MITC News Releases
Late changes
Packet picket will be at the track (Devaney Center) instead of the
Cornhusker hotel. Meet director Chris Lester also announced that
athletes will be able to get into the meet free with their race
numbers. After the meet the track will be open for warm-ups til
10:30 at which time they will need to leave the building. In a schedule
change, the 4-Mile relay will start at 8:30am and not 9.
Packet Pickup will be star-studded
event
Meet director Chris Lester announced that six Olympic and World-class
athletes will be present for the Friday night packet pickup. Six
elite athletes will sign autographs and pose for pictures with the
MITC athletes: hurdler Allen Johnson, pole vaulter Lawrence
Johnson, hurdler and long jumper Jenny Adams, distance
runner Sarah Schwald, hurdler and sports agent Renaldo
Nehemiah, and decathlete Dan O'Brien. The elites will
be on hand from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday February 8 at the Cornhusker
Hotel in Lincoln.
Rockford MI reloads for new
era
Graduation losses (e.g., Dathan Ritzenhein) decimated the Rockford
MI boys team, but the girls team is simply reloading. Sophomore
Nikki Bohnsack leads a deep distance squad to Nebraska. story
by steveu
Texans Spike Girls 800 Showdown
Four Texas girls are among stellar entries that include 2 of the
3 fastest in the nation last year and 5 of the 9 who broke 2:10
in 2001. Story by steveu
27 states represented before
early entry deadline
LINCOLN NE 1/09/02 -- With a week still to go before
the early entry deadline (January 16), the Midwest Indoor Track
Classic has already attracted athletes from 27 states, meet director
Chris Lester announced. Big names who have recently committed include
Chris Solinsky WI, third in the Foot Locker nationals; sprint
stars Janice Davis MS and Sanya Richards FL; and versatile
Sheena Gordon PA, nationally ranked in high jump, long jump
and hurdles last year. Lester said that early entries would be announced
at the end of next week.
Golden
Spike tour will be at MITC
LINCOLN NE 12/22/01 -- In its first year, the Midwest
Indoor Track Classic has landed the USATF Golden Spike tour. In
addition to a full slate of high school events, MITC will have nine
elite events including a men's 60 meter hurdles field worthy of
a world championship final. The Golden Spike portion of the meet
will be on national television on ESPN at 4 pm Eastern, Sunday February
10. Meet director Chris Lester said two high school events may be
included in the telecast. More on Golden Spike
events
new Midwest
Indoor Track Classic casts a wide net
LINCOLN NE 12/16/01 -- Athletes from 19 states have
committed to compete in the new meet at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln NE, February 9. Meet director Chris Lester said he has confirmations
from AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MT, NE, NV, NJ,
OK, TX, VA and WY, with the early entry deadline still a month away
(January 16). Lester also announced that MITC will host a USATF
Golden Spike tour event to be nationally televised. Details on that
will be provided later.
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Elites are lining
up for Lincoln
LINCOLN NE 10/31/01 - The inaugural running of the Midwest
Indoor Track Classic is still over 3 months away, but an impressive
number of elite athletes -- both prep and Olympic level --
have already committed to come to Lincoln in February. A half
dozen events for Olympic/world class athletes will be run
along with a full slate of high school events.
Meet director Chris Lester, who said he had inquiries about
MITC from 14 states this week, announced an initial list of
high school and world class stars who will compete at MITC:
High School
- Southern jack
rabbits - Austin TX sr Brendan Christian,
national indoor 200 meter record holder and friends have
formed a super hot relay team. Christian is joined by Kelly
Willie, Ashton and Aaron Collins, and Irie Williams. They
will run the 4x200 and 4x400, as well as some individual
events. Christian returns for his senior year to add to
his laurels which already include 10.40 (AOC Nationals,
Golden West, AAU JO), 20.56 (Texas 4A, AAU JO, NSIC), and
6.70 60m (NSIC). Kelly Willie has PRs of 10.63, 21.08
and 46.04 and championships of Golden West, Texas 4A, USATF
JO, and Nike Indoor Classic. Ashton Collins 46.29
was AAU JO champion last year, and brother Aaron Collins
is a 10.83, 21.86 performer.
- Powerhouse California
girls teams - Wilson Long Beach, which
returns most of the girls who set new national records last
year in the indoor SMR and outdoor 4x400, will run six relays
and a bunch of individual events. J.W. North, Riverside,
California state champions in 2000 and 3rd last year, with
versatile Chaunte Howard (6-0 high jumper, 4 golds
at AOC last June) returning for her senior season; Logan
Union City, a perennial power in California and at major
invitationals.
- Distance girls
- Three of the very best in the country will face each other
at 2 miles. Enumclaw WA sr Alison Tubbs, 10:11.94
3200, champion of Washington 4A and Great American Cross
Country Festival, Deerfield IL sr Erika Odlaug, 10:11.31
3200 and 9:36.66 3000, champion of Golden West and Junior
Nationals; and Smoky Hill CO sr Megan Kaltenbach,
10:11.97 3200, champion of Colorado, Nike Indoor Classic,
Arcadia Invitational.
- National champion
New Jersey relay - Camden NJ boys, 3:09.91
in 2001, champions of the Penn Relays and adidas Outdoor
Championships.
- Texas girls showdown
at 800 meters - Mindy Sullivan,
2:08.38 PR and Texas state record, broke course records
almost every outing in 2001; Kelly Cordell, a 2:08.48
PR when 2nd to Sullivan in the Texas State 5A last year;
Megan Rademacher, 2:11.45 indoors last year at the
National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York; and
Shannon Rademacher, 2:13.5 best. sisters. Californian
Jenna Timinsky, 2:09.12 last year will join the fray.
- Midwest girls
- Rockford MI and
Carmel IN. Rockford has multiple national championships
over the last 3 years at Nike Indoor Classic and adidas
Outdoor Championships and is reloading behind star sophomore
Nikki Bohnsack. Carmel took Rockford's measure in cross
country in September at the Meet of Champions in Hilliard
OH.
Olympic
- Men's hurdles
-- Olympic and world champion Allen Johnson heads
an all-star field that also includes training partner Terrance
Trammell, Mark Crear, and Dominique Arnold.
Former great Renaldo Nehemiah will sign autographs.
Johnson is a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and 2-time world
champion. Trammel was silver medalist at Sydney in 2000
and 2001 world indoor champion. Crear is a 2-time Olympic
medalist. Arnold was NCAA champion in 1996.
- Men's shot put
- Adam Nelson, Janus Roberts SMU, Reese Hoffa, Janus
Roberts, Andrey Borodkin, Dan Armentrout, Jamie Beyer, Brad
Schneider, John Davis, and Marcus Clavelle
- Women's high jump
- Amy Acuff, Nicole Forrester, Erin Aldrich, and
Carrie Long . Acuff has a PR of 6-6.75 and is a 2-time Olympian
and 3-time US champion.
- Women's hurdles
- Jenny Adams, former NCAA long jump champion for
the University of Houston, burned up the European circuit
this year in the hurdles, with wins at Zagreb, Lausanne,
Paris, Nice and Stockholm before finishing 4th in the World
Championships at Edmonton. Joined by Michelle Johnson, Vonette
Dixon, Bisa Grant, Sharon Couch, and Demu Cherry
- Midwest Mile
- Jason Pyrah, who already holds the Devaney Sports
mile record of 4:00.46 and will attempt to run the first
sub-4 minute mile ever in Nebraska. Pyrah was on the US
Olympic team at both Atlanta and Sidney and he was the only
American finalist in the 1500 at Sidney. Collegian Charley
Gruber of Kansas will also run in the Midwest mile.
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