Track Nationals 2001

Rocky Mountain Runner
The #1 Info Source for Runners in the Rockies!

USA Outdoor Track & Field Champs
Day 2 - June 22, 2001

EUGENE, Ore. - Record-setting performances by Dawn Ellerbe and Kip Janvrin and intense competition in nine final events highlighted a day of thrilling performances at Hayward Field Friday during the second day of the GMC Envoy USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

For their wins in the women's hammer throw and men's decathlon, respectively, Ellerbe and Janvrin were named the Xerox Athletes of the Day.

Earning her sixth U.S. outdoor title and third consecutive championship in the hammer with a throw of 69.08 meters/226 feet, 8 inches, Ellerbe broke her own USA Championship record from 1999 (64.75m/212-5) and the Hayward Field record of France's Florence Ezeh (66.85/219-4). The American record holder has now won six of the 10 U.S. women's championships ever contested, including six of the last seven.

Competing in what he said is his 76th career decathlon, the 35-year-old Janvrin overcame an 87-point deficit and third-place position in the decathlon standings entering the 1,500 meters to win his first national title. Using the middle-distance prowess he used to make his first Olympic team last year, Janvrin won the 1,500 - the decathlon's final event - in 4:14.96 to score 846 points and secure the win, becoming the oldest-ever U.S. decathlon champion. In the process, Janvrin set a world record for most career decathlon wins (33) and an American record for most career decathlons over 8,000 points (26).

Other athletes winning national championships Saturday were Nathan Leeper in the men's high jump (2.30m/7-6.5), John Godina in the SoBe men's shot put (21.60m/70-10.5), Savante Stringfellow in the men's long jump (8.47m/27-9.25 wind-aided), DeDee Nathan in the heptathlon (6174), Tim Montgomery in the Pontiac Grand Prix men's 100m (9.95 wind-aided), Chryste Gaines in the women's 100m (10.89 wind-aided), and Bob Kennedy in the men's 5,000m (13:28.72).

Among the winners the winners:

· Kennedy's performance in the 5,000 was perhaps one of the most impressive runs of his equally impressive career. The American record holder ran from the lead, surging every other lap, and held off the likes of Olympic Trials champion Adam Goucher to win his fourth U.S. 5,000m title, his first title in the event since 1997. (Goucher has won the last two U.S. titles) The win marked a full-circle comeback for Kennedy, who was hobbled by injury after being struck from behind in his car before the 2000 Olympic Trials and failed to make the Olympic Team. An elated Kennedy pumped his fists and exhalted as he crossed the line in Eugene.

* The 2000 Olympic Trials champion, Nathan won her second U.S. title in the women's heptathlon.

* Leeper added the 2001 U.S. outdoor high jump title to his indoor crown to earn his first U.S. championship outdoors. 1996 Olympic champion and American record holder Charles Austin matched Leeper's winning height, but Leeper won on fewest misses.

* Gaines won her first U.S. outdoor title in the women's 100m to make it a sweep for her in 2001 - the 30-year-old won her first U.S. indoor title last March before winning the bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships. Though wind-aided, her time of 10.89 seconds is the fastest in the world this year under any conditions.

* A two-time world champion, Godina won his fifth U.S. title in the shot put.

* Montgomery won his first U.S. title in the 100m. The 2001 World Indoor silver medalist was second in 1997 at the U.S. Championships and third in 1998 and '99.

* Stringfellow added his first U.S. title to the two NCAA long jump championships he won in 2000 and 2001. The 2000 Olympian emerged victorious after a heated competition that saw three athletes jump over 27 feet. World record holder Mike Powell came up short in his quest to make the World Championship team after being out of the sport since 1996. The 37-year-old finished fourth at 8.10m/26-7, five inches behind Dwight Phillips in third.

Top qualifiers from Friday's rounds were Olympic Trials champion Hazel Clark in the women's 800m (2:03.16), David Krummenacker in the men's 800m (1:49.24), U.S. indoor 3,000m champion Tim Broe in the men's 3,000m steeplechase (8:25.47), Olympian Michele Collins in the women's 400m (50.98), Olympic 4x400 relay gold medalist Antonio Pettigrew in the men's 400m (45.28), Olympian Eric Thomas in the men's 400m hurdles (49.09) and Olympic Trials champion Sandra Glover in the women's 400m hurdles (55.59).

Finals scheduled for Saturday include the men's 20k race walk, men's discus, Visa women's pole vault, women's 3,000m steeplechase, women's triple jump, men's javelin, men's and women's 400m, men's and women's 400m hurdles, men's and women's 1,500m and women's 10,000m.

For full results and quotes from the GMC Envoy USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, visit the USATF Web site: http://www.usatf.org

Notes on Nationals - GMC Envoy USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships June 23, 2001, Eugene, Oregon

Missed it by THAT much: Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford, Michigan, missed a national high school record in the men's 5,000m by an eyelash. Ritzenhein finished 11th in 13:44.70 to just fall short of Gerry Lindgren's mark of 13:44.00, set in 1964. A two-time FootLocker national high school cross country champion, Ritzenhein will attend the University of Colorado in the fall.

Long John Godina: Godina's win continues an amazing 2001 for the two-time world champion. He had the best shot put series of his career June 9 at the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open at Palo Alto, with five throws over 70 feet, including a best of 21.95m/72-0.25. Godina enters the World Championships in Edmonton as the favorites. The 1995 UCLA grad and 1995 and '97 world shot put champ is on a roll: After winning the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games, he came back to win the 2001 World Indoor title and has the #2 throw in the world this year. Godina's next goal is the 74-foot mark, a performance he says is "right there." Godina competes Saturday in the men's discus - another strong event for him. At the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open, Godina had what most consider the best single-day shot put and discus double in history. In addition to his shot performance, he threw the disc 67.06m/220-0 to place second. He has the best discus throw by an American in 2001 with his mark of 67.77/222-0.

The other Williams sister: Southern Cal junior Angela Williams, who finished third in the women's 100m on Friday, won an unprecedented third straight 100m title this month at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Williams, who won the silver medal in the 60m at the 2001 World Indoor Championships, won the NCAA title with a time of 11.05.

Do the Double: Regina Jacobs won her semifinal heat of the women's 800 in 2:05.75 to qualify for Sunday's final. On Thursday she qualified for Saturday's 1,500m final. Jacobs won the 1,500m and 5,000m at the 2000 Olympic Trials, setting an American record in the 5,000 (14:45.35). She is a nine-time U.S. champion at 1,500m, holds the American record for 1,000m (2:31.80), and is a two-time World Championships silver medalist at 1,500m.

Injury update: 1997 world championships bronze medalist Tyree Washington pulled his right quadriceps in the semifinals of the men's 400m.