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Jones, Cantwell set records at Drake Relays
LoLo Jones and Christian Cantwell were the featured performers on the final day of the 2008 Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. A capacity crowd of 14,457 - the 43rd consecutive year the Saturday program was sold out - was treated to a preview of what to expect from rising stars for both the upcoming NCAA Championships at Drake June 11-14 as well as the Olympics in Beijing, China, in August.
World Indoor champion LoLo Jones captured her fourth straight Drake Relays title in the women's 100m hurdles, winning in 12.74 seconds just off her 2008 world leading time of 12.72, but good enough to break her previous Drake Relays record of 12.93 set in 2005. Jones also bettered the Drake Stadium mark of 12.92 set by former Illinois star Perdita Felicien in 2001.
"It's exciting to be back. It's a great opportunity for people to see me run who never get a chance to," said Jones, who celebrated her victory by tossing her sunglasses into the crowd. "The emotion is just running like crazy here. My performance was definitely a good stepping stone."
Two-time World Indoor champion Christian Cantwell won his sixth career men's invitational shot put title with a best effort of 20.88 meters/68 feet 6 inches to top a field which included 2007 World Outdoor champion Reese Hoffa.
Cantwell eclipsed the previous Drake Relays mark of five career invitational shot put crowns by Al Feuerbach (1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978).
"This was a piece of something I wanted to get for a long time," said Cantwell. "I had first thought about this record two years ago and it's a great honor to be a part of. "I felt like I had a big throw in me today, but it just didn't happen," said Cantwell, who was named the outstanding men's performer of the 2002 and 2006 Drake Relays. "Nonetheless, it was great to have a consistent day of throws."
2007 Pan Am Games silver medalist Anwar Moore won his second straight title in the men's special 110 hurdles and third in last four years in 13.14. Four-time World Outdoor champion and1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson placed fifth in his Drake Relays debut in 13.40.
2006 Big Ten champion Emily Brown from Team USA Minnesota set a Drake Stadium record in the women's 3,000m steeplechase of 9:45.38, breaking the mark of 9:52.04 set by Korene Hinds of Jamaica in 2005.
Jeff Hartwig, the American indoor and outdoor recorder holder, added another record to his resume by setting a Master's 40-age division mark in the men's pole vault at 5.51 meters/18 feet 1 inch.
For more information on the 2008 Drake Relays, including the complete results, visit: www.godrakebulldogs.com.
Longhorns, Tigers dominate at Penn Relays
The University of Texas men's relay squads and LSU women's quartets dominated collegiate action at the 2008 Penn Relays in Philadelphia, which concluded on Saturday.
The Longhorns won three Championship of America relay titles led by miler Leonel Manzano. Texas posted wins in the 4x100m, mile and 4x800m relays on Saturday following a triumph in the distance medley relay on Friday. Texas has now won six Penn Relay titles in the last three years, with Manzano anchoring all but one of those efforts.
The LSU women have dominated recently at Penn and this year's competition was more of the same. The Tigers have now won 39 Championship of America crowns since 1985 following victories in the sprint medley and 4x800m relays, which were both anchored by LaTavia Thomas. The Tigers also added wins this year in the shuttle hurdles and 4x100m relays.
The Tigers were upset in the 4x200m relay by TCU and in the 4x400m by Penn State, which kept them from winning an unprecedented six Championships of America relay titles in one year.
For more information on the 2008 Penn Relays, including the complete results, visit: www.thepennrelays.com.
Masters record round-up
Over the weekend at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the M70 SFA team of Gary Sims, Wayne Bennett, Larry Colbert andBob Lida clocked a 4x100m relay masters world record of 51.96 seconds. The quartet combined to smash the listed age-group world record of 53.03 by Germany at the 2005 San Sebastian world meet. (The event is listed as M60, but all the runners for SFA are over 70.)
Also at Penn, four-time Olympian Jearl Miles-Clark teamed with Charmaine Roberts, Renee Henderson and Jane Brooker to lower the W40 world record in the 4x400. Running as East Coast Masters, the quartet anchored by Miles-Clark, ran 3:56.27 to better the listed W40 world record of 3:57.28 by an Aussie team at the 2001 Brisbane World Masters Championships.
An additional record was set at Penn when the Sprint Force America M70 team of Larry Colbert, Mack Stewart, Rich Rizzo and Bob Lida finished in 4:24.83 to better the listed world age-group record of 4:31.07 by a German foursome at the 2006 European masters championships in Poznan, Poland.
Elsewhere, a masters world record was set over the weekend in the M45 age group by Willie Gault, who finished the 200 meters in 21.80 seconds at the Tommie "Tiny" Lister Classic at Cal State L.A. Gault's performance bettered the listed world record of 22.13 seconds by Kevin Morning set in 2002. Gault set the M45 world masters 100m record with his time of 10.72 seconds on June 24, 2006 in Indianapolis.
Rogers featured in Sports Illustrated
Orville Rogers, 90, of Dallas, a retired pilot, who broke world records in the M90 age-group in the 800 meters and the mile at the 2008 USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston, was featured in the April 28 edition of Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd. His 800m time (4:19.97) bettered the old mark by nearly 31 seconds. His 9:56.58 mile beat the previous record by more than 1:27.
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