Contact: Tom Surber Media Information Manager USA Track & Field (317) 261-0500 x317 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.usatf.org
USATF News & Notes Volume 3, Number 66 July 10, 2002 Strutzel, MacDonald break records at Montreal CanAm meet Jesse Strutzel and Kelly MacDonald set new meet records Tuesday night at the Les Internationaux de Demi-Fond de Montreal I meet, the fourth stop on the 2002 CanAm High Performance Distance Circuit. The fourth-place finisher in the men’s 800 meters at the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships in June, Strutzel joined two other competitors in bettering the previous 1,500m meet record of 3 minutes, 43.35 seconds by Hector Torres in 2000. Strutzel’s time of 3:42.45 won the race, with Pan American Games 5,000m bronze medalist David Galvan of Mexico second in 3:42.97. Former University of Minnesota standout Chad Johnson was third in 3:43.03, with Canadian record holder Kevin Sullivan sixth (3:45.37) in his seasonal debut. A three-time Pac-10 Conference champion while at Arizona State University, Kelly MacDonald shattered the meet and CanAm Circuit records with her 10:07.0 in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. MacDonald bettered the previous CanAm series record of 10:29.40 by Tonya Dodge after running the fastest steeple ever on Canadian soil with her 10:04.33 earlier this year at the Harry Jerome Classic. MacDonald led virtually the entire way Tuesday in defeating Canadian champion and runner-up Margaret Butler (10:09.29). After setting a meet record in the women’s 800m Saturday at the New Balance Maine Distance Festival (2:00.26), Chantee Earl won the 800m in Montreal in 2:04.50. In the women’s metric mile, 2001 USA Fall Cross Country champion Priscilla Hein won the race in 4:19.09. Competition will resume Friday at the final stop on the CanAm Circuit, the Les Internationaux de Demi-Fond de Montreal II. For more information on the 2002 CanAm Circuit visit: http://miscott.home.att.net/canam. Ndereba enters Chicago Marathon Two-time defending champion and women’s world record holder Catherine Ndereba of Kenya has entered the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. At last year’s Chicago Marathon, Ndereba set the world record of 2 hours 18 minutes 47 seconds, shattering by nearly a minute Naoko Takahashi’s world record set just the week before in Berlin. Ndereba joins a field that includes Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, who ran the fastest women’s debut marathon ever in winning the London Marathon last April in 2:18:56. The U.S. will have a strong presence at this year’s event, highlighted by men’s world record holder Khalid Khannouchi, who has made this race his own. Khannouchi’s remarkable success at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon began with his 1997 debut victory in 2:07:10. After a runner-up finish in 1998, Khannouchi set a then world record of 2:05:42 at the 1999 event. After becoming a U.S. citizen in May of 2000, Khannouchi set the U.S. record of 2:07:01 with his third Chicago victory in the fall. Against one of the strongest fields ever assembled, Khannouchi won the 2002 London Marathon, lowering his own world and American record to 2:05:38. Other U.S. stars competing at Chicago include Deena Drossin, who won the 2001 U.S. Marathon title in the fastest U.S. women’s marathon debut ever of 2:26:58. Drossin’s seventh-place finish overall at the 2002 New York Marathon made her the fourth-fastest American woman of all-time. 2002 U.S. 10,000m champion Jen Rhines is also in the field, along with 1999 U.S. 10,000m champion and 2002 U.S. 5,000m champ Alan Culpepper. The 25th Anniversary of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon takes place on Sunday, October 13. The race is expected to fill the registration cap of 37,500 participants. For more information visit: www.chicagomarathon.com. IAAF celebrates 90th Anniversary The International Association of Athletics Federations will celebrate its 90th Anniversary July 16-21 at the 2002 Coca Cola/IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. Included as one of the celebrations of this Jubilee year, former Jamaican Olympic champion Deon Hemmings will conduct the IAAF Training Clinic in the National Stadium in Kingston on the eve of the Opening Ceremony of the Championships. The Ceremony also will include a special anniversary party for IAAF President Lamine Diack and the World Athletics Family. At the same time, a celebration will take place at the DN Galan meet in Stockholm, the city where the IAAF was originally founded in 1912. Celebrations will continue throughout the summer and reach their climax at the World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 17. For more information visit www.iaaf.org. # # #