
time of 3:27.60. The New Jersey quartet leads a deep field that includes
Rockford, Mt. Tabor and Freeport (NY) HS.

Distance medley relay: The best seed time, 10:25.00, belongs to
Thomas Jefferson Science HS (Alexandria, VA).

High jump: Michael Morrison (Willingboro, NJ), Scott Sellers (Katy,
TX) and Adam Linkenauger (Daleville, VA) have all cleared 7-feet this winter.
Morrison was last year's runnerup. Linkenauger's earmarked for Clemson.

Pole vault: The leading candidates are Tommy Skipper (Sandy, OR),
Chip Heuser (Louisville, KY) and Chase Shealy (Cayce, SC). Last year,
Skipper had the nation's top five prep outdoor marks with a best of 17-7.5.
Florida signee Heuser, last year's NIC champ, comes in with a season best of
17-0. Shealy's top mark this year is 16-10.75.

Long jump: Michael Morrison, Kiwan Lawson (Columbus, OH), Felipe
Reyes (Albany, NY), Andre Tillman (Spencer, NC) and Reynold Smith
(Woodbridge, VA) are the top entries. All are in the 23-foot range.
Morrison will attempt a tough double.

Triple jump: Eleven entries have nailed 48-feet or better this
season. The field includes Ryan McCoy (Roanoke, VA), Terry Wood (Spencer,
NC) and Andre Tillman. McCoy been over 49-feet twice this season with a best
of 49-7. Tillman, last year's adidas Outdoor Championship winner, is trying
a more conventional jumps double.

Shot put: Steve Huntzinger (Fairfax, VA), Tyree Suber (Glen Mills,
PA), Adam Kellermeyer (Pickering, OH), Tyler Curtis (Custer, SD), John
Caulfield (Pasadena, CA) are the headliners. Huntzinger is the nation's top
prep with a heave of 63-7 this year. Suber, a junior, has a season best of
63-4.5. Kellermeyer, Custis and Caulfield have all surpassed the 60-foot
mark. Huntzinger signed with William & Mary, Custis is headed for Texas A&M
and Caulfield will attend UCLA.

Weight throw: The leading entries are Nick Owens (Shelton, WA), Cory
Martin (Bloomington, IN), both 70-foot performers this year. Martin's best
is 74-9 while Martin comes in at 71-10.25.

Pentathlon: Last year as juniors, Kalen Schiedt (Marietta, GA) and
Adam Fretwell (Houston, TX) were among the country's top decathletes. Other
possible contenders are Keith Burke (South Orange, NJ) and Kyle Thurmond
(Jacksonville, FL).

Nike Indoor Championships