volume 9, number 25
Home Depot Training Center (Carson, CA)
http://www.american-trackandfield.com

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Welcome to the 2006 adidas track classic in Carson, California! This is the first of three great weekends of track and field in North America, and many of the top athletes in the U.S. have chosen this meet to open their elite seasons.

The schedule is adidas track classic (Carson, CA) on May 21, Nike Prefontaine Classic ( Eugene, Oregon) on May 28, and Reebok NY Grand Prix (Icahn Stadium, NYC, NY) on June 3. The NCAA Division 1 Championships are the following weekend in Sacramento,CA and USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana June 21-25.

The fourteen event fixture is two and one half hours of track and field. The schedule is Women's 3,000 at 12:45 pm, Men's 400m IH at 1:03 pm, Men's 800 at 1:08 pm, Women's 100m hurdles at 1: 18 pm, Womens pole vault at 1:20 pm, Men's 1,500 meters at 1:25 pm, Men's 400 meters at 1:35 pm, Women's 1,500 meters at 1:45 pm, Women's 200 meters at 1:55 pm, Women's 100 meters at 2:05 pm, Men's 2 mile at 2.:15 pm, Women's 400 meters at 2:30 pm, Men's 100 meters at 2:40 pm, Men's 200 meters at 2:50 pm, followed by the artist Bow wow at 2.55 and Youth Relays at 3.25 pm. ******

Weather was overcast, about sixty degrees, and the crowd was about six thousand in the stands. The sad thing was, that everything that could have gone wrong did this week: Maurice Greene pulled out, citing an injury in his foot, Alyson Felix then pulled out, and finally, eight hours before her press conference, Anna Guevarra of Mexico, who had been promoted heavily to the Latino community cited a bad tooth and did not compete.

An hour before the meet, there was no one in the stands, but within minutes of the start of the meet, nearly 6,000-the stadium would be full with 10,000, arrived. The possible showers probably deterred some fans, and the missing marquis athletes hurt the attendance as well. But the funny thing was, this was a great meet, an epic 1,500 mens battle, great 100 meter races on both sides, and a 200 meters for the men that was a perfect ending to a great meet!

Congrats to adidas, Global Athletics, USATF and the athletes, who did a superb job. The fans that were there saw a great meet and were entertained by a group of athletes who will be on the sports scene for years to come.

Women's 3,000 meters
Ashley Couper, the rabbit, took the field through 1800 meters, when Blake Russell, one of the top marathoners in the U.S. took the lead. Blake Russell, the person many in the know believe will be the second American women under 2:20 in the marathon, took this race over and owned it, running a U.S. leading time of 8:51.57. Kara Goucher, Sara Slattery, Carrie Tollefson and Sara Hall were all battling for third and fourth, when Goucher took over second for good in the final straightaway, running 8.55.05. Sara Slattery held on with her time of 8.58.09 for third and Carrie Tollefson ran 8.58.85 for fourth place. Sara Hall dropped back to thirteenth in 9.05.43. This race was the third fastest run in the world this year, and Blake Russell has shown one thing--she and coach Bob Sevene work well together and Blake is fit....She has already run a 15:10 5,000 meters on the track at Stanford and she should look for a good 10,000 meters....

Men's 400 meter hurdles
The intermediate hurdles is the toughest race on the track..combine the lactic acid buildup of the long sprints, and add hurdles. The runner who is successful at 400 meter hurdles is one tough athlete. Well, we may have seen the emergence of a new intermediate hurdler on the block today, someone to give Bershawn Jackson some challenging competition. Derrick Williams brought his personal best from 50.14 to 48.96 in windy conditions today, controlling the race like a professional. Micheal Tinsley was second in 48.98, and LeRon Bennett was third in 48.99. Danny McFarlane of Jamaica was fourth in 49.85, after having raced a 400 meters on Friday!

Men's 800 meters
Khadevius Robinson has been one of our best 800 meter runners for years. Jonathan Johnson has emerged over the past few years and has moments of greatness. David Krummenacker, the 2003 World Indoor champion, just has not been at the top of his game. And the 800 meters, at least for men in the U.S. has been pretty static.

Khadevius Robinson runs one way, from the front, and Robinson was no different today. He hit the 400 meters in 51.2, and Robinson just used his strength to power away from the crowd. Robinson won in 1.45.23, with Tim Ramirez in second in 1.46.89, and Sherridan Kirk from Trinidad in third in 1.47.00. Robinson's time was the fastest in U.S. this year!

Robinson said that, "I was hoping for a faster pace." He will have many more races this season to run fast. David Krummenacker did not finish the race.

Women's 100 meter hurdles
The women's hurdles is one tough event to make your presence felt, especially if you are an American hurdler. Even with Joanna Hayes injured, there was no room to do anything but compete hard. Michelle Perry won today, running 12.61 with very good early season hurdling, running close to the hurdles and with some room for improvement on the sprinting, Perry can run faster. Looking really tough, Jenny Adams ran 12.66, again, looking like she can drop down into the sub 12.50s.

Women's pole vault
Jenn Stuczynski, the 2005 U.S. Indoor pole vault champion, won here today with a clearance of 4.41 meters on her second attempt at 14 feet five and one half inches. Gao Shuying of China was second in 4.41 m or 14 feet, five and one half inches on her third attempt. Dana Buller of Canada cleared 4.26m or 13 feet, eleven inches.

