Contact: Melvin Jackson II Communications Coordinator USA Track & Field (317) 261-0500 x322 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.usatf.org USATF News & Notes Volume 4, Number 26 March 26, 2003 ======================================================================== ======== In this edition: ======================================================================== ======== - Team USA heads to the Alps - Masters gear up for Indoor Championships - Jones leads eight Americans nominated for 2003 Laureus World Sports Award - Former USATF Intern leads Cinderella Butler to Sweet 16 - Titan Games telecast on ESPN2 March 29 & 30 ======================================================================== ========== Team USA heads to the Alps Led by 2002 silver medalist Deena Drossin and Meb Keflezighi, Team USA is heading to Lausanne, Switzerland to compete in the World Cross Country Championships this Friday and Saturday, March 29-30. USATF will file live reports from Lausanne beginning on Friday. For a full Team USA preview, a PDF file of the Team USA media kit, and for USATF reports throughout the weekend, visit www.usatf.org
Masters gear up for Indoor Championships Nearly 1,000 athletes ages 30 and over will invade the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston this Friday through Sunday (March 28-30) for the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships. Distance-running legends Joan Samuelson and Bill Rodgers will compete in the women's and men's 3,000 meters, respectively, on Friday. Samuelson's race is scheduled for 4 p.m., with Rodgers' to follow at 5 p.m. A trackside press conference will follow Rodgers' race at 5:30 and will include Rodgers, Samuelson, Olympian and former Chicago Bear Willie Gault. Other headlining athletes set to compete include NFL star Billy "White Shoes" Johnson of Atlanta; 1984 Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist Sunder Nix of Indianapolis, and 101-year-old phenom Everett Hosack of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. For a full preview of the Masters Indoor Championships and results from the meet, visit www.usatf.org Jones leads eight Americans nominated for 2003 Laureus World Sports Award Marion Jones has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year as part of the 2003 Laureus World Sports Awards. Jones leads the list of eight American nominees for the Laureus honors, including Serena Williams for World Sportswoman of the Year; Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong for World Sportsman of the Year, and Pete Sampras for World Comeback of the Year. Jones and Woods won Sportswoman and Sportsman, respectively, in 2000. The Laureus World Sports Awards, the only worldwide awards honoring the world's best sportsmen and sportswomen on an annual basis, will be presented in Monaco on May 20. Former USATF Intern leads Cinderella Butler to Sweet 16 Former USATF intern Joel Cornette and his Butler Bulldog teammates advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA men's basketball tournament last weekend. The #12-seeded Bulldogs (27-5) emerged as the tournament's true "bracket-buster" with upsets of #5-seed Mississippi State, 47-46, and #4-seed Louisville, 79-71, in the first and second rounds of the East Regional in Birmingham, Ala. Butler's starting center, the 6-9 Cornette led the Bulldogs against Mississippi State with 14 points and eight rebounds. Against Louisville, Cornette dominated the boards with a game-high 13 rebounds and 14 points. Late in the second half against Louisville and in true Cinderella fashion, Cornette leaped over the Butler bench in an attempt to save the basketball from going out of bounds. He landed squarely on the cart holding two water coolers, soaking his size 15 sneakers. Senior Rob Walls quickly pulled off his own shoes and gave them to Cornette, who finished the game in his teammate's sneakers. Cornette, a senior from Cincinnati, worked in the national headquarters marketing department during the summer of 2002. Butler University is located in Indianapolis, a few miles from USATF National Headquarters. Butler will meet #1-seed Oklahoma at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York, on Friday, March 28. Titan Games telecast on ESPN2 March 29 & 30 The U.S. Olympic Committee and production partner Bud Sports have created two, one-hour television shows from the 2003 Titan Games. The first will be broadcast on Saturday, March 29 from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET, followed by another one-hour telecast on Sunday, March 30 from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. ET. Both shows will air on ESPN2. Viewers will get a chance to see Team USA's world-dominating shot putters. John Godina is a three-time world champion (1995, '97, 2001) and owns an Olympic silver from 1996 and Olympic bronze from 2000. The 32-year-old was a five-time NCAA champion while at UCLA and twice has won USA Track & Field's most prestigious honor, the Jesse Owens Award, as the top U.S. track and field athlete, in 1997 and 2001. He owns a personal best of 22.0 meters/72-2.25. Adam Nelson was ranked number one in the world in 2000 - when he won the U.S. Olympic Trials, Olympic silver medal and posted the farthest throw in the world - and 2002, when he won the U.S. indoor and outdoor titles as well as the IAAF World Cup. He had four marks over 72 feet last year, including a world-leader and personal-best of 22.51 meters/73 feet, 10.25 inches. The 27-year-old also was the 1997 NCAA champion for Dartmouth College. Nelson and Godina were ranked as the number one and number three throwers in the world, respectively, in 2002. # # #