TRACK & FIELD: Pan Am Games Day 4 Preview by Todd Bell - U.S. Olympic Committee ()
DAY 4 – AUG. 8 U.S. TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW FOR PAN AM GAMES 6 a.m.: Men’s 50K Race Walk Final at Parque Mirador del Sur U.S. Entries: Sean Albert, Chula Vista, Calif.; Philip Dunn, San Diego, Calif.; Philip Dunn, the top ranked American in this event last year, will be looking to improve on the bronze medal he won in his first Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1999. It marked the first medal by a U.S. athlete in the event since 1979. The last American gold medal came in 1971 by Larry Young (4:38.31.0). Today’s race will be Dunn’s second at this distance in 2003. The 2000 Olympian posted a fourth-place time of 4:15:01 at the IAAF Challenge in Tijuana, Mexico, March 9. He established his personal best time of 3:56.13 at a World Cup meet in Torino, Italy in 2002. Sean Albert was ranked fourth in the U.S. in 2002 and will be making his 2003 debut in this event today. Albert established his personal best of 4:09:58 to finish fourth at the 2002 U.S. 50k National Championships in Chula Vista, Calif. 5:25 p.m.: Men’s Discus Final U.S. Entries: Josh Ralston, Dickinson, N.D.; Doug Reynolds, Lawrence, Kan. The United States has dominated this throwing event earning the gold medal 10 out of possible 13 times. Doug Reynolds was third (205-9) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. He was ranked No. 7 last year. He owns a season best of 211-10 at the College Station Relays March 22. Ralston threw a personal best of 205-7 to finish fourth at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. Competing for Texas A&M, Ralston placed second (198-3) at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. 5:30 p.m.: Heptathlon (Second-day events: long jump, javelin, 800 U.S. Entries: Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Missy Vanek, Lafayette, Calif.) Tiffany Lott-Hogan placed third in the heptathlon at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships tallying 5,843 points. She won the 1999 World University Games with 5,959 points and captured the 1997 NCAA crown as a senior at Indiana. Missy Vanek was fifth at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships with a personal best 5,754 points. The United States has had an athlete earn a medal in every heptathlon contested in the Pan American Games including gold medal efforts by Cindy Greiner (1987), DeeDee Nathan (1991), Jamie McNeair (1995). 5:35 p.m. Men’s 4x100 Relay Semifinal U.S. Entries: Mickey Grimes (Ontario, Calif.), Jason Smoots (Durham, N.C.), Kaaron Conwright (Woodland Hills, Calif.), Olan Coleman (Waco, Texas) Mickey Grimes, who won the 100 Wednesday, will run the opening leg for the U.S. team which begins the march toward its 10th Pan American Games gold medal. The U.S. has not won the 4x100 since the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Ind. 6:10 p.m. Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinal U.S. Entries: Yolanda McCray, Miami, Fla.; Michelle Perry, Palmdale, Calif. Yolanda McCray finished seventh (13.17) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships and will be racing in her first Pan Am Games. She was second at the 1997 and 1999 World University Games. Michelle Perry was eighth (13.26) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships after recording a personal-best time of 12.90 in the semifinal round at the USA Championships. . The U.S. last medaled in this event in Havana in 1991 (bronze). The last gold medal for the Americans came in Indianapolis in 1987 when Lavonna Martin set a Pan Am Games record with a time of 12.81. This event was not contested in 1999. 6:25 p.m. – Women’s High Jump Final U.S. Entries: Ifoma Jones, Houston, Texas; Stacy Grant, Brooklyn, N.Y. Ifoma Jones tied for fourth (6-2 ¼) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships, while Stacy Grant was fifth tying her personal best of 6-2 ¼. Grant was ranked No. 7 in the U.S. in 2002. Grant was third at the 2001 USA Outdoor Championships and sixth at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. The last time a United States athlete won the high jump occurred in 1987 when Colleen Sommer set a Pan American Games record of 6-3 ¼. 6:30 p.m. – Men’s 110 Hurdles Semifinal U.S. Entries: Larry Wade, Canoga Park, Calif.; Joshau Walker, Stone Mountain, Ga. Larry Wade, 28, was ranked No. 3 in the world last year. He finished third (13.43) in the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships and will be looking for a medal in his first Pan Am Games appearance for the United States. Wade was third at the 2001 Goodwill Games. Wade ran a season-best 13.23 at the Modesto Relays May 10. As a senior at Texas A&M, Wade was the 1998 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor champion. Josh Walker was seventh (13.84) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships and sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (13.67) while competing for Florida. He will be making his international debut for the United States tonight. Walker ran a personal best time of 13.42 at the NCAA East Regional in Fairfax, Va., May 31. The U.S. earned a bronze in this event in Winnipeg in 1999. The last American to win gold was Roger Kingdom in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1995. 