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| June 24, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release by Mike Marzolf |
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Former Cougars ready for US Olympic Trials Tyson Gay heads that list with a chance to make the team in both the 100m and 200m. Gay has run the fastest times by any American in both events this year (9.85 and 20.00) and has posted the 2nd fastest time in the world in both events. Gay, who ran for Barton in 02 and 03, won gold in the 2007 World Championships in both sprint events. He is the defending champion at the USA Championships – which double as the Olympic Trials during Olympiad years – bursting to a 19.62 in the 200m which is the 2nd fastest time ever run in that event. The only time faster is the 200m time of 19.32 ran by Michael Johnson during the 1996 Olympics. In fact Gay and Johnson each own 3 of the Top 10 times ever run in the 200m. Gay’s 9.84 he ran in the 07 US Championships has been bested by only 3 men – Usain Bolt (9.72) Asafa Powell (9.74) and Maurice Green (9.79). Overall, it is the 12th fastest ever as Powell, Green, and Bolt every one of the top 11 times in the event. Also among the elite in their event is Derrick Williams in the 400m hurdles. Williams, who also ran for the Cougars in 02 and 03, has become of the top 400m hurdlers over the past couple of years. He took his personal best of 50.15 in 2004 and turned it into a 48.26 at the US Championships last year. He has the 6th best qualifying mark.
Hyleas Fountain is the defending Heptathlon champion at the US Championships, winning last year with 6090 points. That mark is currently the 3rd best qualifying mark. She was a member of the US team at the 05 and 07 World Championships. She participated for Barton in 01 and 02. Fountain will also compete in the long jump and still could enter her name in the 110m hurdles, where she is qualified as well.
A trio of names that have been on the world scene for several years now are also qualified to complete in the Trials as Walter Davis, Bernard Williams, and Derrick Brew will have the chance to return to the Olympics – for Davis it would be a 3rd appearance. All 3 finished their Barton careers in 2000 or before.
Brew and Williams have fallen from the elite in the US the past couple of years in their respective sprint events. Brew has not broken the 45.0 mark in the 400m the past 2 years with his personal best of 44.29 coming in the 04 Olympics where he won a bronze medal. Brew ran a 45.02 in last year’s US Championships, a qualifying mark that is the 10th best on the board. His best time this year has been a 45.88. Williams has one of the top qualifying marks for the men in the 200m with a 20.01, but that time was run during the 04 Olympics when he won a silver medal for the Americans. In the past 3 years since the Olympics, Williams best effort has been a 20.47 ran last year. His best time this year is a 20.98 and a 10.22 in the 100m. Another name that has been around for a while but has yet to make an Olympic team is Floyd Thompson. Thompson has been among the top 10-15 800m runners in the US for several years, running for the Cougars in 98 and 99. Thompson ran a 1:46.11 last year at the US Championships, the 10th best qualifying mark in the event.
Kwonya Ferguson has earned a mark that would allow her to compete in the triple jump but has not yet declared her intentions to do so. Carly Bloomfield has declared in the javelin but must wait to see if she is one of the top 24 marks. Ferguson competed for Barton in 03 and 04 while Bloomfield was with the Cougars in 04 and 05. The trials will run Friday-Monday this weekend before taking a pair of days off. They will resume Thursday- Sunday over the 4th of July weekend. The 1st session will feature the 100m dash as well as the 400m and 400m hurdles on the track. The 800m will also take place during that session as well as the men’s long jump and women’s triple jump and javelin. TV Schedule For full coverage of the US Olympic Trials, go to http://www.usatf.org -30- Check out Barton County Track Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports |
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Several former Barton Community College track and field athletes will attempt to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics when the US Olympic Trials are held in Eugene, Ore. over the next two weekends. A handful of former Cougars are among the tops in the United States with a very good shot at making the US Olympic team. Another group of former Cougars will get the chance to make the team as longshots with anywhere from 15-20 ex Barton track and field stars expected to compete for a place on the US Olympic team. Qualifying marks are based on this year performance. In addition, those who medaled in the 2004 Olympics or at the World Championships in 2005 and 2007 or the World Athletic Finals in 2006 automatically qualify to participate in the US Olympic Trials.
LaShauntea Moore as the 6th best qualifying mark in the women’s 200m, a 22.46. She was a member of the 2004 Olympic team after placing 3rd in the US Trials that year, making it to the semifinals at Greece. She finished 7th at the World Championships last year with a 22.97. She also ran during the 02 and 03 seasons at Barton. She was 4th at the US Championships last year. Moore will also compete in the 100m, where her marks are farther down the list. Juanita Broaddus will join Moore in the women’s 100m, where she has recorded a time of 11.17 to earn the spot in the trials. That mark is just outside the top 15 qualifying marks. Broaddus ran for Barton in 04 and 05.
Four still emerging names have come on the scene the past few years and will compete for a spot on the US team. With a chance to make the US team are a pair of shot putters – Susan King and Cassaundra Lee – and a pair of 400m hurdlers – Latosha Wallace and Miriam Barnes. King had a put of 59-4 3/4 this past May, which is the 6th best qualifying mark in the event. Lee has the 9th best mark with her 57-8 1/4. King threw for Barton in 04 and 05 while Lee was with the Cougars from 03-04. Wallace and Barnes bring the 9th and 10th best qualifying times to the Trials. Wallace has run a 56.35 at the US Championships last year and has run a 56.39 this year. Barnes brings a 56.57 qualifying time to the Trials. Barnes will also run in the open 400m, where she has a qualifying mark of 52.33. Wallace and Barnes both ran for Barton in 04 and 05.
Walter Davis is still among the top jumpers in the US with the top 3 qualifying marks in both horizontal jumps. He has the 2nd best qualifying mark of 56-11 1/4 in the triple jump and the 3rd best mark of 27-0 1/2 in the long jump. He finished 3rd at the 07 World Championships last year with a jump of 56-10 1/4. He won the US Championships in the triple jump in 06 as well as the World Indoor Champion that year with a PR of 58-2. Davis also won the World Outdoor Championship in 05 as well as the US Outdoor title that year. He was 4th at the US Championships last year in the long jump with his 27-0 1/2 leap.
Dexter Faulk is just outside the top 10 in with his personal best of 13.34 in the 110m hurdles. Faulk, who ran for Barton in 03 and 04 has moved into the top 15 hurdlers in the US the past couple of years. Thomas Ross, who has run a 13.65 in the event has entered but may not be among the top 32 marks to compete.