World's top track athletes converge on
Portland for adidas Oregon Track Classic
Paul Banta
30 May 2001 – Event by event preview of the Oregon Track Classic in Portland on 3 June.
MEN
200m
The Field - Reigning World Indoor champion Shawn
Crawford faces off against Ghana's Aziz Zakari, winner of last month's IAAF Grand Prix
meet in Doha, Qatar. 1999 USA 400m champ
Jerome Young won an Olympic gold medal on the 4x400m relay, while Jamaica's Chris Williams
ran the 8th fastest time in the world last year and won an Olympic bronze on
his country's 4x400m squad. Don't count out
Kevin Little, the 1997 World Indoor champion and four-time world indoor medallist.
Who's Hot – Crawford won the world indoor
title this March in Lisbon.
110m
Hurdles
The Field -1996 Olympic gold medallist and American record holder
Allen Johnson and 2000 Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell face off in one of the
meet's high profile events. Johnson and Trammell
will face a talented field that includes 2001 world leader Dewane Wallace, 2000 world # 6
Dominique Arnold, 1996 U.S. Olympian Eugene Swift.
Who's Hot - Trammell, the 2000 NCAA 100M &
110M Hurdles champion, is fresh off an impressive win at last weekend's Prefontaine
Classic.
400m
The Field -1999 World Championships silver
medallist Sanderlei Parrela and 1997 World Championships 4x400m gold medallist Tyree
Washington headline a field that includes 1991 World Champion Antonio Pettigrew, Jamaican
44.71 performer Mike McDonald, and Jamaican relay Olympic bronze medallists Michael
Blackwood and Danny McFarlane
Who's Hot - 2001 World Leader Washington has run
under 45 seconds four times already this year, including his list-leading 44.28.
800m
The Field – Defending meet champion
Khadevis Robinson may have his hands full with 1997 World Champs bronze medalist Rich
Kenah, former NCAA champ CONTACT _Con-48FAC9384EB Derrick Peterson, Canadian champion Zack
Whitmarsh, and trio of Kenyas including 1996 Olympic finalist David Kiptoo, 2000 world
junior champ Nicholas Wachira, and 2001’s fastest collegiate runner Anthony Kabara.
Who's Hot – Look for Robinson to improve
upon his 1:45.15 from last weekend’s Pre Classic.
Men's
Mile
The Field – Leonard Mucheru has already run
one of the fastest times in the world this year, a 3:53. Ethiopia’s Daniel Zegeye
finished 6th in the Sydney Olympic final, while Jason Pyrah finished 10th.
Brazilian national champ Hudson De Souza ran the 14th fast time in the world
last year. Olympic 5000m finalist Adam Goucher opens his 2001 campaign here in the mile.
Who's Hot – Mucheru notched a 13:14.94
runner-up performance in the Pre Classic 5000m to lend credence to his plans for a 3:50
mile at the adidas Oregon Track Classic.
3000m
Steeplechase
The Field – Kenya’s 2000 World Junior
champion Raymond Yator ran the 4th fastest time in the world last year, a
sizzling 8:03.74. 1999 World Championships finalist Elarbi Khattabi ran 8:10.15 in 2000, just a second off his 8:09.03
PB from ’99. Perennial US
standard-bearer Mark Croghan sped 8:11.29 in 2000, while former Tennessee star Tony Cosey
edged 2001 US 4k harrier champ Tim Broe for the third spot on the US Olympic squad for
Sydney. Robert Gary was a 1996 Olympian,
while Canadian champion Joel Bourgeois represented his country at both the 1996 and 2000
Olympics.
Who's Hot – Yator, who ran 3:55.12 at last
weekend’s Pre Classic, is expected to lead one of the adidas Oregon Track
Classic’s premier fields well under Croghan’s 1998 8:20.34 meet record. However Croghan has won the race all seven times
he has competed in the meet.
Pole
Vault
The Field – Olympic silver medallist
Lawrence Johnson (aka, LoJo) leads a strong field that includes Olympian Chad Harting, who
edged out two-time Pan American Games gold medalist Pat Manson and Derek Miles in a
three-way tie at the Olympic Trials. Olympic
Trials finalist Tim Mack has cleared 5.80m this year, while Russ Buller won the 2000 NCAA
champs.
