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Field events to feature
close competition at USA Indoor Championships
BOSTON – The 2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships will
feature some
of the world’s biggest track and field stars this weekend at Boston’s
Reggie
Lewis Track & Athletic Center, on the campus of Roxbury Community
College.
The top two athletes in each event will earn the right to represent Team
USA
at the World Indoor Track & Field Championships March 14-16 in Birmingham,
England.
On the field, Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila (ex-Placer
HS, Auburn) will try to reclaim her
world indoor record in the women’s pole vault on the same runway
where she
broke her own American record earlier this year. The top three shot putters
in the world – Adam Nelson, Kevin Toth and John Godina (UCLA)–
find fierce
competition for just two spots on the U.S. World Indoor Championships
Team.
The men’s long jump faces the same dilemma as Savante Stringfellow,
Miguel
Pate and Dwight Phillips were ranked 1-2-3 in the world in 2002.
Events begin Friday afternoon, February 28, with the finals of the women’s
and men’s weight throws and the first rounds of the 400 meters.
A full
schedule of competition begins Saturday, with the conclusion of the meet
Sunday afternoon.
The 2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships are the final stop
on USA
Track & Field’s 2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour. The Tour began
February 1 at
the adidas Boston Indoor Games; moved to New York February 7 for the Verizon
Millrose Games; and headed to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Foods
Invitational February 15. One world record and three American records
have
been set on the Tour in 2003 alone.
The 2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be broadcast
live on
ESPN2 from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Eastern Time, on Saturday March 1.
2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships Event previews
Women’s high jump
Final Sunday 1:15 p.m.
World record: 2.07m/6-9.5, Heike Henkel (GER), 1992
American record: 2.01m/6-7; Tisha Waller, 1998
Meet record: 2.01m/6-7, Tisha Waller, 1998
THE SCOOP: American record holder Tisha Waller took the year off in 2001,
but in 2002 she came back to win the U.S. indoor and outdoor titles. She
is
a five-time U.S. indoor champion, and she will face her top competition
from
2001 indoor and outdoor champion Amy Acuff (ex-UCLA). The two
women tied for first at
the Verizon Millrose Games at 6-4.75, and they should push each other
to
great heights in Boston. Veteran Karol Rovelto (Ex-Redlands HS), the 2000
Olympic Trials
champion, should still be in the game late in the competition.
Massachusetts
native Kristy Laramee is the hometown hero and has twice cleared 6 feet
this
season.
Men’s high jump
Final Sunday 3:15 p.m.
World record: 2.43m/7-11.25, Javier Sotomayor (CUB), 1989
American record: 2.40m/7-10.5, Hollis Conway, 1991
Meet record: 2.38m/7-9.75, Matt Hemingway, 2000
THE SCOOP: Nathan Leeper has won the last four consecutive U.S. titles
–
indoor and outdoors in 2001 and again in 2002. He has a reputation for
saving his best jumps for championship competition, and that makes him
the
man to beat. 1996 Olympic gold medalist and 1997 World Indoor champion
Charles Austin never can be counted out, nor can Charles Clinger. The
2001
NCAA outdoor champion stands 6 feet, 9 inches tall and has a goal of being
the first American to clear 8 feet. Olympian Kenny Evans and former NCAA
champion Tora Harris, just out of Princeton, could be factors as well.
Visa women’s pole vault
Final Sunday 1:45 p.m.
World record: 4.77m/15-7.75, Svetlana Feofanova (RUS), 2003
American record: 4.72m/15-5.75, Stacy Dragila, 2003
Meet record: 4.62m/15-1.75, Stacy Dragila, 2000
THE SCOOP: Dragila has dominated this event in the U.S., winning
every U.S.
indoor title since the women’s vault was contested in 1996 except
one: in
2002, Dragila did not compete at the USA championships. Mary Sauer claimed
the title in her absence and looks to defend her crown. Sauer had the
best
vault among Americans indoors last year, while Mel Mueller also has cleared
15 feet. Kellie Suttle is the 2001 World Indoor silver medalist and she
has
performed well this year, twice placing second to Dragila on the Indoor
Golden Spike Tour. Dragila has been on a roll, though. The Olympic gold
medalist, world outdoor record holder and two-time world outdoor champion
broke her own American record with her clearance of 4.71m/15-5.5 at the
adidas Boston Indoor Games, then raised it to 4.72m/15-5.75 at the Verizon
Millrose Games. She eagerly anticipates a showdown with Russian Svetlana
Feofanova – who took Dragila’s world record from her –
at the World Indoor
Championships.
