Hot fields and new
formats bring excitement to adidas Golden Spike Invitational
USATF Release
15 February 2001 - Indianapolis - Another world best attempt by Jearl Miles-Clark, an innovative men’s shot put competition featuring the Olympic silver medalist and IAAF Grand Prix Final champion, and a hot men’s 60-metre dash highlight Saturday’s adidas Golden Spike Invitational at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho.
The meet is the third stop on USA Track & Field’s 2001 Indoor Golden Spike Tour. Held at Idaho State’s Holt Arena, the meet will be broadcast from 4-5 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 18. It will also serve as the final qualifying event for the Pontiac Grand Prix Cup. An athlete must win his or her event in one of the first three Golden Spike Tour meets - the Millrose Games, Tyson Invitational and adidas Golden Spike Tour Invitational - as well as winning the same event at the Pontiac Grand Prix 2001 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in order to be eligible to win a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix automobile. (For more information on the Pontiac Grand Prix Cup, visit the USATF Web site: http://www.usatf.org.)
Last year in Pocatello, Miles-Clark set a world best and American record for 500 yards with her time of 1 minute, 0.61 seconds. The two-time Olympic 4x400 relay gold medalist and outdoor American 800 metre record holder has shown her fitness this season with a 2:01.00 800 at the Tyson Invitational and a 400-metre time of 52.18 at the New Balance Invitational in Boston. The 500 yards will be the grand finale at the meet, and Miles-Clark will be ready.
The Simplot men’s shot put features Olympic silver medalist and the world’s top-ranked thrower, Adam Nelson, as well as 2000 IAAF Grand Prix Final champion, Andy Bloom. The two will be part of a newly formatted competition, with the field being cut down to the top two places after three throws. The top two athletes then each take three more throws, with final round drama provided by the athlete in first place taking his final throw first, followed by the athlete in second. It’s a one-on-one competition with the underdog having the chance to win on his final throw!
The Pontiac Grand Prix men’s 60 metres matches the fastest man in the world so far this season, Terrence Trammell, against the defending U.S. indoor champion, Jon Drummond, and the winners of the first two Golden Spike Tour meets - Bernard Williams and Tim Harden. Williams and Harden are already eligible to win the Pontiac Grand Prix Cup in the 60, and Trammell is eligible by virtue of winning the 60 hurdles at the Millrose Games and the Tyson Invitational. Drummond, the Olympic 4x100m gold medalist, is among the best in the world in the 60 and will test his fitness in Pocatello.
After having broken her own world record at this meet in 2000, another historic jump for the Olympic gold medalist and world champion Stacy Dragila is a possibility in the Visa women’s pole vault.
The Simplot Games is one of the premiere indoor high school track and field meets in the country. Held from February 15-17, the meet brings together 2000 of the nation’s top prep athletes. The Games have been sponsored since 1979 by the J.R. Simplot Company.
Schedule of Events, Adidas Golden Spike Invitational
Entry list subject to change
12:00 p.m. Visa Women’s Pole Vault
Entrants: Stacy Dragila, Mary Sauer, Jill Wittenwyler, Alicia Warlick, Paula Serrano The Scoop: Dragila broke her own World Record here last year, and last weekend cleared 4.65m. Can she do it again? Look for Olympic Trials fourth-place finisher Mary Sauer to jump well.
12:05 p.m. adidas Women’s 60m Hurdles
Entrants: Melissa Morrison, Sharon Couch, Trecia Roberts, Joyce Bates The Scoop: Morrison was second at Millrose (top American) and won the Tyson Invitational handily. Will she be challenged in Pocatello?
12:10 p.m. GMC Envoy Men’s 60m Hurdles
Entrants: Terrence Trammell, Terry Reese, Chris Phillips, Dawayne Wallace, Deworski Odom, Eugene Swift The Scoop: Trammell has dominated the event during the indoor season, running the two fastest times in the world (7.47 and 7.49) in the first two meets of the Golden Spike Tour. If form holds, a blazing time is in the cards.
12:15 p.m. Men’s 1000m
Entrants: Seneca Lassiter, Laban Rotich, Jason Pyrah, David Krummenacker, Hudson deSouza, Nate Renner, James Karanu The Scoop: A rematch of the field that ran a blistering race at the Tyson Invitational. Rotich, the Kenyan, is again the favorite, but Lassiter is closing in and has shown good 800m speed indoors this season. Defending U.S. indoor mile champ Pyrah, Krummenacker, and Kenyan James Karanu (second in the 800 at Tyson) also have good 800 speed and should factor in the race.
12:23 p.m. adidas Women’s 60m
Entrants: Torri Edwards, Chryste Gaines, Angela Williams, Passion Richardson, LaKeisha Backus The Scoop: Gaines has been the top American in the Golden Spike Tour, taking second at Millrose and winning the Tyson Invitational. Edwards, her teammate on the bronze-winning 4x100 U.S. Olympic relay team, and up-and-coming Angela Williams could press Gaines.
12:30 p.m. Simplot Men’s Shot Put
Entrants: Adam Nelson, Andy Bloom, John Davis
The Scoop: The United States is the dominant country in the world in this event. With Nelson and Bloom in the field, be prepared for big throws. This is the only Golden Spike Tour meet that has a men’s shot competition, so this is their one and only chance to qualify for the Pontiac Grand Prix Cup.
12:35 p.m. Women’s 1000m
Entrants: Stephanie Best, Miesha Marzell, Hazel Clark, Charmaine Howell, Liz Diaz The Scoop: As an Olympic finalist at 800 metres, Clark is the favorite, but the extra 200 metres in this race adds a wildcard.
12:43 p.m. Men’s 400m
Entrants: Jerome Young, Derek Mills, James Davis, James Carter, Leonard Byrd, Michael Blackwood The Scoop: Davis and Carter have each won a GST event and are eligible for the Pontiac Grand Prix Cup. It’s the last opportunity for Olympic 4x400 relay gold medalist Jerome Young to join the race for the car.
12:48 p.m. Men’s 800m
Entrants: Trinity Gray, David Kiptoo, Khadevis Robinson, Marvin Watts, Elliott Gaskins, Bryce Knight, Jeff Strutzel, Daniel Caulfield, Charlie Gruber The Scoop: Kiptoo of Kenya won the Tyson Invitational and Caulfield, a native Irishman, was runner-up at the Millrose Games, but the field has two of the top young American runners in Gray and Robinson.
12:55 p.m. Pontiac Grand Prix Men’s 60m
Entrants: Bernard Williams, Terrence Trammell, Jon Drummond, Tim Harden, Jermaine Holloway, Kaaron Conwright The Scoop: Williams won at Millrose and Harden took the Tyson title, but this race could be a near dead heat between those two, Trammell and Drummond. An Olympic 4x100-metre relay gold medalist and the defending U.S. indoor champion, Drummond will make his first appearance on the Golden Spike Tour. Trammell has the fastest time in the world this year at 6.52 seconds and will face perhaps his stiffest challenge of the season.
1:00 p.m. Women’s 500y
Entrants: Jearl Miles-Clark, Suziann Reid, Monique Hennagan, Catherine Scott. The Scoop: Miles-Clark will be pushed on her record attempt by Suziann Reid, winner of the 400 at both the Millrose Games and Tyson Invitational - where she ran a U.S.-leading time of 50.06. Miles-Clark’s Olympic 4x400 teammate, Hennagan, will also mix it up.
