Posted: June 18, 2005

Athletics: USATF News & Notes, Volume 6: Number 48

Nike Run Hit Wonder Tour ready to rock the streets this summer

The Nike Run Hit Wonder taps into the unifying force between music and athletes in training. It has created a following of fitness runners that celebrate a common love of running to music.

The 2005 tour kicks off in New York's Central Park July 20 and then continues on to Portland (July 24), Chicago (Sept.13) and Los Angeles (Sept. 24).

Coming off a sell-out tour in 2004, thousands of runners will rock this summer's 5-mile (New York) and 5K/10K (Portland, LA & Chicago) Run Hit Wonder races while they run to sounds of "I Love Rock N' Roll," "Take It Off," and "Stacy's Mom."

To encourage participation for the events in each city, Nike is hosting training runs to allow runners to maximize their training, socialize with fellow runners and test drive the newest performance Nike running gear.

NikeGO, Nike's national community affairs program commitment to getting youth physically active, will also donate 500 race entries to local youth groups in New York, Portland and Chicago and 1000 race entries in L.A. to promote health and fitness to those in the community. Additionally, NikeGO will also donate $100,000 to support Portland Park & Rec programs to get kids active.

For more information on the race, training runs and to register, visit www.nikerunhitwonder.com or call 1-877-4-RUNHIT.

Buttry tabbed Honda Division III Athlete of Year

Wartburg College's cross country/track & field standout Missy Buttry will receive the 2005 Honda's Division III Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Award during a June 29 press conference in the Low Library Rotunda at Columbia University in New York City.

The award honors the top woman athlete from colleges and universities competing in NCAA Division III. In recognition of the award, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., will donate $5,000 to the Wartburg women's athletic program.

One of the most decorated Division III student-athletes, Buttry has won 12 individual national championships in cross country and track and field. She is tied for third in all divisions among all-time women's individual national titleholders

Buttry concluded her collegiate career in front of a home crowd at Walston-Hoover Stadium as Wartburg hosted the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 26-28. She won the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, her 11th and 12th national individual titles, and led her team to the national championship, Wartburg's first in any women's team sport.

UCLA'S Monique Henderson voted track & field Athlete of the Year

Olympic 4x400m relay gold medalist, Monique Henderson, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been voted the nation's top collegiate female track & field athlete. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 29th year.

Henderson's victory will earn her the Honda Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, as well as an automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. She was voted over three other nominees: sophomore Marshevet Hooker from the University of Texas, sophomore Tianna Madison from the University of Tennessee and junior Virginia Powell from the University of Southern California. The nominees in track & field were selected by the National Association of Collegiate Track & Field Coaches.

She won the 400m at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Henderson's personal-best winning time of 50.10 was the fifth-fastest all-time collegiate 400m mark, while also setting new NCAA meet, PAC-10 and UCLA records. At the 2005 NCAA West Regional meet in Eugene, Ore., she became the first woman in meet history to repeat as 200m/400m champion, and at the 2005 Pac-10 Championships at UCLA. She became just the second woman in conference meet history to repeat victories in both the 200m/400m. Henderson is also ranked fifth best in the world and has been named the West Region's Athlete of the Year. In her career, she is an eight-time All-American, seven-time Pac-10 Champion and six-time West Region Champion.