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June 9, 2005

Paper Races Predict Some Close Finishes

The photo finish camera may well be a busy apparatus on June 14 at the Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic.

Over the years the middle distance races have provided some of the most exciting moments in the annual Harry Jerome International Track Classic. This year will be no exception as the word "competitive" is what comes to mind in looking at the fields of some races where many on-paper performance times are close. Whoever is fittest and keenest will win at the wire.

The women's 1,500 metres has drawn a large field of international runners, an intriguing mix of veteran competitors and young athletes looking to make their mark.

Canada's representatives include 2004 Olympian Malindi Elmore, who ran a 4:09.81 in the 1,500 metres in Athens and is defending Canadian 1,500-metre champion. The Calgary-based runner's best is a 4:02.64 earned last year in Rome. Also named to Team Canada for the Jerome meet is Hilary Edmondson of Guelph, Ontario, who recently lowered her personal best to 4:08.94 at the Payton Jordan US Open.

Also competing is Vancouver runner Courtney Inman, who may finally be putting the injury bugaboo behind her after being slowed by plantar problems the past two seasons. Inman was a fourth-place finisher at the 2003 NCAA championships and was a Canadian team bronze medallist at the 2004 world cross-country championships.

Mexican veteran Dulce Maria Rodriguez has posted some very quick times over longer distances this year and will be looking to continue a good season with a strong result at the Jerome meet. Earlier this year Rodriguez won the women's division of the Torreon Marathon in 2:29:00. On May 1 she finished fourth in the 10,000 metres at the Cardinal Invitational, her 31:25.33 being the second fastest ever by a Mexican woman. She brings a 1,500-metre best of 4:11.46, earned in 2003.

American veteran Sarah Schwald comes in with 1,500-metre best of 4:04.33 earned in 2001. Irish runner Sinead Evens made a comeback in 2004 from maternity leave and ran a 4:10.74 season's best.

The women's 100-metre hurdles is also shaping up to be a close race, particularly with the late entry this week of Canadian Olympian Priscilla Lopes. In 2004 Lopes clocked a personal best 12.64 seconds in finishing second at the NCAA championships. A student at the University of Nebraska, this 22-year-old hurdler has already enjoyed a strong 2005 season, winning the Big 12 championship with a 12.85 effort. In April Lopes also prevailed with a 12.97-second win at the Penn Relays.

Lopes joins Olympic finalist and Canadian teammate Angela Whyte, and Chinese competitor Zhang Rong, in the Jerome meet women's 100-metre hurdles. Whyte comes into the Jerome meet with a 12.69 personal best earned in the semi-finals in the 2004 Olympic Games, where she went on to finish sixth in the final. Lopes and Whyte also finished second and third respectively at the 2004 Harry Jerome meet. Zhang is reported to have run 13.35 earlier this year. Also entered in 2005 is Jamaica's Antoinette Wilks, who has run a 12.94 this season.

The men's mile is also a difficult race to handicap and features several runners who could come up with a big effort on the day. Canada's Ryan McKenzie was part of a memorable mile at the 2004 Jerome meet, dipping under the four-minute mark with a career best 3:58.52 to finish fourth behind Kenya's Daniel Komen. McKenzie went on to post a career best 3:39.19 for 1,500 metres in Belgium.

A year ago Canada's Reid Coolsaet just missed slipping under four minutes at the Jerome meet, finishing seventh in 4:00.08. But he went on to run a 1,500-metre personal best 3:41.56 at an international race in Belgium and he also ran a lifetime best 13:31.01 for 5,000 metres. In July of 2004 Coolsaet also won the Canadian 5,000-metre title and he recently stretched out to 10,000 metres and ran 28:39.54 for his first attempt.

American miler Scott McGowan comes in the Jerome meet with a 3:57.25 mile effort at the recent Prefontaine Classic. Earlier this year McGowan became the first Montana native to break the four-minute-mile barrier, going under the mark with a 3:58.91 at the Boston Indoor Games in January. He has a best of 3:37.73 for 1,500 metres.

Also entered is Irish veteran Mark Carroll, who won the Canadian championship 10,000 metre race last year, an event that was held at Swangard Stadium days prior to the 2004 Jerome meet. Carroll, a two-time Olympian, won that race in 28:07.33 and he has concentrated on longer distances of late. But he brings to the Jerome meet a 1,500-metre best of 3:34.91 earned in 2000.

The men's 4x400-metre relay is a 1,600-metre distance event of sorts that will also bear close scrutiny. The Canadian men's 4x400-metre relay team, looking to attain the qualifying standard of 3:04.00 for the upcoming world track and field championships in Helsinki, will feature two runners who have been in fine form of late. Edmonton-based Tyler Christopher is slated to run one lap for the Canadian relay squad and it should be a fast one given the 22-year-old speedster recently set a Canadian record of 44.72 seconds in winning the 400 metres at a Grand Prix meet in Brazil.

Also slated to take the baton is Canadian 800-metre record holder Gary Reed, who won the 800 metres at the June 4 Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Ore. Not only did Reed run 1:44.82 to improve on his previous Canadian record of 1:44.92, but in winning he also defeated a strong international field, including 2004 Olympic gold medallist Yuri Borzakovsky of Russia.

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.

**** REMINDER of news conference to introduce athletes, including Canadian and Chinese competitors who will compete for the Pacific World Cup, presented by Paystone.com - Monday, June 13, 12 noon at the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, BC Place Stadium Plaza, 777 Pacific Boulevard South.

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

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