September 2001 Issue

Another Trip to Paradise

by Garry Hill

Eugene, Oregon, June 21-24-What's better than a weekend of track & field in Eugene? Two weekends, of course.

And when the Prefontaine and NCAA extravaganzas are followed shortly thereafter by the USATF Championships it becomes a rare Triple Crown of track-viewing pleasure.

There's no place in America-and few anywhere-like historic Hayward Field, located on the western edge of the campus of the University of Oregon, for watching big time track.

It's a jewel of a setting and the fans understand the sport (jumps and throws included) better than those anywhere else in the country. Attention is paid to detail: major players in the field events engender rhythmic clapping the minute their turn is called, with no prompting needed from the announcer.

When Bob Kennedy was performing his search-and-destroy mission on Adam Goucher and the rest of the 5K field, he was the object of intense kudos-but at the same time, high school phenom Dathan Ritzenhein, a face never before seen in Duckland, was getting huge props a half-lap back.

Ritzenhein was just one of three super preps (see p. 54) who adorned the meet, Lashinda Demus and-particularly-Alan Webb also brightening the proceedings. It was a truly exciting nationals (and World Championships Trials), one fraught with surprise after surprise and thrill after thrill…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Montgomery's New Approach

by Kirk Reynolds

Tim Montgomery stormed past the field in the last few meters to nab his first national 100 title. And he did so just a year after beginning to work with Marion Jones's coach and retooling his approach to sprinting.

"I moved down to train with Trevor Graham last year, the Olympic year," Montgomery explains. "I had learned a new system. And with learning a new system you're going to have little complications. Last year didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but it was going. I could see the improvement coming this year."

The nationals was just his third race of the season, but Montgomery knew he was ready to run fast. Even with a victory, though, he knows people will bring up Maurice Greene's absence.

"My first race in Modesto I ran 9.96. At Pre, I ran 9.92. Patrick Jarrett jumped the gun and Maurice ran 9.92 and I beat him. So I kind of knew that nationals would go well," he says. "I just needed him in the race because I can never win by decision with the World Record holder, Olympic winner and world champion. I've got to go for the knockout."…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Downin Breaks Through

by Sean Hartnett

At 3:50 PDT on June 23, the U.S. track world stood still as ESPN's "SportsCenter" cut to Hayward Field for a live telecast of Alan Webb's attempt to make the World Championships 1500 team.

In a nutshell, this was what Craig Masback has been working for since he moved to Indy. Despite the irony of live track on a show famous for taped highlights, "SportsCenter" means acceptance and exposure in mainstream media.

The race appeared to be a perfect win-win situation. A win by Webb would have been an historic event commanding future live coverage. A win by NCAA champ and Oregon native Bryan Berryhill would have been a remarkable homecoming double. A win by Gabe Jennings would have silenced naysayers and unleashed a cavalcade of trackside poetry from the Zen-miler.

And a win by Andy Downin would… prove that competition remains the heart and soul of the sport.

"I ruined the day for everybody," the Georgetown alum offers. "I'm sure that there are a lot of people upset with me. Though there are also probably a lot of people who like to see the favorites go down."…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Powell & The Three Amigos

by Jon Hendershott

On the raised platform in the interview tent, Savanté Stringfellow occupied the center seat reserved for the winner. To his right sat Miguel Pate, to his left Dwight Phillips.

Standing next to Phillips was the jumper who even the medalists wanted to hear from: Mike Powell. "I'm definitely thankful for the opportunity to be out here competing again," said the WR holder. "I make no excuses; I got beat today. I'm proud of the guys."

Stringfellow praised Powell: "He is the jumper I've always looked up to and to compete against him was a dream come true. I take my hat off to him and I thank him for coming back. He's still the greatest long jumper, ever."

Phillips added, "It definitely was an honor to compete against the World Record holder. He brought out the best in all of us and I know we're all glad he's back. Hopefully the long jump will get more attention in the U.S. with him back."

Asked if he wants to see Powell continue competing next year, the voluble Stringfellow joked, "I'll try to make sure he doesn't!"

Powell laughed and replied, "Still want to send me back to coaching, huh?"…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Greer The Man In Black

by Sieg Lindstrom

BREAUX GREER wore black for the javelin final. Not in mourning, not because he was the bad guy. But the color of his warmups and backwards visor was symbolic nonetheless. For the first time since he reached the national stage at the '96 Olympic Trials, Greer was going to win the title by throwing beyond the gray area.

Said Tom Pukstys, the American Record holder, "I took 2nd to a really great thrower. The new millennium is the time of Breaux Greer. He has the eye of the tiger."
Five years is a long time in athletic terms, particularly if you are just 24, like Greer. But it had been five years since the then-Northeastern Louisiana soph added 20 feet to his PR to place 3rd at the Olympic Trials, a painful inch short of the A standard 262-5 that would have sent him to the Games.

