by Larry Eder
The opening meet of the 2023 PUMA American Track League begins tonight, January 20 with the PUMA ATL Hawkeye Pro Classic!
Two days of events, built around track and field, and getting the season moving for the elite athletes in track and field, began at 3 PM Central today with the Women’s shot put, won by Olympian Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica, with a fine 19.12m throw! Thomas-Dodd is an NCAA champion and now competes as a professional athlete.
The complete schedule for January 20 and 21 can be found right here: https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions/details/results?id=12618&meId=93917#title-anchor.
You may also watch the meet at www.americantrackleague.com/watch. You can watch the meet live via Vimeo!
PUMA came on as a sponsor of the American Track League in 2022, and the league is expanding, with an indoor meet and three outdoor meets announced (watch for a new event to be announced shortly).
PUMA has come back into the sport in North America strongly, now in its third year of producing high-end, well-respected performance training shoes and spikes, but also providing support for the grassroots and elite levels of the sport.
PUMA in the US is sponsoring a club coached by Alistair Cragg, a fine NCAA champion, who ran as an elite athlete and coached with the Bowerman TC. Cragg is coaching a group of young promising athletes with the PUMA North Carolina Club. Cragg is a well-respected coach, and we look forward to seeing his athletes on the starting lines.
In speaking to Paul Doyle today, I asked Paul which events he thinks will be the ones to watch over the next couple of days. “The Men’s 60 meters has eleven men under 7.60, that should be great! Clayton Murphy is opening the season over 1000 meters on Saturday. Vashti Cunningham, the World Indoor medalist, will open at the high jump on Friday night, and Erik Sowinski opens at the 600m on Friday night, and comes back on Saturday to pace Clayton Murphy and his rivals over 1000 meters!”
PUMA Running is devoting much effort to its product ( I am walking in the Nitro Velocity 2 and am quite impressed with the ride), developing American distance runners, and supporting the running culture in North America.
PUMA sponsoring the PUMA American Track League, and the PUMA ATL Hawkeye ProClassic is a good way to get 2023 going!
To learn more about PUMA, please go to https://us.puma.com/us/en
To learn more about the PUMA American Track League, please go to www.americantrackleague.com/watch!
