Posted: August 1, 2004

Athletics: Team USA dominates field events at NACAC

INDIANAPOLIS – Team USA dominated field event action by taking the top two positions in five separate competitions Saturday at the third annual North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Track & Field Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The three-day event will conclude on Sunday.

More than 400 athletes from 28 countries are competing at the Universite de Sherbrooke Athletics Stadium. The NACAC Athletic Association's Under-23 Championships are held every two years in one of the 32 member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association, one of six regional athletics associations affiliated with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Team USA’s men’s horizontal jumpers took center stage Saturday by claiming the top two positions in both the long and triple jumps. Indiana University 2004 NCAA runner-up and senior-to-be Aarik Wilson won the triple jump with a best effort of 16.69 meters/54 feet, 9.25 inches. Allen Simms, who will be a senior at the University of Southern California in the fall, grabbed the silver medal with leap of 16.24m/53-3.50.

The men’s long jump competition told the same tale as former UCLA star Juaune Armon and Matthew Mason of Washington State University finished 1-2 respectively. Armon won the competition with a leap of 7.52m/24-8.25, with Mason the runner-up with a best of 7.43m/24-4.50.

The U.S. also manhandled the competition in the discus as Southern Methodist University’s Michael Robertson, who placed third at the 2004 NCAA Championships, won the event with a throw of 58.57m/192-2. 2002 Big Ten Conference champion Karl Erickson of the University of Minnesota was the runner-up with a toss of 55.83m/183-2.

Not to be outdone, Team USA’s Laura Gerraughty and Jillian Camarena also went 1-2 respectively in the women’s shot put. The reigning U.S. and NCAA champion, Gerraughty’s next stop will be the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens after her victory at the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier this month in Sacramento. Gerraughty won Saturday with a best of 17.32 meters/56 feet, 10 inches. Stanford University’s Camarena, who was the runner-up to Gerraughty in Sacramento, placed second with her throw of 17.11m/56-1.75.

It was the same story in the women’s discus as 2004 NCAA champion Rebecca Breisch of the University of Nebraska won the event with a throw of 53.26m/174-9, with 2004 NCAA runner-up Dayana Octavien placing second with a best of 48.95m/160-7.

The U.S. also enjoyed success in the men’s 400m hurdles as Laron Bennett and Benjamin Wiggins finished 1-2 respectively. Bennett, who will be a senior at the University of Georgia this fall, won the race in 49.40 seconds. A semi-finalist at the 2004 Olympic Trials, Wiggins was the runner-up in 49.93. Wiggins returns to his role as a wide receiver for the Rice University football team this fall before rejoining his Owls’ teammates on the track next spring.

2004 NCAA champion Joshua Walker of the University of Florida won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.78 seconds, and the University of Oregon’s Michael Mitchum was the runner-up in 13.86.

In other running events, LSU senior Lori Jones won the 100m hurdles in 13.05 seconds, with UCLA senior Hasani Roseby placing third in 13.27. Elsewhere, 2003 NCAA third-place finisher Jamie Krzyminski of Michigan State University won the 5,000 meters in 16 minutes, 26.51 seconds and 2004 NCAA Outdoor champion Wallace Spearmon of the University of Arkansas won the 200 meters (20.59)

In action on Friday, Americans took the top spots in the women’s hammer as Loree Smith of Fort Collins, Colo., led the way with her winning throw of 63.83 meters/209 feet, 5 inches, and Jessica Cosby of Mission Hills, Calif., was the runner-up with a throw of 63.70m/209-0. In the only other final contested on Friday, Jonathan Takahashi of Redondo Beach, Calif., won the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 5.20m/17-0.75.

For complete results from the 2004 NACAC Championships, visit: www.nacac2004.ca.