Give me a great 1,500 meters.....
Put Bernard Lagat and Rashid Ramzi in the same race, and the adidas track classic 1,500 meters for me was a sizzler. Hitting the 400 meters in 55.3, the 800 meters in 1.53.8, the race was on. Ramzi and Lagat were together followed by Mark Fountain of Australia. Then Ramzi began to unload on Lagat and some daylight developed in the backstretch of the final lap. But, Lagat persisted and pushed Ramzi to 3:32.34, which broke the all comers record set way back in 1984 by Sebastian Coe in the 1984 Olympic 1,500 meters final! Bernard Lagat ran 3.32.94, which broke all time best ever run by an American running in North America. The record was 3.33.1, set by Jim Ryun way back in 1966 during his world record run!

Mark Fountain took third, with Nick Willis in fourth, Bernard Kiptum in fifth and Daniel Lincoln in 3.37.50 sixth and Adam Goucher in seventh in 3.38.50.

Afterwards, Ramzi and Lagat both praised each other as top racers and suggested that this year should see some very fast racing in Europe. " With Rashid, Hesko and Daniel Komen, we will have some fast races in Europe this summer."

Ramzi, lives in Bahrain, and actually moved there for work years before he had begun running. Ramzi said, " I wanted to come to the U.S. adidas is a good meet, I wanted to be here to perform in America. It was my first race, I really was not sure of what kind of time I'd have. I knew my training was good, but I did not know where my training would be in a race situation."

Lagat commented, " I was really excited to come back to Carson and run. Knowing Rashid Ramzi would be here, I knew it would be good competition. That's what I love, of course. This is a good start for me."

Men's 400 meters
Andrew Rock, the 2005 silver medalist from the World Championships at 400 meters showed why he is one of the emerging stars in the sport. Running a controlled race, Rock won this race in 44.83, becoming the third American under 45 seconds this year. Afterwards, Rock had this to say, " I was happy with my time, anytime you go under 45 seconds is good, my start was pretty good and my finish is getting better."

"I just wanted to start out hard. I wanted to work on my first 200 meters because that has been my problem. I am not concerned about my finish. So i tried to start hard." added Rock.

Women's 1,500 meters
Sarah Jamieson of Australia ran 4.05.84 to win the women's 1,500 meters today. Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica was second in 4.08.89. Christin Wurth-Thomas was third in 4.08.91 and Liu Qing of China was fourth in 4.08.97. Tiffany Mcwilliams was fifth in 4.10.17 and Jennelle Deatherage was sixth in 4.10.20.

Women's 200 meters
Sanya Richards got some speed work in today, running 22.42 for the 200 meter win. Crystal Cox was second in 22.61 and LaShauntea Moore was third in 22.64 with Nicole Ireland in fourth in 22.70. Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas was fifth in 22.76, in a sub par performance.

Women's 100 meters
Veronica Campbell of Jamaica ran 10.99, the world leading performance to best Lisa Barber of the U.S., the 2006 Indoor World sprint champion, with a time of 11.06. Torri Edwards was third in 11.17 and Muna Lee was fourth in 11.23.

Men's 2 Mile
In a race that was supposed to give Alan Webb a shot at the two mile American record, less than three weeks after his 10,000 meter run at Stanford. Markos Geneti of Ethiopia won this one in 8.19.61 with Alistair Cragg of Ireland in 8.23.75. In third was Ian Dobson, who passed Ryan Hall, who was fourth in 8.26.26 just with the final straightaway to go.

Dobson told ATF that he is heading to Hengelo for a 10,000 meter race next weekend. " I felt a bit slow during the mid race, but am looking forward to a 10,000 meter race."

Alan Webb ran 8.33.92 to take sixth, he just looked tired today and should be racing at 1,500 meters in a few weeks. His race at Prefontaine should be better, as the 10,000 meters from three weeks ago is still in his legs.

"The first three laps were slow, then I wanted to go faster. I feel good, but the time is not good for me. I can go faster. " added winner Markos Geneti, Ethiopia.

Women's 400 meters
Dee Dee Trotter won here in 51.19 with Novlene Williams of Jamaica in second in 51.38 and Monique Henderson in third in in 51.49.

Men's 100 meters
While Tyson Gay, Marc Burns, Leonard Scott and Bernard Williams were duking it out, in lane 9, Marcus Brunson ran a fine 10.01 to take this race from a top crowd. No one saw Brunson until the end of the race. " It was a PR for me. I knew that I could go 10.0, I was thinking of times like that. This is a great warm up for nationals. It gives me the confidence I need going in there." commented Marcus Brunson on his major upset.

Men's 200 meters
Jeremy Wariner wants to double at 200 and 400 next year in Osaka, so he is racing some 200 meter races, for his speed. Wallace Spearmon has 200 meter speed and likes to race hard. What a race!

Spearmon with Wariner on the outside and Spearmon runs 20.06 to lead the world, in a legal wind of 1.2 meters per second, with Jeremy Wariner running 20.19, a personal best, which was previously 20.31!

"I was hoping to run little faster but I didn't know if the wind would allow it. So I am pretty happy with running the way I am." said Wallace Spearmon.

"Coming in today, I knew i was going to have a great field. Wallace runs great, so I just wanted to start fast. i was trying to run my fastest race." commented Wariner, and he got his wish, his personal best at two hundred meters.

Conclusion
The 2006 adidas track classic had everything a track meet needs: good timing, good competition, good entertainment value--it just was not a good crowd. A suggestion: try sports radio in southern California. With the average wait from LA to Long Beach at two hours of traffic on an average commute. Tie in with local sports radio to promote the meet. If you look at the LA Times, there seems to be a relationship between the number of ad pages purchased in a certian topic in the sports section and the amount of editorial coverage, but hey, I could be wrong.

We will follow up tomorrow with some final comments on the meet. With an okay crowd, the athletes performed in a meet that ran like clockwork! See you next week from the Nike Prefontaine!

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