Posted: February 11, 2006

Athletics: Spearmon's World Record concludes exciting Tyson Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - The crowds were lined up outside and waiting to get in when the doors opened at the Randal Tyson Track Center in anticipation of seeing hometown favorite Wallace Spearmon set a world record in the 300 meters. Spearmon did not disappoint.

The third stop on the Visa Championship Series, the Tyson Invitational will be broadcast from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 12, on ESPN2.

Spearmon runs 300m World Record

Wallace Spearmon, the world outdoor 200m silver medalist, brought home a $25,000 bonus from Tyson Foods, with his world record win in the 300 meter sprint in a time of 31.88 seconds. Second and third place finishers Kerron Clement and LaShawn Merritt also were under the previous world record time of 32.19 seconds, with each clocking in at 31.94.

Jackson Flies in men's 400m

After going out in 20.08 seconds for the first 200m, the world outdoor 400m hurdle champion, Bershawn Jackson won the Visa men's 400 meters in a world-leading 46.00 seconds. With the win, Jackson moves into second place in the Visa Championship Series. Just behind Jackson was Chris Brown of the Bahamas, the fourth place finisher at the world outdoor championships, in second with a time of 46.03 seconds and Jamel Ashley was third in 46.53.

Acuff soars to win in High Jump

Three-time Olympian Amy Acuff won the women's high jump with a Tyson Center record of 1.95 meters/6 feet 4.75 inches. Two-time U.S. Indoor champion Gwen Wentland cleared 1.86m/6-1.25 and world championships silver medalist Chaunte Howard came in third with the same mark of 1.86m/6-1.25 but had more misses.

Lunn impresses in men's mile

Two-time USA indoor champion Jason Lunn won the men's mile in 3:55.87 going through the 1500m in 3:41.31. The time is second in the world and the fastest by an American this indoor season. Second was David Freeman in 3:59.61 and third was Russell Brown of Stanford in 3:59.65.

Hartwig wins again

American indoor record holder and Millrose Games champion Jeff Hartwig won the men's pole vault with a leap of 5.70 meters/18 feet 8.25 inches. For the second time in two weeks, Brad Walker placed second to Hartwig with a vault of 5.60m/18-4.5. 2000 NCAA champion Russ Buller was third, going 5.50m/18-0.50.

Trammell edges out competition

Two-time Olympic hurdles silver medalist Terrence Trammell beat out the competition in the men's 60 meter dash, running a U.S.-leading 6.56 seconds. Running an identical time, local favorite and NCAA 100m champion Tyson Gay came in second. Third place went to Jason Smoots in 6.58, with Shawn Crawford finishing in a fourth place time of 6.60.

Campbell wins rematch

Olympic 200 meter gold medalist Veronica Campbell (JAM) won her rematch with Me'Lisa Barber, beating USA outdoor 100m champion Barber to the line and tying the world-leading mark of 7.04 seconds. After a false start, Barber was able to come back and place second with a time of 7.10. Coming in third was 100m world champion Lauryn Williams in 7.16.

Goucher runs U.S. leader

Boaz Cheboiywo won the men's 3,000m with the second fastest time in the world this year of 7 minutes 35.65 seconds. In second was Adam Goucher with a U.S. leading time of 7:41.59, besting the previous U.S. leader by almost ten seconds. Kevin Sullivan ran his way to third place with a Canadian national record time of 7:42.17. The European champion and 6-time NCAA titlist Arkansas alum Alistair Cragg dropped out of the race with just over three laps to go.

More Winners

Kenia Sinclair, of Jamaica, won the women's 800m race in a time of 2:01.81. Alice Schmidt, two time NCAA champion, came in second running 2:03.50 which is the second fastest time by an American so far this year.

NCAA record holder Tiffany McWilliams won the women's mile with a time of 4:30.60 over Mestawot Tadesse of Ethiopia in 4:30.92.

Tyson Invitational Athlete Quotes

Men's 400 Metter Winner Bershawn Johnson (On first half of race) "They came through 20.08, that's just stupid fast. But, I stuck to my gameplan and executed. It wasn't that I was going slow, it's that the race was so fast. This is the first time I've been healthy all season."

Women's High Jump Winner Amy Acuff I felt like I was just kind of warming up out here. Practice is going great. It's hard to get back into a rhythm out there. I'm hoping I can fine tune it in the next few weeks. It feels really lgood to jump 1.95 after last year being such a miserable injury year for me. It feels just great.

Women's 1 Mile Winner, Tiffany McWilliams "I wasn't planning on leading. I wanted to try a different strategy, but everyone tried to give me the lead. I tried to play the race by ear. The last 200 I wanted to give it all I had, and it happened to be enough.

Men's Mile Winner Jason Lunn "My previous races this year have had more of an international flare, but this this race had more Americans. I wanted to get out in the top 3 and chase away the, rabbits. I heard the rabbits would get out in this race, and I wanted to get ahead of them early. (On running 2nd fastest time in world this year) "My two fastest times I've run are on this track. I've been close the last couple of weeks, and honestly, in my heart and in my legs, I feel I'm ready for 3.54 or 3.53."

Men's 60-Meter Dash Winner Terrance Trammell "I like this track. Fayetteville has always been good to me. I always jump at the chance to come run here in Fayetteville. This is the fastest track in the world, so that doesn't hurt either. The competition in this field is great for American sprinters. It's making up for a great U.S. Championships in a couple of weeks."

Men's Pole Vault Winner Jeff Hartwig "I sort of have mixed emotions about my performance. This is certainly the best track I've jumped on, and my favorite track to jump on. I jumped really well, and I used a stiffer pole and that is a sign of progress. I just didn't make the adjustments necessary, but I fell like I'm really close."

Women's 60-Menter Dash Winner Veronica Campbell "I'm totally happy. It's a personal best. As long as I'm confident, I can run this well, and my training has been really good."

Men's 300 Meter Winner Wallace Spearmon, Jr. "I tried to get out strong, eat up the field, see where I was in the back stretch and come home. I talked to one of my teammates before the race, and got real motivated. It got me pretty excited and pretty ready to run. It feels like I'm back at home. It felt like I had an Arkansas jersey on, I had to look down and realize it wasn't. My name is in the books, and hopefully I can come back strong and get my name in the books again."

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