Track Nationals 2001

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USA Outdoor Track & Field Champs
Day 3 - June 23, 2001

EUGENE, Ore. - With 13 finals, Saturday was a lucky day for most of the favorites at the GMC Envoy USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.

Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor cemented his role of favorite entering the World Championships in August by winning the men's 400m hurdles in a world-leading time of 48.53 seconds. It was the third consecutive U.S. title for Taylor, who also won Olympic gold in the 4x400m relay in Sydney. 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Calvin Davis was second in 48.75 and 2000 Olympic fourth-place finisher James Carter was third in 48.79.

An upset came in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, where Lisa Nye set an American record, running 9:49.41 to beat reigning Olympic Trials and NCAA champion Elizabeth Jackson's mark of 9:49.73 set earlier this month at the NCAA Championships, held at Hayward Field. A 1992 University of Oregon graduate, Nye pulled even with Jackson over the final water jump and sprinted to the win. Jackson finished second to Nye in 9:49.94 and Kelly McDonald was third in 9:55.49.

For their performances, Taylor and Nye were named the Xerox Athletes of the Day.

A second surprise came in the men's 1,500m. Andy Downin won a thrilling race - broadcast live on ESPN's SportsCenter - with the first three places determined only in the final steps of the race. Olympic Trials champion Gabe Jennings sprinted away to a 7-meter lead in the final lap, but with 15 meters to go, the pack caught up with him as he faltered. Indoor mile champion Seneca Lassiter edged into first with just a stride or two remaining, but Downin came up for the win in 3:37.63, with Lassiter second in 3:37.66 and 1996 Olympic Trials champion Paul McMullen surging for third in 3:37.94 as the crowd of 9,118 went crazy. Jennings was fourth in 3:38.01 and high school record holder Alan Webb finished fifth in 3:38.50.

Olympic Trials champion Breaux Greer twice threw personal-best marks in the men's javelin, finishing with 85.23m/279-7 to set a U.S. championships and Hayward Field record. It is the farthest throw by an American this year. Tom Pukstys, who previously held those two records, finished second at 74.49m/244-5. Ron White of Eastern Illinois was third at 72.73/238-7.

Olympic Trials champion Regina Jacobs passed three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton in the final 75 meters to win the women's 1,500m in 4:06.12. A final lap of 59.4 seconds was the finish Jacobs needed to win her 10th U.S. title. Favor Hamilton was second in 4:06.61 and former NCAA 3,000m indoor champion Sarah Schwald, Favor Hamilton's training partner, was third in 4:08.57.

Olympic Trials champion Sandra Glover ran a U.S.-leading time of 55.08 to win the women's 400m hurdles. 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Tonja Buford-Bailey was second in 55.71 and Brenda Taylor of Harvard was third in 55.99.

Stacy Dragila set a Hayward field at USA Outdoor Championships record with her clearance of 4.62m/15-1.75 in the Visa women's pole vault. Alicia Warlick was second at 4.40/14-5.25 with Mary Sauer third with the same mark.

Olympic Trials champion LaTasha Colander-Richardson won her second straight national title in the 400m, running down Michele Collins in the final stretch to win in 50.79 seconds. Collins was second (51.00) and Monique Hennagan was third (51.20).

Antonio Pettigrew appeared to be far out of contention in sixth place entering the final straight in the men's 400m. But the Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist and 1991 world champion unleashed a furious kick that propelled him to a comfortable win in 45.02 seconds, his fifth U.S. title dating back to 1989. Leonard Byrd was second in 45.26 and Jerome Young was third in 45.32

World indoor bronze medalist Tiombe Hurd added the 2001 U.S. outdoor women's triple jump title to the indoor crown she won in March, jumping a Hayward Field record of 14.04m/46-0.75. Yuliana Perez was second at 13.98m/45-10.50 and Sheila Hudson was third at 13.68/44-10.75.

Deena Drossin won her second consecutive U.S. title at 10,000m, surging in the second 5,000m of the race to crush the field. After coming through 5k in 16:16, Drossin finished in 32:05.14 to post the fastest time by an American in 2001. Jen Rhines was second in 32:20.03 and Sylvia Mosqueda was third in 32:25.22.

Olympic Trials champion Adam Setliff won his second straight U.S. title in the discus. The fifth-place finisher at the Olympics threw 66.85m/219-4 with Friday's shot put champion, John Godina, second at 65.39/219-4 and Andy Bloom third at 62.98/206-7.

Curt Clausen won his fourth U.S. 20k race walk title with a time of 1:24:50, finishing ahead of Tim Seaman in second (1:26:15) and Sean Albert in third (1:26:34). The fourth-place finisher at the 1999 World Championships at 50k, Clausen was second at the U.S. 50k championships in April and has announced he will compete only in the longer walk at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.

In preliminary competition, Marion Jones won her semifinal heat of the Verizon women's 200m in a world-leading time of 22.23 seconds, while World Indoor silver medalist LaTasha Jenkins ran the #2 time in the world in winning the second semi in 22.39.

Jenny Adams, who won the women's long jump on Thursday, blazed to the fastest time in the first round of the adidas women's 100m hurdles in 12.61. Dawane Wallace was the fastest qualifier in the GMC Envoy men's 110m hurdles in 13.32.

For complete 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 24, 2001, Eugene, Oregon

Oooh, baby! Paul McMullen's third-place finish in the men's 1,500 added happiness to a weekend already filled with elation. McMullen ran Saturday's final wearing a pink ribbon in honor of his daughter, Olivia Kate, born at 12:38 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday. McMullen's wife, Jill, gave birth by cesarean section to Olivia Kate, who weighed in at 9 pounds, 9 ounces and was 22 inches long.

Masters Mile: Leonard Sperandeo won the masters men's 1-mile run Saturday in a time of 4:21.57, while Maureen de St. Croix won the masters women's mile in 5:03.18, beating the rest of the field by more than 10 seconds.

Work with me, here: After receiving her award for winning the pole vault, Stacy Dragila was presented the Sam Skinner Award by the Track And Field Writers of America (TAFWA) for exemplary cooperation with and accessibility to the media.

The World (records) According to Dragila: Dragila's world-record streak has stepped up a notch in 2001. Dragila set four world records indoors, culminating with her 4.70m/15-5 clearance at the adidas Golden Spike Invitational at Pocatello, Idaho. Dragila opened the 2001 outdoor season with two more WRs April 29 at the Idaho State Springfest in Pocatello. She first broke her outdoor record of 3.63m/15-2.25, set at the 2000 Olympic Trials, with a jump of 4.65m/15-3 at Pocatello. She then successfully cleared 4.70m. On June 9 a the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open, she added her seventh and eighth records of the year, first vaulting 4.71m/15-5.5, then clearing 4.81m/15-9.25. She took three attempts at 5.88/16-0, with her first attempt her best chance at a clearance. … In 2001, five of Dragila's eight world records have been set in Pocatello, where she lives and trains.

Air Acuff: Amy Acuff, who will compete Sunday in the women's high jump, is undefeated outdoors in 2001 and is enjoying her best season since 1997. Acuff started it all in February with a win over Olympic bronze medalist Kajsa Bergqvist of Sweden at the Millrose Games. She won her first-ever U.S. indoor title at the Pontiac Grand Prix U.S. Indoor Championships in Atlanta, then took fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. Outdoors, she again beat Bergqvist May 27 at the Prefontaine Classic, jumping a U.S.-leading 1.98m/6 feet, 6 inches. She also posted wins at the Osaka Grand Prix, Mt. SAC Relays, Drake Relays and Peregrine Systems U.S. Open.