Men’s pole vault
Final Saturday 4:00 p.m.
World record: 6.15m/20-2, Sergey Bubka (UKR), 1993
American record: 6.02/19-9, Jeff Hartwig, 2002
Meet record: 5.96m/19-6.5, Lawrence Johnson, 2001
THE SCOOP: The United States typically places two athletes in the top
three
on the world and Olympic stages, so you’ll be watching the world’s
best in
this event. Derek Miles (ex-Bella Vista HS) is his training has
been vaulting well in 2003, with
a victory over a packed field at the Verizon Millrose Games and again
in
Europe. Miles has the best mark by an American this year with 5.80/19-0.25.
Tim Mack is the defending champion (5.72m/18-9.25) and is the 2001 Goodwill
Games gold medalist. Tye Harvey (ex-Sonora HS) was the 2002 U.S. runner-up
and also owns
the 2001 World Indoor silver medal.
Women’s long jump
Final Sunday 1 p.m.
World record: 7.37m/34-2.25, Heike Drechlser (GDR), 1988
American record:7.13m/23-4.75, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1994
Meet record: 7.32m/24-0.25, Heike Drechsler (GDR), 1987
THE SCOOP: The women’s long jump is another relatively wide-open
event.
Grace Upshaw (ex-Acalanes HS, Lafayette) won the 2002 title with
a jump of 6.41m/21-0.5; she was the runner-up in 2001 to Dawn Burrell,
who went on to win gold at the 2001 World
Indoor Championships. Brianna Glenn (ex-La Mirada HS) the U.S. outdoor
champion, while
Adrien Sawyer is the only woman to have surpassed 21 feet so far in 2003.
Jenny Adams did not compete in the long jump in 2002 after winning the
2001
U.S. outdoor title, but she has entered the event in Boston. This could
be
anyone’s game.
Men’s long jump
Final Sunday 3:10 p.m.
World record: 8.79m/28-10.25, Carl Lewis (USA), 1984
American record: 8.79m/28-10.25, Carl Lewis, 1984
Meet record: 8.59m/28-2.25, Miguel Pate, 2002
THE SCOOP: For the first time since the heyday of Carl Lewis, the United
States now rules the long jumping world. Savante Stringfellow, Miguel
Pate
and Dwight Phillips finished the year ranked 1-2-3 in the world.
Stringfellow is the U.S. outdoor champion (8.52m/27-11.5 – best
jump in the
world outdoors) and the World Cup gold medalist, achieving the #1 world
ranking. Pate wowed the track and field world last year at the USA Indoor
Championships with his jump of 8.59m/28-2.25. Phillips is a darkhorse
who
was second behind Pate at the 2002 Indoor Champs and is a threat to win
any
competition he enters. But look for a two-man race between Stringfellow,
a
2001 Ole Miss grad, and Pate, a 2002 Alabama alum. At the Tyson Foods
Invitational, Stringfellow jumped 8.29m/27-2.5 to beat Pate
(8.27m/27-1.75) – they are the top two jumps in the world in 2003.
Both men
competed against each other in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA
Championships, both men have won NCAA and U.S. titles, and both men are
almost too close to call … and either could win the World Indoor
title.
Women’s triple jump
Final Saturday 5:40 p.m.
World record: 15.16m/49-9, Ashia Hanson (GBR), 1998
American record: 14.23m/46-8.25, Sheila Hudson, 1995
Meet record: 14.23m/46-8.25, Sheila Hudson, 1995
THE SCOOP: Vanitta Kinard is the returning champion, winning the 2002
U.S.
title with a jump of 13.62m/44-8.25. Kinard will have plenty of competition,
however. Tiombe Hurd is the 2001 World Indoor bronze medalist and a two-time
U.S. indoor champion (2000 and 2001). Yuliana Perez has been the top U.S.
jumper outdoors, winning the 2002 U.S. title. She leads the U.S. indoors
this year with a best mark of 13.77m/45-2.25. Tongula Givens is just two
centimeters back, and she could find herself on the World Indoor team
if she
comes through.
