Posted: March 30, 2005

Athletics: Kastor named USATF Athlete of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS - Deena Kastor has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after running the second-fastest women's 8 km in U.S. history Saturday at the USA 8 km Championships in New York City.

The Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) ran away from the field to cross the finish line in 25 minutes 5 seconds, just short of Lynn Jennings's American record of 25:02, set in 1991 in Washington, D.C.

Americans posted several early season, world-leading marks over the weekend, nearly all of them coming at the Stanford Invitational. At Stanford, Jessa Chance of Baylor won the 3,000m steeplechase with a world-leading time of 10:19.21. A senior, Chance's time also breaks Angela Marvin's school record of 10:23.73 set in 2003. Other world-leaders from the meet included Southern California junior Virginia Powell, who ran 12.95 to win the 100m hurdles. Her time shattered Gail Devers' long-standing Stanford Invitational meet record time of 13.18, set while Devers was at UCLA, in 1988. Kim Fitchen-Young won the women's 10,000m with a WL time of 32:47.79, and Tracy O'Hara cleared 4.40m/14-5.25 to win the women's pole vault. Phil McMullen had a world-lead performance in the men's decathlon at the multi-event at Cal, scoring 7922 total points.

Now in its fifth year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2005 USATF Athlete of the Week Winners: January 4, Amy Rudolph; January 11, Dathan Ritzenhein; January 18, Janine Davis; January 25, Wallace Spearmon Jr.; February 1, Erin Gilreath; February 8, LaShawn Merritt; February 15, LaShawn Merritt; February 22, Walter Davis; March 1, Angela Daigle; March 8, Gov. Mike Huckabee; March 15, Kerron Clement; March 22, Lauren Fleshman; March 29, Deena Kastor.

BEST MARKS WEEK ENDING MARCH 27 
MEN 
100 - 10.28 Josh Norman (Unattached) - Waco, TX 3/26
200 - 20.85 John Woods (Unattached) - Ft. Collins, CO 3/26
800 - 1:46.78 Jonathon Johnson (Texas Tech) - Stanford, CA 3/26
1500 - 3:42.82 Jon Rankin (UCLA) - Stanford, CA 3/26
3000SC - 8:40.48 Josh McAdams (BYU) - Stanford, CA 3/26
5000 - 13:40.90 Ben Bruce (Cal Poly SLO) - Stanford, CA 3/25
10,000 - 28:31.39 Matt Lane (Nike) - Stanford, CA 3/25
110H - 13.79 Linnie Yarbrough (Middle Tennessee St.) - Clemson, SC 3/26
400H - 49.40 Bennie Brazzell (LSU) - Baton Rouge, LA 3/26
HJ - 2.25/7-4.5 Jesse Williams (USC) - Stanford, CA 3/26
PV - 5.50/18-0.5 Adam Keul (Unattached) - Baton Rouge, LA 3/26
TJ - 16.24/53-3.5 Allen Simms (USC) - Stanford, CA 3/26
SP - 19.67/64-6.5 Sean Shields (Arizona) - Tucson, AZ 3/26
DT - 61.62/202-2 Carl Brown (Holyfield Intl.) - Gainesville, FL 3/25
HT - 72.70/238-6 Kibwe Johnson (Unattached) - Tempe, AZ 3/26
JT - 78.87/258-9 Brian Chaput (NYAC) - Philadelphia, PA 3/26
Dec - 7922 Phil McMullen (decaimages.com) - Berkeley, CA 3/24World leader

WOMEN 
100 - 11.37 Marshevet Hooker (Texas) - Austin, TX 3/26
200 - 22.84 Tremedia Brice (Texas Southern) - Houston, TX 3/26
400 - 53.05 Stephanie Smith (South Carolina) - Gainesville, FL 3/25
800 - 2:05.97 Heidi Magill (BYU) - Stanford, CA 3/26
1500 - 4:12.77 Nicole Teter (Nike) - Stanford, CA 3/26
3000SC - 10:19.21 Jessa Chance (Baylor) - Stanford, CA 3/25World leader
5000 - 16:14.30 Stephanie Madia (Notre Dame) - Stanford, CA 3/25
10,000 - 32:47.79 Kim Fitchen-Young (Unattached) - Stanford, CA 3/25World leader
100H - 12.95 Virginia Powell (USC) - Stanford, CA 3/26World leader
400H - 58.17 Meka Rembert-Thompson (Sheffield Elite) - Houston, TX 3/26
HJ - 1.84/6-0.5 Deirdre Mullen (Connecticut), Sharon Day (Cal Poly SLO) 
& Kaylene Wagner (Cal Poly SLO) 3/26
PV - 4.40/14-5.25 Tracy O'Hara (Unattached) - Stanford, CA 3/26World leader
LJ - 6.31/20-8.5 Antonette Carter (California) - Gainesville, FL 3/25
TJ - 12.93/42-5.25 Nina Henson (Illinois) - Tucson, AZ 3/26
SP - 18.29/60-0.25 Adriane Blewitt (Ashland Elite) - Tempe, AZ 3/26
DT - 54.21/177-10 Amarachi Ukabam (Southern Illinois) - Carbondale, IL 3/26
HT - 67.91/221-10 Erin Gilreath (NYAC) - Gainesville, FL 3/26
JT - 55.49/182-1 Dana Pounds (Air Force Academy) - Tempe, AZ 3/26
Hept - 5474 Ashley Selig (Nebraska) - Berkeley, CA 3/24

Source: USATF.org.