Posted: February 11, 2004

Athletics: Macrozonaris, Douma, McCann, Brannen, Connor off to fast start in indoor track and field

February 9, 2004 OTTAWA - Nicolas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que., Carmen Douma of Kingston, Ont., Stephanie McCann of Surrey, B.C., and Nathan Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., posted impressive performances in indoor track and field action this past weekend.

At the Mountain T’s Invitational in Flagstaff, Arizona, McCann cleared 4.35 metres to share first place and eclipse her previous indoor national record of 4.30 set at the same venue two years ago. She also met the standard for the world indoor championships March 5-7 in Budapest.

At the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame, Indiana, Nathan Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., was second in the men’s mile with an excellent time of 3:58.55, the fourth fastest time in the world this year and close to the standard for the world indoors.

At the same meet, Simon Bairu of Toronto was second in the 3,000 metre; Ryan McKenzie of Windsor, Ont., took the men’s 1,000; Heather Lee of Calgary was third in the women’s 3,000 and Lauren King of Toronto was second in the women’s mile.

In Saskatoon, Macrozonaris was one of several Canadian national team members at the 39th annual Knights of Columbus Indoor Games at the University of Saskatchewan. He swept the gold in the sprint events clocking 5.75 seconds in the 50 metres and a season-best 6.66 in the 60-metres.

‘’I had some trouble with my leg in the 50 and it re-surfaced in the 60-metre semifinal as well,’’ said Macrozonaris, who earned a third straight win in the 50 at the meet. ‘’In the 60 final I just wanted to stay relaxed. I feel things are coming together for me.’’

Also in Saskatoon, at his first event of the season, Earle Connor of Calgary lowered his own 60m indoor world record for above-knee amputees, posting a time of 7.83 seconds. Connor also holds world records in the 100m and 200m outdoor events

Tyler Christopher of Edmonton clocked a meet record 21.22 in the 200 metres for the gold medal. It is also the the fastest time ever recorded in Canada on a non-banked (flat surface) track.

Kelsie Hendry of Saskatoon wowed her home fans by successfully defending her title in the women’s pole vault clearing a personal best 4.21 metres.

Canadian record holder Philomenah Mensah of Surrey, B.C., bounced back from a third place finish in Saturday’s 50-metre to win the 60 the next day in 7.45 seconds. Angela Whyte of Edmonton won the women’s 60 hurdles and Kaltouma Nadjina of Calgary took the women’s 400 metres.

Meanwhile at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Douma notched her second win this season in the women’s 1,500 metres clocking 4:16.78. The previous weekend she took gold at the Boston Indoor Games.

‘’Carmen’s winter preparation is focused on her participation in the short course race at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships (next month in Brussels),’’ Martin Goulet, national program director- endurance for Athletics Canada. ‘’Given the quality of her latest results over the 1,500 and given the kind of preparation that she has currently it seems that she is putting all the building blocks together for a superb summer 2004 season.’’

There was also a big showdown in the women’s 60-metres hurdles as Gail Devers of the U.S., took the gold in 7.76 seconds to defeat world 100 hurdles outdoor champion Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont., second in 7.94. It was Felicien’s second race this season. She won last weekend at a meet at the University of Illinois.

At the Carle/Health Alliance Invitational in Champagne, Illinois, Yvonne Mensah of Surrey, B.C., (no relation to Philomenah Mensah) clocked a personal best 7.40 for gold in the 60-metres and notched another win in the 60 hurdles in 8.36. Mensah is a freshman hurdler /sprinter working with Gary Winckler, Perdita Felicien’s coach at the University of Illinois.

At the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska, Priscilla Lopes of Whitby, Ont., clocked a school record 8.15 seconds in the 60 hurdles for the gold medal and a personal best 23.98 in the 200 for the silver medal.

"I was very pleased with my time in the hurdles, getting the automatic qualifier (for the NCAA championships)," Lopes said. "I just want to try and beat my personal records and everything seems to be going well, so I am just going to keep training hard."

Finally at the annual High Jump to Music competition in Arnstadt, Germany, Maresa Cadienhead of Toronto cleared 1.90 metres for seventh place, just three centimetres off the world qualifying standard.

From AthleticsCanada.com.