Posted: April 25, 2006

Athletics: USATF News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 26

Felix, Cantwell post world leaders at Kansas Relays

Allyson Felix and Christian Cantwell each posted world leading marks during the Goldzone II program Saturday at the 79th Kansas Relays in Lawrence.

The reigning world outdoor champion in the women's 200 meters, Felix found another gear for the last 40 meters of her race in winning the 100 meters in a new personal best time of 11.04 seconds. Her performance bettered her previous personal best of 11.05 set in Yokohama last September. Kansas City native and crowd favorite Muna Lee was the runner-up in 11.13 seconds, with 2005 World Outdoor Championships 200m silver medalist Rachelle Smith third in 11.20.

"It was decent," said Felix. "The first half of the race was a bit sluggish, but I am happy with how it turned out for the day. It was my first individual 100 victory."

2004 World Indoor men's shot put champion Christian Cantwell was the dominant performer on Saturday, winning his specialty with a world-leading toss of 21.43 meters/ 70 feet, 3.75 inches. Each of Cantwell's five measured throws was greater than runner-up Dan Taylor's best of 19.92m/65-4.25.

Cantwell told IAAF.org, "I'm pretty happy with it. It's my best opener for outdoors ever. So far I'm doing well injury-wise this year. I had knee surgery in September and it took me a while to recover from that, but I think if I can stay healthy I'll be ready to break a record here pretty soon."

In other individual events, reigning world 400m hurdles champion Bershawn Jackson returned to defend his Kansas Relays title and ran comfortably in third place before exploding in the final turn to take the lead. He held on to win in the third-fastest time in the world this year of 48.34 seconds.

Elsewhere, 2004 NCAA champion Nichole Denby passed Jenny Adams late in the race to win the women's 100m hurdles in 12.98 seconds, and Crystal Cox looked strong in winning the women's 200 meters in 22.85 seconds, finishing just four-hundreths of a second ahead of runner-up Torri Edwards. In men's action, World Indoor 60m champion Leonard Scott won the men's 200 meters in 20.48 seconds.

2004 100-meter Olympic Champion Justin Gatlin and his Sprint Capitol teammates Dwight Thomas, Rodney Martin and Shawn Crawford won the men's 4x100m relay race in 38.16 seconds. Their performance bettered the previous Kansas Relays record of 38.45held by Allen Johnson, Ato Boldon, Dwight Howard and Maurice Greene. In Saturday's race, Greene took the baton and easily picked off two runners on the anchor leg, but could not overcome Gatlin's head start down the stretch. Greene's HSI squad of Kaaron Conwright, Allen Johnson and Leonard Scott finished in 39.02.

In the women's 4x100-meter relay, the USA All-Stars team of Rachelle Boone, Allyson Felix, Kia Davis and Muna Lee easily won over an unattached team of Nichole Denby, Torri Edwards, Angela Williams and Crystal Cox. The All-Stars' time of 42.91 convincingly bested the runners-up, who finished in 44.12.

A crowd of 26,211 was in attendance on Saturday, surpassing 2005's mark of 24,619 as the second-most in Relays history.

For more information on the 2006 Kansas Relays, including the complete results, visit: kuathletics.cstv.com.

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Kreiner breaks her own American record

Three-time USA Outdoor champion Kim Kreiner set a new American women's javelin throw record Saturday afternoon at the Woody Wilson Classic in Davis, California.

Kreiner's winning throw of 60.88 meters/199 feet, 9 inches bettered her previous record of 60.86m/199-8 set in winning the gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

For more information on the Woody Wilson Classic, including the complete results, visit:

http://ucdavisaggies.cstv.com/sports/c-track/recaps/042306aaa.html

Wariner posts 400m world leader

Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner opened his 2006 individual outdoor campaign by defeating a strong field with a world-leading 400m performance Saturday at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.

Wariner dominated the field, which included three other sub-45 competitors, with his winning time of 44.12 seconds. Wariner's training partner, and fellow world and Olympic relay gold medalist, Darold Williamson also ran very well with his runner-up finish in 44.88. Jamel Ashley, who was the runner-up to Williamson at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, was third in 45.51, with Jamaican Sanjay Ayre finishing fourth in 45.96.

For more information on the Michael Johnson Invitational, including the complete results, visit: /baylorbears.cstv.com.

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