The '97 nationals went about the same: 3rd place (after a 2nd in the NCAA), no trip to Athens. The '98 and '99 seasons added injury-a torn ligament in his throwing elbow that required surgery-to Greer's frustration.

Last year, Greer now out of school and training under Georgia assistant Don Babbitt, won the Trials. He had the B standard, and a best to that point of 268-5, but no A.

But Greer's spear was still stuck ever so slightly in that gray area.…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

The Wild-Card Problem: Mo Runs A Single Round

IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant showed up and played till their defending champion Laker team had won the title. Doing so was in their contracts.

Track is always a little different. The U.S. had nine winners at the last World Championships (see sidebar). At the USATF nationals, defending 100/200 champ Maurice Greene ran just a heat of the 100 and called it a meet, citing a breach of "contract"-the IAAF's rule, in effect since July '97, granting Worlds gold medalists an automatic entry to the next Worlds to defend their titles.

The wild-card rule, a great idea for an international governing body anxious to see all the big names at its showcase meet, was suddenly biting like a wild cat.…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Gaines Reproving Herself

by Kirk Reynolds

Postrace comments from national 100 champ Chryste Gaines give you insight into what motivates her these days: "I missed the 1999 outdoor season and everyone forgot about me. I had to reprove myself."
Flying muscularly and powerfully down the Hayward Field track, the '92 Stanford grad confirmed her return to the top level after that troubling season two years ago.

"I got injured indoors," recalls Gaines, hurt in a freak accident at the undercover nationals when she collided with a TV cameraman standing in her lane as she practiced starts.
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Adams A Two-Event Threat

by Brian Harris

Ever since she grabbed the Olympic -year NCAA long jump title by a quarter-inch, track life has been a lot different for Jenny Adams. She was always a close-to-the-top performer while at Houston, but that LJ was her first big title. Since then, she has gotten used to winning.

"It's been so exciting," says Adams, 22, who claimed the jump title in Eugene, then added a 2nd in the hurdles. "I really feel like so many things are coming together."

She credits her improvements to recent specialization work with Tom Tellez in the hurdles and his son Kyle in the jump.

"Each one is the perfect coach for how each event feels for me," she says. "They're both great coaches, but their approaches are opposite. Coach T [is] more intense, whereas Coach Kyle is more laid back and relaxed. It's just a different kind of focus.

"And that's exactly how each event feels when I'm in it: the hurdles are super- intense and sudden, while the jump has a more laid-back feeling. Just like them. So it works out great."…
(for more see the September issue of Track & Field News)

Three Super Preps In Eugene

Alan Webb

Alan Webb's finishing drive for 5th in the 1500 final-after a smartly run heat win-suggested we can look forward to more from him in years to come. And the Michigan-bound miler kept it all in perspective:

"I mean, I came to USATF to win," he told the T&FN tour banquet. "I wanted to win that race today, but things didn't work out. Luckily, I'm a pretty young guy and hopefully I'll get a chance to do it again and I'm confident I'll come back and compete.

"Downin deserved to win. He was the guy that stepped it up when the time came. So I guess even for myself, I set higher goals than I thought I would even dream about last year.…/Sieg Lindstrom/

Dathan Ritzenhein

"Oooo, so close… !" You could almost hear Eugene's crowd exhale a collective sigh of disappointment after Dathan Ritzenhein came within a tantalizing 0.7 of the high school 5000 record.

But he was hardly let down after his 13:44.70 effort gave him 11th against the big boys and made him the No. 2 prep ever:

"I can't believe it was that close. I've been getting that close like crazy this year. But I'm not upset at all. You can't be dissatisfied with something like that.

"I looked at the clock around 1600, then about 3200, then I didn't look again until the bell lap. I just came wanting to break the record.…/Jon Hendershott/

Lashinda Demus

Contrary to Lashinda Demus's own proclamation that her USATF showing in the 400H qualified merely as "just another heat... just another final" and "just another meet" on her calendar, the precocious hurdler's achievements ranked as anything but routine by high school standards.

Demus had shattered Leslie Maxie's national record (40.18) in the 300H in May, yanking the mark down to a scintillating 39.98. She also keyed Long Beach Wilson's national record 3:35.72 effort with a 50.5 split. But Demus admittedly surprised even herself by slicing 1.28 seconds off her lifetime best in the 1-lap barriers with a 55.76 clocking in the USATF semis, second only to Maxie's 55.20 on the all-time high school list.

Demus actually was in the lead through six of the barriers in the final, but clubbed the seventh-robbing her of precious rhythm entering the homestraight-to eventually finish 5th in 56.51.…/Rich Gonzalez/

Europe Explodes…
El G Kicks Off With 3:44.95
Marion Roars to A 10.84
Montgomery Improves to 9.84
Dragila Soars Again
(Get all the details in the September issue of Track & Field News)