Caribbean athletes among the headliners for Mt. SAC Relays
Veronica Campbell
celebrates in Athens
(Photo by James Davis)
by Gary Smith and TPR
for Caribbean Net News
Friday, April 15, 2005
WALNUT, USA: Jamaica's new sprint
queen Veronica Campbell and Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez heads the list
of Caribbean athletes scheduled to compete at the 47th Mt. SAC Relays in
Walnut, California this weekend. Campbell the
2004 Olympic 200m champion will start her outdoor season running the 100m, an
event in which she finished third in Athens. The 22-year-old Arkansas student
finished the indoor season with three personal bests. She clocked 7.09 in the
60m, ran an impressive 22.38 in her only 200m so far this season before
producing 52.24 in the 400m at the Razorback Invitational in January.
Campbell, who finished last season with the second fastest time and personal
best 10.91, will compete against Olympic 100m hurdles record holder Joanna
Hayes and Inger Miller of USA. Jamaica's
Michael Frater, a former TCU star will face the likes of USA Tyson Gay, the
man who beat him in last year's NCAA 100m and Canada's Pierre Browne who was
in good form while attending Mississippi State last year in the men’s
Invitational race. Browne was also the bronze medallist at the 2002
Commonwealth Games. Also facing the start on Sunday will be Nicconnor
Alexander of Trinidad and Tobago and the Americans Coby Miller and Brian
Lewis. In what may be the most exciting race
of the meet, the women's 400m field will see Allison Beckford of Jamaica
battling with reigning world 400 meter hurdles champion Jana Pittman of
Australia and American sprint queen Marion Jones. Beckford’s countrywomen
Novlene Williams and Shellene Williams are also down to compete.
Olympic champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic who clocked 20.88 in
the 200m and a personal best 10.45 at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Invitational in Los Angeles on Saturday, will contest the open 400m as he goes
in search of speed and strength for his 400m hurdles event. Sanchez will face
the likes of Great Britain’s Malachi Davis and Jamaica’s Omar Brown who, like
Campbell, is a student at Arkansas. Barbados'
national record holder and former Caribbean Junior Championships stand out
Andrea Blackett heads the women's 400m hurdles field, while Jamaica’s Mardrea
Hyman faces Nicole Teter in the 1500m Other
notable big names competing at this year's meet will be Americans Wallace
Spearmon, Tyree Washington, and Allen Johnson in the men's 200m as well as
Toby Stevenson making his outdoor debut in the men’s pole vault and Sandie
Richards in making a rare appearance the women’s 800m and 200m.
Former Olympic champion and record holder Maurice Greene who anchored his HSI
sprint relay team to a 38.48 victory at last week's Texas Relays is among the
Olympians down to compete in the relays. Also scheduled to compete is Olympic
200 meter champion Shawn Crawford, while Jamaica's 100m national record holder
Asafa Powel will lead the Stephen Francis coached MVP quartet.
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