Track and Field (M)
By JAMES CHRISTIE
(reprinted from GlobeandMail.com)
Canadian national team members Nicolas Macrozonaris and Hank Palmer will duel over 60 metres in the 13th annual McGill challenge track and field meet, Friday and Saturday, as Canadian athletes kick off their bids to qualify for the indoor world championships in Valencia, Spain and the Beijing Olympic team.
The event brings together some 700 athletes from 17 post-secondary institutions. The Friday night schedule features the special 60 metre invitational sprint.
Macrozonaris, currently ranked third in Canada over the short board track with a time of 6.70 seconds will try to break his Tomlinson Fieldhouse record of 6.56 at McGill. Palmer is currently the top-ranked Canadian sprinter with a personal best of 6.67 set in in Hanover, N.H.
On the women's side, the 300-metre invitational special will feature four top Canadian sprinters, led by Esther Akinsulie of Ottawa (2007 Canadian senior champion over 100 and 200 metres), Adrianne Powers (ranked first in Canada in 2007 over 200 metres with a time of 23.06), Marnie Cloutier-Leblanc (top-ranked in Quebec over 400 metres) and Kimberly Hyacinthe (2007 Canadian junior champion at 200 metres).
Sprint veteran Anson Henry will miss the Canadian event, to run in the first International Association of Athletics Federations permit meet in Moscow.
The indoor worlds take place March 6-8 and have been a stepping stone for some of Canada's best outdoor talent. Since the indoor worlds' inception, Canadians have won 21 medals. Most recently Carmen Douma-Hussar from Cambridge, Ont., won silver in 2004 in the 1,500 metres. In 2003 Perdita Felicien from Pickering, Ont., won in the 60 metre hurdles, en route to a dominant season in which she also won the outdoor worlds.
2008 IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings January 27 Russian Winter Meeting Moscow, Russia February 1 Millrose Games New York, NY February 2 Sparkassen-Cup Stuttgart, Germany February 9 Ciudad de Valencia Valencia, Spain February 10 BW-Bank Meeting Karlsruhe, Germany February 13 Athina 2008 Athens, Greece February 16 Norwich Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham, Great Britain February 21 GE Galan Stockholm, Sweden February 24 Flanders Indoor Gent Gent, BelgiumSOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca