Media Room
Press ReleasesJune 8, 2005
Mason Returns To Jerome Meet High Jump Ranks As World Junior Champion
One year ago teenage high jumper Mike Mason was just another promising young athlete competing at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic.
Weeks later he was on top of the world, winning the men's high jump at the 2004 world junior track and field championships in Italy.
The 18-year-old pride of Nanoose Bay, BC has confirmed he will compete in the men's high jump at the June 14 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic. His commitment to the 22nd annual Jerome meet is testament to the event's importance in providing international competition opportunities for young Canadians athletes, who can then benefit from the experience and improve their performances in the future.
Mason came into the 2004 Jerome meet as B.C. high school champion and record holder, having won the provincial prep championship with a record leap of 2.20 metres. He then finished seventh at the 2004 Jerome meet with a leap of 2.10 metres. American Matt Hemingway won that event at 2.28 metres and weeks later went on to earn a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Mason, meantime, went on to win the Canadian junior high jump championship, meeting the selection criteria for the world junior championships at Grosseto, Italy. He came into the world juniors seeded sixth of 25 competitors, qualified for the final and won the world junior title by clearing his first attempt at 2.21 metres.
The effort also earned Mason B.C. and Canadian junior athlete of the year honours for 2004.
Mason is currently completing his freshman year at the University of Kentucky. He is slated to compete at the NCAA championships, today through Saturday, in Sacramento, Calif.
Also entered in the Jerome meet high jump is former Mission senior secondary standout Jas Gill, now a junior at Unviersity of Montana. In May, Gill leaped 2.20 metres to break the school's 23-year-old high jump outdoor record while also securing the Big Sky Conference high jump title for the third straight year. Gill will also compete at the NCAA championships before travelling home to compete in the Jerome meet.
The 2005 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic will also feature the inaugural Pacific World Cup, presented by Paystone.com., a dual competition between Canadian and Chinese national team athletes competing in designated events. The Pacific World Cup competition serves as recognition and celebration of Chinese and Canadian athletes as Beijing and Vancouver prepare to play host to Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
This year's Harry Jerome meet is also offering $50,000 US in prize money.
Meantime, Kelowna's Dylan Armstrong will be an athlete to watch in the Jerome meet men's shot put. For several years Armstrong has been one of Canada's top throwers and at age 24 he just keeps getting better and better.
He has twice rewritten the BC shot put record in the past year - his first mark coming in late June of 2004 with a 19.55-metre toss. In April 2005 he improved on that mark again with a 19.83-metre winning effort at the Pomona Pitzer Invitational, vaulting him into 10th place on the IAAF rankings for the discipline.
Armstrong comes into this year's Jerome meet as defending men's shot put champion, having won the event in 2004 with an 18.73-metre toss. He is also no slouch in other throwing disciplines, having won national championships in both hammer and discus throws, and a silver medal in the hammer at the 2000 world junior championships in Chile.
The 2005 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic is one of five events in the PacifiCanada Track and Field Series. The 22nd annual Harry Jerome meet goes June 14, 7 p.m. at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.
Media Relations/Accreditation:
Diane Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com or (604) 261-6220
General Information/Athlete information and inquiries:
Marek Jedrzejek (604) 822-6259 or marekj@interchange.ubc.ca
Doug Clement (604) 261-6220 / 837-1933 or dclement00@hotmail.com
