Big turnout at Drake

Wed Apr 22, 2009 By Joe Battaglia / Universal Sports - The Drake Relays is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa and the stars are turning out for the festivities. This year’s field of competitors promises to be the strongest ever, with the inclusion of a record 43 Olympians.

Headlining the list of competitors is U.S. Olympian Lolo Jones. The native Iowan, who was named to the Drake Relays Team of the Century, will face a tough competitor in the 100m hurdles in Canadian Perdita Felicien, who is racing for the first time since missing all of 2008 following foot surgery.

Jeremy Wariner, a Beijing silver medalist in the 400m and gold medalist in the 4x400m relay, will look to ward off Reggie Witherspoon and Jamaal Torrence in his first 400m race of the season.

The middle distances won’t lack star power. In the men’s mile, American record holder Alan Webb will be the favorite, especially after his 3:58.90 outdoor debut at the Kansas Relays. The women’s 1,500m favorite will be former Stanford star Sara Hall, who just watched her husband Ryan finish third at the 113th Boston Marathon.

The women’s 400m will feature 2008 World Indoor bronze medalist Shareese Woods as well as international Olympians Shareefa Lloyd of Jamaica, Kineke Alexander of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Kia Davis of Liberia and Trish Bartholomew of Grenada.

The deepest talent pools, however, can be found in the field events.

Christian Cantwell, who won silver in the men’s shot put in Beijing, leads perhaps the strongest men’s shot put field in meet history. Also competing will be two-time Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson, who is making his Drake debut, 2007 World Championship gold medalist Reese Hoffa, 2009 U.S. Indoor champion Dan Taylor, 2008 Jamaican Olympian Dorian Scott and 2008 NCAA shot put and hammer throw champion Cory Martin and former Idaho All-American Russ Winger. Last weekend in Senegal, Cantwell defeated Hoffa, Scott and Winger with a world-leading throw of 21.53m/70-7¾.

Jillian Camarena, the U.S. Indoor champion, is favored to win the women’s shot put. She is coming off an impressive victory at the Mt. SAC Relays, where she threw 17.96m/58-11¼. Three-time U.S. outdoor champion Kristin Heaston, 2008 Olympic Trials champion Michelle Carter, former Arizona State standout Jessica Pressley and former Bates College star Liz Wanless figure to be top contenders.

The women’s high jump field is equally loaded. Three-time U.S. Olympian Amy Acuff, 2008 Olympic Trials champion Chaunte Howard, 2008 Olympian Sharon Day and 20009 U.S. Indoor runner-up Deidre Mullen will be competing. Acuff jumped 1.90m/6-2¾ at the Mt. SAC Relays, edging Romary Rifka and Howard on a countback. Mullen finished fourth and Gordon tied for fifth, both at 1.85m/6-0¾. But all of them will have their hands full trying to keep up with Destinee Hooker from the University of Texas. Hooker has the best mark in the world this year at 1.92m/6-3½.

The men’s high jump will feature 2008 Olympic Trials champion Jesse Williams, 2008 Olympians Andra Manson and Dusty Jonas, 2008 Olympic Trials runner-up Jamie Nieto and 2004 Olympian Tora Harris. Nieto won at Mt. SAC with a clearance of 2.25m/7-4½.

The women’s discus event will feature Stephanie Brown-Trafton, who won gold at the Beijing Olympics, becoming the first American gold medalist in the event since Lillian Copeland won in 1932. Her competition will include three-time Olympian Suzy Powell-Roos, who is coming off a victory at Mt. SAC (59.67m/195-9), and 2008 Olympic Trials champion Aretha Thurmond.

The men’s pole vault field is headed by Derek Miles, who finished fourth at the Beijing Olympics. Jeff Hartwig, the 2008 Olympic Trials runner-up, and Tim Mack, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, figure to be his primary competitors.

U.S. Olympic Trials champion Shani Marks will compete in the triple jump. Marks, winner of the last three U.S. Outdoor titles, set both the Drake Relays and Drake Stadium record of 45-3 as a senior at the University of Minnesota in 2003.

Flanagan ready to move up

If Kara Goucher has proven anything with her third-place finishes in the New York City and Boston Marathons the last six months it’s that it is never too soon for a distance runner in the prime of her track career to transition to the roads.

Apparently Shalane Flanagan is ready to follow suit.

After running in the inaugural Boston Athletics Association Invitational Mile on Sunday, the Beijing 10,000m bronze medalist told the Boston Globe that she and new coach Jerry Schumacher are exploring the possibility of her running a marathon within the next year.

"I told Jerry that we need to find out what I should be doing in 2012, so that would mean trying a marathon and seeing if that's what I may be good at," said Flanagan, whose mother Cheryl Treworgy is a former women's marathon world-record-holder. "I may not be very good at it. We'll see. Genetics tells me I could be. I like the training. It seems fun. But I also like to mix it up. I love running the mile, too. I'm inspired easily. I see a good marathon, I want to run a marathon. I see a good mile. I want to run a mile."

Goucher’s inspiration to run the marathon came in watching Paula Radcliffe’s dominant victory in New York City in 2007. Flanagan, who has already begun integrating marathon-style training into her workouts, watched Monday’s Boston Marathon from one of the TV trucks.