Adam Nelson shot puts 21.66m in Boston (© Victah Sailer)
Boston, USA The prospect of a hefty financial bonus is sure to pep up a men’s Shot Put battle between training partners Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa, which will be one of the highlights of the three-day 2005 USATF Indoor Championships this weekend (25-27 Feb) at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College.
NB. with just the men’s and women’s Weight Throw events taking place tomorrow, the championships are realistically a two-day meet.
Prize money held by world lead
Nelson and Hoffa will be competing not only for the national gold medal this weekend but for the inaugural Visa Championship Series men’s title. The honour, along with a prize bonus of $25,000USD is awarded to both the male and female athlete with the top single performance during this winter’s four-meet series which was composed of the Reebok Boston Games, Millrose Games, Tyson Invitational, and concludes this weekend with the USATF Indoor Championships.
The results are determined by a point total derived from the IAAF scoring tables. Collegiate and high school athletes are not eligible, negating East Carolina freshman’s Lashawn Merritt’s 44.93 time for 400m which was set at the Tyson meet and was the third-fastest mark in history (and would have achived 1261 points).
So officially, Nelson leads by two points over Hoffa, 1220-1218, in the men’s standings with his world-leading 21.66m at the Reebok Boston Games on 30 January.
Third in the standings is Bershawn Jackson, the 2003 national 400m Hurdles champion, with 1209 points thanks to his 45.70 flat 400m clocking from the Tyson Invitational.
Quadruple World outdoor High Hurdles champion Allen Johnson is fourth with 1208 after registering 7.51 in the 60m Hurdles also at the Tyson meet but he is one of a number of top names by-passing this year’s championships.
Carruthers versus Lee for the women’s $25,000 share
The top two women’s marks in the series have also come from the Tyson Invitational.
Danielle Carruthers with a 7.98 clocking in the 60m Hurdles (1191) leads the hunt with flat sprinter Muna Lee in second having 1168 points thanks to 7.19 for a 60m performance. Sarah Schwald is third with 1167 thanks to an 8:54.42 3000m in the Boston Indoor Games.
Davis and Gilreath in top form
However, none of the bonus seekers can sit too securely as both Walter Davis and Erin Gilreath pose legitimate threats to win the men’s and women’s titles respectively, after recent performances in the men’s Triple Jump and women’s Weight Throw in non-Championship series meets last weekend.
Davis bounded to 17.62m in Baton Rouge for the second-best indoor mark of all-time, while Gilreath, the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials champion and American record holder in the Hammer throw, threw 24.23m in the Weight Throw..
“Space to rent” – men’s Shot Put
The men’s Shot Put will be among the most anticipated events of the weekend with Nelson, Hoffa, former three-time World outdoor champion John Godina, and 2004 World Indoor champion Christian Cantwell competing.
Nelson and Hoffa train together in Athens, Georgia, under the tutelage of University of Georgia throws coach Don Babbitt. The $25,000 first price could come in handy for Nelson, the 2004 Athens Olympics silver medallist who has been without a sponsor on the indoor circuit. He has been competing with a singlet with the words “Space for Rent” during the 2005 campaign.
Nelson has led the series from the start after his victory in the Boston but Hoffa, turned the tables on Nelson to win the Millrose Games with a career-best 21.62m.
Carruthers in Command
Danielle Carruthers has been the dominant female athlete on the 2005 U.S. indoor circuit. She has improved steadily, starting with an 8.08 60m Hurdles win in the Boston Indoor Games for 1170 points. Carruthers, a 10-time NCAA All-American at the University of Indiana, lowered her mark to 8.02 at the Millrose Games for 1191 points before her 7.98 performance at Tyson. She will be heavily favoured at this weekend’s championship meet , as the 2000 and 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Melissa Morrison is a late withdrawal
Notable Absentees
Without a national team berth on the line, there being no World indoor Championships this winter, many of the top U.S. athletes are skipping this meet in preparation for their outdoor campaigns. As such, Allen Johnson, Terrence Trammell and Maurice Greene will not be competing. On the women’s side, Olympic gold medallists Stacy Dragila (PV 2000) and Joanna Hayes (100mH 2004) are also absent.
Yet compensating for these missing stars will be the presence of Jamie Neito in the men’s High Jump, a quality women's dash in which Angela Daigle, Allyson Felix, LaTasha Colander will take on Muna Lee, while Jennifer Toomey who was the star of last year’s championships with her middle distance double will run the 1500m, and there is also the undoubted quality of the two-time Olympians Hazel Clark (800m) and Kellie Suttle (Pole Vault).
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