6:50 p.m. – Women’s 200 Final U.S. Entries: Allyson Felix, Santa Clarita, Calif.; Crystal Cox, Chapel Hill, N.C. Seventeen-year-old phenom Allyson Felix owns the fastest 200 time in the world this season of 22.11 en route to winning the Grand Prix Banamex in Mexico City on May 3. She also set a world junior record bettering the previous mark of 22.19 set by Russian Natalya Bochina in 1980. Felix’s time was faster than every winning time at the Olympic Games through 1976, and it bests the 1996 gold-medal-winning time of France’s Marie Jose Perec by .01 seconds. Felix also was second in the 2003 USA Indoor Championships setting a national high school record with a time of 23.14. Felix was third at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. Cox was sixth (23.11) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. She ran a personal best of 22.98 June 7 in Atlanta, Ga. She was ranked 10th in the U.S. in 2002. 7:05 p.m. - Men’s 200 Final U.S. Entries: Kenny Brokenburr, Raleigh N.C.; Erick Wilson, Opa-Locka, Fla. Kenny Brokenburr, 34, ran the first leg of the U.S. 4x100 relay in the first heat of the 2000 Olympics. He ran a season-best time of 20.25 to finish fourth at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. He owns a personal best of 20.04 in 2000. Erick Wilson, 21, was seventh (20.95) at the U.S. Outdoor Championship and is running in his first major international competition for the United States. He won the 200 (20.19) at the National Junior College Championships in Levelland, Texas, May 10. 7:20 p.m. – Women’s 400 Final U.S. Entries: Me’Lisa Barber, Columbia, S.C.; Moushaumi Robinson, Columbus, Ohio This event was held for the first time at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia and that was the only time the United States never earned a medal. Sharon Dabney is the only American to win a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Me’Lisa Barber was ranked eighth in the U.S. in 2002 after finishing second in the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships. She owns a personal best of 50.87 en route to a second-place finish in the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a junior at South Carolina. Moushaumi Robinson, who just graduated from the University of Texas, ran a personal best of 51.93 to finish fourth at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships. Barber placed fifth (52.04). 7:40 p.m. – Men’s 400 Final U.S. Entries: Mitch Potter, Minneapolis, Minn.; Adam Steele, Eden Prairie, Minn. The United States has collected the gold medal nine times in this event but the last American to win the gold was Raymond Pierre in 1987. Adam Steele and Mitch Potter, who just concluded their junior campaigns at the University of Minnesota, finished one-three, respectively, in the 400 at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Steele was clocked in a then world-leading time of 44.57, while Potter was clocked in 44.58. Potter turned around to finish fifth (45.29) in the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships, while Steele was sixth in a personal best of 45.51. 8 p.m.: Women’s Triple Jump Final U.S. Entries: Yuliana Perez, Tucson, Ariz.; Tiombe Hurd, Upper Marlboro, Md. Yuliana Perez is one of four national champions competing in this year’s Pan Am Games. She defended her title at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships with a personal best mark of 46-8 1/4 which also tops the American list this year. She finished the 2002 season as the No. 1 ranked American in the event. She was fourth at the 2001 World University Games and also competed in the 2001 World Championships. Tiombe Hurd finished second (45-9 3/4w) at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships and is looking to improve on a fifth-place finish at the 1999 Pan American Games. Hurd recorded her season best of 45-6 ¼ June 7. Hurd was third and sixth at the 1998 and 2001 Goodwill Games, respectively. She also was third at the 2001 World Indoor Championships. This will be the third time the triple jump has been contested at the Pan Am Games (1995, 1999). The U.S. has never medaled in this event. 8:20 p.m. – Women’s 10,000 Final U.S. Entries: Jenny Crain, Eugene, Ore.; Kim Fitchen-Young, Palo Alto, Calif. Jenny Crain was fifth (32:49.00) in the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships, while Kim Fitchen-Young was sixth (33:15.70). Fitchen-Young was ranked No. 3 in the U.S. in 2002. She won the 1999 USA Fall Cross Country National Championships and was fourth in the 10,000 at the 2001 and 2002 USA Outdoor Championships. Crain owns a personal best of 32:30.01 en route to winning the 1998 Mt. SAC Relays. She finished 14th at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The United States has not won a medal in this event since Mary Cooksey and Nancy Tinari finished first and third at the inaugural running of the 10,000 in the 1987 Pan American Games.
