Posted: June 15, 2007

Athletics: News and Notes, Volume 8, Number 54

Let the Golden League begin Michelle Perry, Walter Davis, Sanya Richards and Breaux Greer will headline the start lists this weekend at the first event of the IAAF Golden League, the IAAF ExxonMobil Bislett Games is Oslo, Norway. The IAAF Golden League 2007 offers a $1 Million Jackpot, which represents international athletics' biggest annual payday. Athletes must win at all six meetings to acquire at least a share. Americans to watch for include: *2006 IAAF Athlete of the Year, Sanya Richards is looking to repeat her performance from last year and sweep the Golden League Series in the women's 400m to win at least a share of the jackpot. Richards claimed victory in all six Golden League events last year to win $249,000. She later went on to set the American Record 48.70 in winning the World Cup title. *2005 World Outdoor and 2006 World Indoor triple jump champion Walter Davis and reigning U.S. indoor champion Aarik Wilson enter the event in Oslo. Both athletes have personal bests over 56-feet in the triple jump. *Already a seven-time U.S. champion and the American record holder, Breaux Greer leads the field in the men's javelin competition. His personal best of 90.71m/297 feet-07 inches is the current world leader. *2005 World Champion in the 100m hurdles, Michelle Perry is a favorite in the event. Perry already has a pair of victories in the young season (adidas Track Classic and Nike Prefontaine Classic) and will look to make it three this weekend. *Marcus Brunson returns to Oslo for the 100m where he finished third a year ago. Brunson was ranked #4 in the world over 100m last year. He will challenge 2006 IAAF Athlete of the Year and World Record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica. *The men's 110m hurdles competition will see four Americans at race time as David Oliver, Joel Brown, Anwar Moore and David Payne are in the field. Moore was edged at the line at the Nike Prefontaine Classic by China's Liu Xiang while Oliver was world-ranked #7 last year by T&FN. *Two-time U.S. discus champion Ian Waltz and 2005 U.S. runner-up Jarred Rome provide a strong U.S. representation in the men's discus. Both athletes were ranked among the top-ten in the world in 2006 by Track & Field News. *Crystal Cox, Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400 meters and 2004 U.S. Indoor champion in the 200m, is entered in the women's 100m dash, along with 3-time NCAA 4x100m champion Stephanie Durst. In 2006, Cox was ranked in the top ten in the U.S. in both the 200m and 400m, while Durst, a Louisiana State alum, was ranked #7 in the world at 100m by T&FN. For more information and complete results from the Exxon Bislett Games, visit www.iaaf.org. Nike Outdoor Nationals will feature nation's top prep athletes Several of the nation's top high school track and field stars will compete this weekend at the 2007 Nike Outdoor Nationals (NON). The meet, which is one of the country's premiere high school events, runs today through Saturday at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. Some of the top athletes to watch include: *Tiffany Townsend has the top times of the season in the girls 100 and 200 meters. 2006 World Junior silver medalist and 4x100m gold medalist Gabrielle Mayo, last year's 100m champion and third-place finisher in the 200m, will be among the challengers in both events. *2006 World Junior 4x400m gold medalist Jessica Beard headlines the girls 400m. Beard won the 400m at the 2006 NON and the 2006 Finish Line USA Junior Championships. She then went on to win the 2007 Nike Indoor Nationals (NIN). *Chanelle Price, who will compete for Team USA at the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships in July, returns to defend her title in the girls 800 meters. Price won the 2007 Pennsylvania State title and has a season-best of 2 minutes 3.30 seconds. *After finishing third at the 2006 NON, Patience Coleman will attempt to claim the championship in the girls high jump. She is the reigning U.S. Junior champion and also won the title at the 2007 NIN. *2006 NON and USA Junior champion Emily Pendleton will try to defend her title in the girls discus. Her season-best throw of 55.85 meters/183 feet 3 inches is about five feet short of Suzy Powell's National record (57.40m/188-4). *2006 NON and USA Junior champion Walter Henning will look to defend his title in the boys hammer throw. His season-best national record of 78.00m/255-11 is more than 20 feet farther than the American Junior record he set at last year's USA Junior Championships. He was third at the NON in 2004 and second in 2005. *In the boys 110m hurdles, 2006 NON champion Johnny Dutch will look to repeat. This season he has a best of 13.79, as well as a wind-aided 13.39. *Three athletes in the boys high jump have gone over seven feet this year, including Randal Carter, who leads the nation with a best of 2.23m/7-4. Grant Lindsay and Eddie McClain have bests of 2.21m/7-3 and 2.13m/7-0, respectively. *2006 NON champion Ben Stephen will try to defend his title in the boys shot put. He will challenge 2007 NIN and national leader Jimmie Pacifico, who has thrown 22.05m/71-4.75 this season. Website: nikeoutdoor.nationalscholastic.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest