by Larry Eder
Stephanie Trafton Brown on ATF Spring 2009 cover, photos by Photorun.net, design by Kristen Cerer.
Stephanie Trafton-Brown threw a nifty 64.75m or 212-5 at the Gary Shaw Big Throwers Classic in Salinas, CA. The Big Throwers meets were part of my favorite competitions held at Hartnell College and championed by Gary Shaw, the former coach of Hartnell for more than a decade.
From 1990-1996, I was lucky enough to coach against Gary in cross country and track-I was at Foothill College with Joe Mangan and Hank Ketels. Gary ran his team like a Marine Camp. Great guy, loved the sport, and knew how to get the most out of his kids. What was really cool was that many of his athletes were the first members of their families to ever go to college and he helped develop many young men and women to go on to four year schools. He was a coaches’ coach.
It is nice to see the Big Throwers Classic now honoring Gary. In the old days, he used to get Foxy Farms to send crates of vegetables for the top ten throwers and some of the coaches. There was a junior college meet plus the Throwers Meet and it was a big deal!
Nice to see Stephanie throwing so well early this season!
EME NEWS (MAY 22, 2009)
SALINAS (USA, May 20-21): Olympic discus winner Stephanie Trafton-Brown achieved good 64.75 m to win the Gary Shaw Big Throwers Classic meet on the first day. The throwing area is considered as downhill by statisticians. Casey Malone posted 65.85 in first day and even better 66.18 on the second day in men competition.
VCB runs this weekend and in summer in Barcelona
BARCELONA (ESP): First confirmed top athlete for European Athletics Classic meeting in Barcelona is the reigning 200m Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown from Jamaica. She clocked last year at the same meeting excellent 21.98 to win. The meeting will take place in the Estadi OlÃmpic LluÃs Companys on July 25th and will have in total 18 events. The 2007 world champion at 100 m is scheduled to open her international summer season in New York on May 30. Before that she will participate at a local meet in Florida this weekend.
Bailey and Tosta added to Belem
BELEM (BRA): Brazilian four meetings tour will end on a high note with 25th Grand Prix Meeting (in the past also held in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) on Sunday in Belem. To stars already competing in this circuit for example Antiguan sprinter Daniel Bailey will arrive for a 100 metres and olympic medalist Sheena Tosta of USA for 400 m hurdles. Four Beijing gold medalists will be home Maurren Higa Maggi in long jump, Slovenian Primoz Kozmus in hammer, Portugal´s Nelson Evora in triple jump and Valerie Vili of New Zealand in Shot Put. In total 160 athletes from 33 countries. It will be again a morning meeting with men´s hammer already at 8 am and last event at 11.30 am.
Saladino vs. Phillips vs. Bayer
HENGELO (NED): Latest stars signed for FBK Games in Hengelo on June 1 (IAAF Grand Prix) are French Beijing steeple silver winner Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (against the other two Olympic medalists Brimin Kipruto and Richard Matelong). British 400 m olympic winner Christine Ohuruogu will run the 200 m, in the women 1500 m olympic silver holder Iryna Lishchynska of Ukraine is scheduled to compete along with European indoor champion Anna Alminova of Russia. Interesting entry will be 2004 olympic winner Shawn Crawford at 100 m. Mainly because he will face Churandy Martina of Netherland Antilles. Last year after Beijing he gave his 200 m Olympic silver to Martina as a fair-play gesture. Martina was disqualified from second place and also his appeal at CAS was not succesfull. Great duel in Long Jump can bring something special. World and Olympic winner Irving Saladino will compete in his season opening against world leader and former champion Dwight Phillips and sensationally improved Sebastian Bayer of Germany. Last year in Hengelo Saladino leaped to his all-time best 873 cm.
OTHER NEWS
KINGSTON (JAM): Fully recovered from a right knee surgery done last December, British Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason says he is hungry for more success at this summer’s 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin. Informs Jamaica Observer. “To be honest, I’m not really targeting the British record,” Mason said, indicating that he returned to training in late February. “I’m just trying to get focused and continue being consistent as last year and getting above last season, becausse last year was very successful for me. I was really consistent towards the Games and after the Games with all my jumps and I just want to maintain that consistency throughout this season,” added the Jamaican-born athlete.
MELBOURNE (AUS): Steve Moneghetti one of history’s most successful ever marathon runners, was named as the Chef de Mission for Australia’s Commonwealth Games team in New Delhi next month. Writes insidethegames.com. The announcement was made to coincide with the 500 day countdown to the start of the Games, the first major international mulit-sports event to be staged in India since the Asian Games in 1982. Moneghetti, affectionally known around the world as “Mona”, has a long association with the Commonwealth Games that began in 1986, when as a 23-year-old he was selected in his first Australian team for Edinburgh and won a bronze medal in the marathon. He improved to silver at Auckland four years later and then gold in Victoria in 1994. Moneghetti finished his Commonwealth Games career with a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1998 event in Kuala Lumpar. In 2006 he was appointed Mayor of the Commonwealth Games Village in Melbourne.
GOTZIS (AUT): New names for the premier combined events meeting the Hypomeeting in Gotzis on May 30-31 are from Cuba. Yordanis Garcia was in the past youth and junior world medalist and this year improved in March at home to 8365 points. Yunior Diaz has 8057 and after indoor heptathlon in Tallinn this year will have his first decathlon outside of North America. Benelux decathletes will be represented by Dutch Eugene Martineau (8233) and Belgian Frederic Xhonneux (8142). That gives a total current number of 20 athletes entered with best score over 8000 points. Women heptathlon will see number ones from Norway (Ida Marcussen, 6226 NR), Czech Republic (Denisa Rosolova, 6104) and Sweden (in the absence of Carolina Kluft it is Jessica Samuelsson, 6111). Olympic winner Bryan Clay who wanted to come to Gotzis as guest will not be there finally. Because he is behind the time with his training he must now fully concentrate on preparation and US Championships/Trials end of June.
CARDIFF (GBR): Sky Sports have confirmed that they will cover UK Athletics’ inaugural Super8 competition at the Cardiff International Athletics Stadium next month. The two-hour city versus city athletics match is being piloted in the Welsh capital on June 10 and several leading British athletes have confirmed their participation. Informs insidethegames.com.
INDIANAPOLIS (USA): USATF confirmed the appointment of 1984 Olympic gold medalist and prominent business executive Benita Fitzgerald Mosley as USA Track & Field’s Chief of Sport Performance. She will begin work with the organization on July 1. The 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the 100m hurdles, Fitzgerald Mosley comes to USATF after serving as President and CEO of Women In Cable Telecommunications (WICT), the oldest and largest organization serving women professionals in the industry, since 2001. At USATF, she will be responsible for overseeing all of USATF’s High Performance and Sport Science programs, and will be the point person charged with achieving Logan’s previously stated goal of 30 Team USA medals in track and field competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
RABAT (MAR): Sunny Rabat is welcoming top stars of athletics for Saturday meeting (Jelimo, Kanter, Ohuruogu). The list of medal winners from Beijing competing is in total 10, to add are relay medalists Belgian Olivia Borlee and Russian Aleksandra Fedoriva. Both 4×100 medal winners from China will run the 200 m with Christine Ohuruogu and Debbie Ferguson. The meet will begin at 6 pm local time.
SYDNEY (AUS): Australian olympian in heptathlon Kylie Wheeler (29, 6369 in Beijing) has announced her retirement from athletics. Australian media are informing. She was competing for Australia at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics, and also won two Commonwealth Games silver medals in 2002 and `06 in the heptathlon. “It has been a number of years that I’ve been involved in the sport and I’ve had a lot of fun, and amazing experiences, but now is the time that I’m ready to hang up the spikes to move on to a new path in life,” Wheeler said. “I wasn’t sure about the Commonwealth Games in 2010, but after taking a few months off I realise I am comfortable and proud of what I have achieved, and am ready to say that it’s over,†she was quoted.
AMSTERDAM (NED): After news was published that steeple runner Simon Vroemen (40, still holder of European steeple record) had received iv-fluids during the 2006 European Championships the Dutch federation (Atletiekunie) referred the matter to the ‘National Doping Authority’, an agency that handles all primary doping cases. This authority wrote a report. However, the ‘Instituut Sportrechtspraak’ (Institute for Sports Justice) has now issued a verdict that the evidence of Vroemen breaking the doping rules in Gotenborg is insufficient. The Atletiekunie is considering whether to appeal. This investigation is not related to the case of Vroemen testing positive last year.
LAGOS (NGR): Former Delta State Sports Commissioner, Solomon Ogba is the new president of the Nigerian athletics federation, informs Carole Fuchs.
PRAHA (CZE): The Prague Volkswagen Marathon after this years success opened already the registration for 2010. The date is May 9 and for the traditional Hervis ½ Marathon March 27.
RESULTS
SALINAS (USA, May 20-21): Olympic discus winner Stephanie Trafton-Brown achieved good 64.75 m to win the Gary Shaw Big Throwers Classic meet on the first day. The throwing area is considered as downhill by statisticians. Casey Malone posted 65.85 in first day and even better 66.18 on the second day in men competition.
SAN ANGELO (USA, May 21): Fast sprints during first day of NCAA second category championships. Barbara Pierre of Haiti improved in the women 100 m heats the event record of Chandra Sturrup from 1993 (11.20) to excellent 11.18 (+1.4). It is also new national record for Haiti. Excellent also men´s heats at 100 m. Ramon Gittens of Barbados achieved in his race 10.20 PB (+1.9) closely ahead of Jamaican Kawayne Fisher who also hugely improved to the 10.20. Another Jamaican Kemour Bruce used the ideal wind conditions (+1.6) to win the other heat in great PB 10.22.
SUZHOU (CHN, May 21): The Olympic fifth placer Gong Lijiao confirmed her status at Chinese women championships with 19.44 shot put win, tilastopaja informs. At next places Li Meiju (18.93) and Liu Xiangrong (18.69). Ma Xuejun surprisingly beat Song Aimin in discus (63.30-62.48). World and Olympic medallist in hammer Zhang Wenxiu won as expected and achieved 72.27 m. Xie Limei leaped to solid 14.12 (+0.1) triple jump win.
BONNINGHEM (GER, May 21): Tim Lobinger cleared 550 to win the Pole Vault at the meeting here. Unfortunately Michael Frauen fell heavily during his second attempt at 540 on his face and was immediately transported to the hospital. Informs www.leichtathletik.de.
ST. POLTEN (AUT, May 21): SV Schwechat won the Austrian Club Championships in men and women categories. Discus record holder Gerhard Mayer had three throws over 60 metres with best 60.76 m. Clemens Zeller started into season with 46.59 in the 400 metres and Ryan Moseley clocked 10.53 (-0.3) at 100 m.
LANGENTHAL (SUI, May 21): Patricia Morceli got her third this years Swiss title when she won the 10 000 m national championships in 34:08.11. Marc Schneeberger posted 33.54 at 300 m and Christian Niederberger 1:18.77 at 600 m.
NORRKOPING (SWE, May 21): European indoor champion Johan Wissman opened his summer season with 21.26 at 200 m in a local meet against -2.3 wind. Robert Kronberg sprinted the 110 m hurdles with 14.22 against even stronger -3.7.
LE MANS (FRA, May 21): Kenyan wins at road races here. Lawrence Rotich won the 10 km (29:22) and Patrick Korir the half-marathon (1:03:37).
GAYANT (FRA, May 21): Ugandan Nathan Chebet won the 10 km on the road after 29:02, Kenyan Myriam Wangari was the best woman (33:19).
