Angela Williams in the 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships (© Getty Images)
World Indoor 60m champion Angela Williams and 2004 Olympic Long Jump gold medallist Dwight Phillips lead the field of 14 World and Olympic medallists for the Ponce Grand Prix, to be held on Saturday (17) at the Paquito Montaner Stadium.
The Ponce Grand Prix is also one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13-14 September in Stuttgart.
Following a successful Ibero American championships and the Carolina Classic in 2006, Ponce wants to keep the athletics fever alive with this annual event and the relay results will also count for the Olympic qualification.
Williams, fresh from her 60m World Indoor title in Valencia, will make her third early season outing over 100m. Last weekend, she ran 11.25 secs in Orlando.
In Ponce, she will meet US Virgin Islands' LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, Jamaica's Relay World Championships medallists Peta Gaye-Dowdie and her countrywomen Wyllesheia Myrick and Ebonie Floyd.
Three-time World Long Jump champion Phillips is set for another duel with compatriot Brian Johnson. Johnson prevailed by one centimetre (8.48w to 8.47w) in Fort de France, on 8 May. Both jumpers hope legal wind conditions will help them set season's bests in the pre-Olympic campaign.
Australia's 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Fabrice Lapierre and 2005 World Youth champion Chris Noffke will add further rivalry, as well as Triple Jump specialist Aarik Wilson of the USA.
Demus to double in 400m and Hurdles
Lashinda Demus is gradually regaining the form that saw her claim the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. The 25-year old American already set a world leading mark of 53.99 secs in Fort de France.
She keeps good memories of her last race in Puerto Rico as she ran a world leading 54.00 in 2006.
Over the barriers, she will take on her countrywomen and former NCAA champions Shauna Smith (2005) and Markita James (2006), as well as 2007 winner Dominique Darden and Meka Thompson.
Seventy-five minutes later, Demus will step on the track again for the 400m flat. She has already ran 51.58 in April and will meet 2005 and 2006 NCAA champions Clora Williams of Jamaica and Tiandra Ponteen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Grenada's 2003 CAC champion Hazel-Ann Regis and Cayman Island's Cydonie Mothersill will add more strength to the Caribbean challenge.
Men's sprints
St. Kitts and Nevis' 2003 World 100m champion Kim Collins and Antigua and Barbuda's 2007 Pan American Games 200m gold medallist Brendan Christian lead the line-up in the men's sprints.
Collins will race in Puerto Rico after a series of fine races in the Caribbean. At 32, his legs are still fresh as he claimed the 60m silver medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia.
In the 200m, Christian will start as the top favourite following his personal best of 20.12, the second fastest time in the world this season, in Fort the France. In Ponce, the 24-year-old will meet USA's 19.88 runner J J Johnson, as well as Canada's 2006 World junior championships silver medallist Brian Barnett and Dominica's Chris Lloyd, who ran a national record of 20.31 earlier this month.
Lloyd will also run the 400m, a distance in which he was third at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro 2007.
The one-lap race should produce fast times with a field led by 2004 World Indoor bronze medallist and African record holder (44.10) Gary Kikaya of Congo and USA's 2004 Olympic bronze and relay gold medallist Derrick Brew.
Bahamas' World relay medallist Andrae Williams, Trinidad and Tobago's
Ato Stephens (Modibo), Costa Rica's Nery Brenes, fourth in Valencia, and Puerto Rican record holder Felix Martinez will also start in the main race.
Top attractions in the Hurdles
Apart from Lashinda Demus' double, the men's 400m Hurdles promises to be a fast and close race, with Jamaica's 2004 Olympic runner-up Danny McFarlane and Panama's Olympic finalist Bayano Kamani leading the field.
Defending champion Javier Culson, who improved his Puerto Rican record with 48.87 secs earlier this month in Kingston, is one of the top bets for a home win in Ponce.
Jamaica's Ian Weakly, Belize's Jonathan Williams and USA' 2007 Pan American Games bronze medallist LaRon Bennett are also top contenders.
In the 110m sprint hurdles, 2007 Osaka World Championships bronze medallist David Payne of the USA will make his season debut against his fellowmen Marlon Odom, Aubrey Herring and Robby Hughes, as well as Canada's Olympic finalist Charles Allen and Jamaica's Richard Phillips.
The women's 100m Hurdles race also expects to be fast with USA's 2006 World Indoor Championships fourth place finisher Danielle Carruthers and 2006 European Cup bronze medallist Aurelia Trywianska of Poland. Haiti's 2005 CAC champion Nadine Faustin and Jamaica's Andrea Bliss cannot be left out in the reckoning either.
Given his great early season form, long jumper Funmi Jimoh (USA) could produce her first seven-meter leap in Ponce. Jamaica's two-time CAC champion and Area record holder (7.16) Elva Goulbourne and Chelsea Hammond could push her to that goal. Canada's 2003 Pan American Games bronze medallist Alice Falayie is also in the line-up.
In total, over 100 athletes from 24 countries will compete in 18 events (10 men and eight women): 100m, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and Long Jump for both. Men will also contest the 1,500m, 110m hurdles, both relays and a national Pole Vault competition, while women will race over 800m, 100m hurdles and the 4x100m relay.
The 3rd Ponce Grand Prix, organized by CACAC President and IAAF Coaches Commission chairman Victor Lopez, will offer cash incentives to the top six in each discipline, as well a bonus for a Puerto Rican national record and fast times in 11 track events and good marks the Long Jump.
The city previously hosted the 1975 CAC Champs and the 1993 CAC Games.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
