Media Room
Press ReleasesJune 3, 2007
Jerome Meet A Field Day For Future Stars
The annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic is named in honour of Harry Jerome, one of the best Canadian sprinters to ever step on a track. But the 24th annual Jerome meet, slated for June 8 at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium, will also highlight some outstanding young talent in the field events off the track.
Two British Columbia javelin throwers, Kyle Nielsen and Liz Gleadle, are beginning to make an impact on a national and international scale and they lead the list of rising stars set to shine at the 2007 Jerome meet, and beyond.
Nielsen, 18, is Canada's No.1-ranked junior javelin thrower. This last weekend the Grade 12 student from Centennial Secondary in Coquitlam set a personal best 66.81 metres in winning the javelin at the B.C. high school track and field championships. The effort smashed the former championship record of 61.89 set in 2005. Nielsen also won the 2007 B.C. high school decathlon title and was named the championship's top male athlete. Earlier this year Nielsen also won the high school division at the prestigious Penn Relays with a 63.76 toss.
Nielsen will compete at the Jerome meet against Chinese javelin record holder and three-time Asian champion Li Rongxiang, who is nearly twice Nielsen's age.
Gleadle, 18, set a Canadian junior record of 52.36 metres earlier this spring and recently the University of B.C. freshman won the women's javelin at the NAIA championships at Fresno Pacific University. She was honoured as B.C's top female high school athlete for 2006 after winning the B.C. high school and Canadian junior championship and she finished 12th at the 2006 world junior championships in Beijing.
She is unwilling to rest on her laurels, however. Despite unleashing a Canadian junior record and personal best early in the outdoor season, Gleadle hopes to rewrite that mark in the near future, perhaps at the June 8 Jerome meet if conditions are right.
"Hitting 56 metres at some point this year would be amazing," she said in a recent interview. "It's a very lofty goal but you have to set your sights high."
But Team China-SE has also included some promising young performers on its Pacific World Cup roster for June 8. Included in the women's high jump entries is 18-year-old Gu Biwei of Ziaxing in Zheijiang Province. Gu was a gold medallist at the 2005 World Youth Track and Field Championships with a leap of 1.87 metres. She ended that year ranked No. 4 on the world's junior woman rankings with a personal best 1.90. She was ranked No. 5 in 2006 with a season-best 1.89.
Chinese pole vaulter Zhao Yingying was just 19 when she competed in her first Jerome meet, finishing third behind compatriot and meet record holder Gao Shuying in 2005. Now 21, Zhao remains a top competitor in this year's Jerome meet field with a personal best of 4.40, a mark she has equaled on several occasions, including winning at the 2005 East Asian Games. She was also a silver medallist at the 2004 world junior championships and gold medallist as the 2004 Asian junior athletic championships.
Through the years the annual Jerome Track Classic has showcased not only some of the world's top senior track and field competitors but also stars of the future. In 2000 unheralded teen sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris of Montreal finished second in his division of the men's 100 metres at the Jerome, yet weeks later Macrozonaris qualified at the Canadian championships to represent Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He returns to the Jerome meet this year to run in the 100 metres.
That same year, 18-year-old Gary Reed won the men's 400 metres at the Jerome meet. Reed has gone on to be a Canadian record holder, Canadian champion and Olympian over 800 metres.
And just two years ago 18-year-old Alex Genest of Quebec finished fourth against senior runners in the Jerome 3,000-metre steeplechase in a Canadian junior record 8:37.83 that remains today.
The 24th annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic (www.harryjerome.com) goes Friday June 8, 6:42 pm, at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium Tickets available at Ticketmaster.
For meet media inquiries contact:
Diane Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com or (604) 261-6220
For athlete information contact:
Marek Jedrezejek
marekj@interchange.ubc.ca or (604) 822-6259
or
Doug Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com
