Reese Hoffa won the men's shot put while Damu Cherry and Kenneth Ferguson each won hurdles races Wednesday at the 2006 GE Money Grand Prix in Helsinki, Finland.

Reigning World Indoor champion Reese Hoffa defeated a strong field in winning the men's shot put with a best throw of 21.59 meters/70 feet, 10 inches. Three-time Big Ten Conference outdoor champion Dan Taylor was the runner-up with his second best toss of the season of 21.36m/70- 1, and Christian Cantwell, who owns six of the top eight throws in the world this year, was third with a toss of 21.13m/69-4.

Damu Cherry, who posted the second fastest women's 100m hurdles time in the world this season of 12.44 seconds on July 11 in Lausanne, Switzerland, won her race Wednesday in 12.66 seconds, with Nigeria's Josephine Onyia the runner-up in 12.78. Reigning USA Outdoor champion Virginia Powell was fifth in 12.94 seconds.

Elsewhere, 2006 USA Outdoor Championships seventh-place finisher Kenneth Ferguson won the men's 400m hurdles in 48.84 seconds, with 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor finishing third in 49.44.

A quartet of women's distance runners posted the four fastest 10,000m times by Americans this season led by Kara Goucher, who placed third in 31 minutes, 17.12 seconds. Other U.S. finishers included Jen Rhines (4th-31:17.12), Katie McGregor (5th-31:32.17 and Sara Slattery (8th- 31:57.94).

In other events, Darvis Patton was the runner-up in the men's 100 meters in 10.32 seconds, and David Oliver (13.33 seconds) and Aubrey Herring (13.40) finished second and third respectively in the 110m hurdles. Moushaumi Robinson finished third in the women's 400 meters in 51.71 seconds and Alice Schmidt was the runner-up in the women's 800 meters in 1:59.47.

For more information on the 2006 GE Money Grand Prix in Helsinki, including the complete results, visit www.iaaf.org.