Men’s triple jump
Final Saturday 2:45 p.m.
World record: 17.76m/58-3.25, Michael Conley (USA), 1987
American record: 17.76m/58-3.25, Michael Conley, 1987
Meet record: 17.76m/58-3.25, Michael Conley, 1987
THE SCOOP: World, American and meet record holder Michael Conley, the
1992
Olympic gold medalist, is now USATF’s Executive Director of Elite
Athlete
Programs, but several young jumpers are lining up to fill his shoes. Best
among them are Walter Davis and Kenta Bell. Davis won the 2001 and 2001
NCAA
indoor and outdoor titles and graduated from LSU in 2002. He then won
the
2002 U.S. outdoor title as well. Bell is the 2001 World University Games
gold medalist. The 25-year-old had the best jump by an American outdoors
last year (17.63m/57-10.25), while Davis had the best indoor mark
(17.23m/56-6.5). Bell leads so far in 2003 (17.19/56-4.75), but it will
be a
horserace in Boston for the U.S. title. Either man is a medal threat at
World Indoors. Tim Rusan is the defending U.S. indoor champion.
Women’s shot put
Final Sunday 3:30 p.m.
World record: 22.50m/73-10, Helena Fibingerova (TCH), 1977
American record: 19.83m/65-0.75, Ramona Pagel, 1987
Meet record: 20.23m/66-4.5, Ilona Breisenick (GDR), 1987
THE SCOOP: A group of throwers all are within one foot of one another
on the
current U.S. list, and all could emerge as U.S. champion. Among
them are
UCLA graduate and 2001 U.S. outdoor shot put champion Seilala Sua (ex-UCLA);
New
Hampshire native, 2001 U.S. junior champion and North Carolina sophomore
Laura Gerraughty; and Ashland’s Adrienne Blewitt. A 2000 Olympian
in the
discus, Sua is the favorite but the competition should be close.
Men’s shot put
Final Sunday 1:30 p.m.
World record: 22.66m/74-4.25, Randy Barnes, 1989
American record: 22.66m/74-4.25, Randy Barnes, 1989
Meet record: 21.63m/70-11.75, Ulf Timmerman (GDR), 1987
THE SCOOP: The big men put on a big show for track fans as the world’s
top
three throwers – Adam Nelson, John Godina (ex-UCLA)
and Kevin Toth – compete for just
two spots on the U.S. team for World Indoors. Whichever two make it through
become the instant favorites for the world title. Godina is the 2001 World
Indoor and Outdoor champion, but Nelson was #1 world ranked last year
and
won the U.S. indoor and outdoor titles. At age 35, Toth became the #2-ranked
thrower last year, thanks in part to his win at the Nike Prefontaine
Classic, over Nelson and Godina. All three men have thrown over 72 feet
outdoors, and the meet record could be in jeopardy in Boston.
Women’s weight throw
Final Friday 1:30 p.m.
World record: 23.60m/77-5.25, Dawn Ellerbe (USA), 2000
American record: 23.60m/77-5.25, Dawn Ellerbe, 2000
Meet record: 23.60m/77-5.25, Dawn Ellerbe, 2000
THE SCOOP: Dawn Ellerbe, the world-, American-, and meet-record holder,
dominated this event from 1996 through 2001. In 2002, Anna Norgren Mahon,
a
schoolteacher from Connecticut, emerged to dethrone Ellerbe. Norgren Mahon
also took Ellerbe’s American record in the hammer throw outdoors
in 2002.
With a win over Ellerbe at the Verizon Millrose Games on February 7, Norgren
Mahon is the woman to beat. But Ellerbe is motivated, and she seeks to
regain her U.S. supremacy.
Men’s weight throw
Final Friday 11 a.m.
World record: 25.86m/84-10.25, Lance Deal, 1995
American record: 25.86m/84-10.25, Lance Deal, 1995
Meet record: 25.86m/84-10.25, Lance Deal, 1995
THE SCOOP: The scramble to fill Lance Deal’s sizeable shoes in this
event
has resulted in tremendous competition. Kevin Mannon is the defending
champion, but John McEwen won in 2001. Gerry Ingalls, who placed fourth
at
the 2000 Olympic Trials and was second indoors in 2002, also could contend.
Among current entrants, McEwen has the farthest qualifying throw in 2003
with 22.20m/72-10.
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