Who's Hot – LoJo won the World indoor title
in Lisbon earlier this year.
Discus
The Field – Olympic gold medalist
Virgilijus Alekna was named 2000 Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News over stars such as Maurice
Greene and Michael Johnson. Belarus’
Vassili Kaptyukh finished 4th in the Sydney Olympics, while former Washington star Adam
Setliff finished 6th and Estonia’s Aleksander Tammert finished 9th. Two-time US champion John Godina is one of the
best shot/discus performers ever, with shot gold medals from the 1995 and 1997 World
Championships and an Olympic bronze in Syndey shot put competition. Canadian Jason Tunks is his country’s
national record holder.
Who's Hot – Alekna, whose 73.88m throw last
year was named Performance of the Year, easily handled most of these athletes last week at
the Prefontaine Classic.
WOMEN
200m
The Field –
Bahamas’ national champion Chandra Sturrup holds national records at
100m and 200m and won an Olympic gold medal as part of her country’s winning relay in
Sydney. Nigeria’s Falilat Ogunkoya
garnered an Olympic bronze medal at 400m in Atlanta and is the African record holder at
that distance. Jamaican Merlene Frazer won
the bronze medal at 200m in the 1999 World Champs. Australia’s Nova Peris is an
Olympic gold medallist – in Field Hockey.
Who's Hot – LaTasha Jenkins has run one of
the fastest times in the world in 2001.
100m
Hurdles
The Field – NCAA long jump champ Jenny
Adams earned runner-up honors in the collegiate 100m hurdles last year. Jamaica’s Michelle Freeman won the World
Championships bronze medal in 1997, while fellow Jamaicans Brigitte Foster and Dionne Rose have both been finalists at the
Olympics. Yvonne Kanazawa is the Japanese
champion.
Who's Hot – Jenny Adams has emerged this
year as a top American threat. Morrison and Freeman are international veterans who are
tough to beat.
400m
The Field –
1993 World Champion and Olympic 4x400m relay gold medallist Jearl
Miles-Clark headlines a field that includes two other members of the USA’s gold medal
winning 4x400m relay – Latasha Colander-Richardson and Monique Hennigan. Suzanne Reid is a former NCAA champion for Texas,
while Catherine Scott was part of Jamaica’s silver medal winning 4x400m relay.
Ladonna Antonie is the Canadian 200m and 400m metres champion.
Who's Hot – Miles-Clark has not only won
three World Championships medals, but also holds the American Record at 800m.
800m
The Field – Tina Paulino has already broken
2:00 this season. The field also includes
Canadian champion Diana Cummins, US world indoor team member Jen Toomey, and US 1500
Olympian Shayne Culpepper.
Who's Hot – Paulino finished second to
Olympic gold medallist Maria Mutola at last weekend’s Prefontaine Classic.
3000m
The Field – Meseret Defar ran 15:08.36 last
year for 5000m, while American Cheri Kenah ran 15:10.50 .
Amy Rudolph, the former US 5000m record holder was a 1996 and 2000 Olympian
in the 5000m and ran 8:39.36 during 2000. Jen Rhines also made the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. Ejagayou Dibaba finished second at last
weekend’s Boulder Boulder 10k.
Who's Hot – Lyuda Vasilyeva of Russia
closed well to finish second at the Pre Classic 1500m.
Pole
Vault
The Field – What more can you say about
her? The best women’s pole vaulter in
the world, Stacy Dragila, has set world records and won World and Olympic gold medals. Joining Dragila are Olympic teammates Kellie
Suttle, the 2001 World Indoor silver medalist, and Mel Mueller. Iceland’s Vala
Florsdottir won the Olympic silver medal in Sydney, while Germany’s Nastja Rysich won
the 1999 World Indoor gold medal.
Who's Hot – Dragila has already raised her
world record to 4.70m this year.
Hammer
The Field – America record holder Dawn
Ellerbee, 7th at the Sydney Olympics, will battle Olympic teammate Amy Palmer,
8th in Sydney, Australian national record holder Bronwyn Eagles, and American
Samoa’s Lisa Misipeka, the 1999 World Champs bronze medalist.
Who's Hot – Ellerbee and Eagles have both
already improved upon their national records in 2001.
