Posted: January 9, 2006

Athletics: News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 2

Rhett breaks long standing record

Collegiate sprint champion Amandi Rhett broke a 20 year-old record Saturday during the second preliminary meet of the Colgate Women's Games in Brooklyn, N.Y.

A 23-year-old resident of Willingboro, N.J., Rhett posted a new personal best when she shattered Diane Dixon's 1986 Colgate Women's Games 55m record of 6.85 with a 6.6 performance. Last week Rhett ran a very fast 6.8, but hand-time conversions fell short of Dixon's electronically timed score. This week, Meet Director Fred Thompson said standard conversions confirm that Rhett had broken the College/Open 55 meters record.

On Friday evening in the High School division, newcomer Feyisara Adaramoia of the Bronx continued to dominate the 55 meters, repeating last week's outstanding 6.9 performance for first place. Channel Smith of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland, also remains in first place after her 25.6 run in the 200 meters.

Four preliminary events and a semi-final are held throughout January with top winners from each age/grade division advancing to the finals at Madison Square Garden on February 4, 2006, where they will compete for trophies and educational grants-in-aid from Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Follow scores of all top competitors and request free tickets to the Madison Square Garden finals at www.colgategames.com.

Petty completes second marathon

Kyle Petty, a 26-year NASCAR veteran and son of racing legend Richard Petty, competed in his second marathon Sunday at the 2006 Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando, Fla.

Petty ran the Las Vegas Marathon last January, his first, as part of a fundraising effort for his family's Victory Junction Gang charity. Running alongside fellow NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip, he finished in four hours and 16 minutes. On Sunday he crossed the finish line in 4:52.03.

Paige Higgins of Littleton, Colo., won the women's Walt Disney World Marathon race in 2:51:35, with Adriano Bastos of Brazil the overall men's winner in 2:19:43.

For complete results of the 2006 Walt Disney World Marathon, visit: DoItSports.com.

USATF seeks Communications Coordinator

USA Track & Field (USATF), the National Governing Body for track & field, long distance running, and race walking is seeking a candidate with strong writing and organizational skills to work in our Communications Department.

The candidate should be hardworking, energetic, detail-oriented and personable and should demonstrate a strong understanding of the Olympic Sport movement, especially track & field. This position requires significant domestic and international travel (often on weekends) throughout the year, including the USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, World Junior Championships, Junior Olympic National Championships and several Visa Championship Series events.

The candidate will work with the Communications department under the supervision of the Director of Communications. Duties include (but are not limited to) oversight of communications efforts for USATF junior, youth and masters programs; administration of USATF's Athlete of the Week program; writing and editing general press releases; fielding media inquiries; maintaining athlete biographies and email and event calendar databases; overseeing the collection of daily news clippings; and pitching human-interest and other stories to the media.

For more information on the Communications Coordinator Position, including minimum requirements and salary, visit USATF.org.

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