Jesse Owens Track Classic Begins Third Decade as Ohio State’s Premier Track and Field Event – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 2, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – This weekend, athletes from all levels will converge in Columbus for the Jesse Owens Track Classic, which moves into its third decade in 2006. Like the “J.O. Classics” of the past, the 21st running of the meet will present a stage for scholastic, collegiate and post-collegiate athletes to perform at their highest levels in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
A field of nearly 650 athletes includes more than 60 Ohio high school boy’s and girl’s squads that will give way to top-notch collegiate and professional fields in the evening portion of the schedule each day. Highlighting that evening section is a contingent of post-collegiate athletes, ranging from Team USA to numerous club-level squads.
“We are honored to play host to the 21st running of the Jesse Owens Track Classic,” Russ Rogers, Ohio State head coach, said. “This is a great event for athletes at all levels and is held in a facility named in tribute of Jesse Owens. The Classic is a held in a wonderful facility and serves as a permanent tribute to not only a tremendous athlete but a great humanitarian and sportsman.”
In its history, the Jesse Owens Track Classic has served as a top venue for many future and former Olympians. Current and past record holders for the Jesse Owens Track Classic include Olympic medalists John Drummond, Michelle Finn, Allen Johnson, Edwin Moses, Dwight Stones and former Buckeyes Diane Dixon, Joe Greene and Butch Reynolds. Others of Olympic fame include Judi Brown, Roger Kingdom, Carl Lewis, Louise Ritter and Calvin Smith, as well as past OSU Olympians Mark Croghan and Stephanie Hightower.
Whether at the high school, collegiate or professional levels, all competitors in each edition of the Jesse Owens Track Classic experience the true sense of the spirit and virtue of the four-time gold medal-winning hero.
“The Jesse Owens Classic is named for perhaps the finest Olympian of all-time,” Robert Gary, Ohio State cross country head coach and two-time Olympian in the steeplechase, said. “Matched with the great facility we have at Ohio State, the Classic has been and will continue to be one of the premier events in the country for years to come. Incorporating the high school events has helped the Classic reach top competition at several levels.”
This year, the Jesse Owens Classic features several headline events:
Men’s 100-meter dash invitational preview (6:40 p.m. Saturday): The 100m dash displays six entries that carry sub-10.3 times. USA Track and Field’s Chris Johnson leads the list with a top time of 10.22. Former Cincinnati Bearcat Kenny Wade’s entry mark of 10.25 ranks as the second-fastest seed time and is followed closely by LeTra Lewis, with ACE Athletics track club, at 10.26.
Team USA’s Tim Walls (10.28) and Lamont Johnson (10.29) also are considered favorites as is Lewis’ ACE teammate Derrick Johnson, who possesses a 10.29 this year. Former Ghana Olympian Tanko Braimah also will challenge at the finish line. He has a career best of 10.28.
Ohio State will have two representatives in the 100m in senior Todd Dutch and sophomore Tony Cole. Dutch clocked a career-best 10.3 at the 2005 J.O. Classic. Cole posted his career-best of 10.43 earlier this season at the Sea Ray Relays April 15 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Men’s 200-meter dash invitational preview (7:40 p.m. Saturday): Leo Settle of USATF owns the top seed time at 20.65. Braimah, Johnson, Lewis and Wade all will run the 200m as well. Dutch also will bolster the field. Lewis has posted a 20.75, followed by 20.8 times from both Johnson and Wade. Last year, Dutch topped off his best meet at Ohio State with a personal-best 20.83 to win the Classic 200m.
Women’s 100- and 200-meter dash invitational previews (6:40 p.m. Saturday): The women’s 100m dash pits defending Big Ten champion Jenna Harris of Ohio State against ACE Athletics’ Trinity Davis, a former NCAA Division II national champion. Davis and Harris also will be challenged by Kiamesha Otey of ACE, who was a three-time All-American at Virginia from 2000-03. Davis owns a top time of 11.33 and Otey has an 11.43. Team USA’s LaToya Fry carries an 11.44 into the meet. Harris’ best came with her winning time of 11.55 at the 2005 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The foursome also will vie for the 200m crown. Davis has the top time in that event as well at 23.23. Otey, who also will compete in the long jump Saturday, has a 23.4. Fry totes a 23.45 and Harris is in at 23.61
Men’s 800-meter invitational preview (7:20 p.m. Saturday): The men’s 800m boasts six athletes with sub-1:50 marks. Mike Inge, formerly of Kent State, heads the crew. He competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and narrowly missed a berth in the finals. Ricardo Bell of the Indiana Invaders track club and former Conference USA 800m champion from East Carolina also will vie for the top spot. Kent State and Kentucky also offer two sub-1:50 runners in Ray Armstrong and Bouke Onstenk and Stephen Smith and John Richardson, respectively.
Men’s mile invitational preview (8 p.m. Saturday): The mile invitational features an intriguing combination of Ohio State ties and top-level national runners. Joining OSU’s two-time NCAA All-American Brian Olinger is teammate and freshman Jeff See, who claimed the 2005 Nike High School Outdoor Mile National Championship in his senior campaign last year at Middletown (Ohio).
A former Buckeye also will serve as one of the mile favorites. Rob Myers, a two-time All-American for Ohio State from 2001-04, now competes for Reebok. He was ranked No. 3 in the mile among U.S. competitors in 2005 and owns a personal-best time of 3:53.
Team Reebok also is represented in the Jesse Owens mile by Matt Gabrielson, 2006 World Cross Country 12K team member, and Bryan Berryhill, who won the 2001 NCAA championship in the mile. Berryhill also was a member of the 2001 USATF team in the mile and gained a position on the 2003 U.S. World Championships Team.
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase invitational preview (8:40 p.m. Friday): Ohio State distance coach and two-time U.S. Olympian Robert Gary again contributes to perhaps the finest event of the 2006 Owens Classic. He is joined by fellow 2004 Olympian Anthony Famiglietti of adidas, who won the 2002 U.S. steeplechase title. Famiglietti won last year’s invite in a JOMS record-setting time of 8:20.04 and is back to defend his “J.O. Classic” crown this year.
In addition to Famiglietti, the event welcomes back several more world-class steeplers. David Cheromei of Virginia Intermont, Solomon Kandie, who won the steeple at the Mt. Sac Relays last month, and Jordan Desiliets, the 2004 NCAA steeple champion who competes with Reebok, all are back to challenge Famiglietti’s 2005 crown.
Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase invitational preview (8 p.m. Friday): Ann Gaffigan of New Balance, the 2004 U.S. Steeplechase champion, will highlight the women’s distance events. The former Nebraska Cornhusker owns the American record of 9:39.35 in the steeplechase, set at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. She did not gain an Olympic bid because the women’s steeple is not scheduled to become an Olympic event until 2008. Delilah DiCrescenzo of Westchester Track Club should be Gaffigan’s top competition with a time of 10:06.68. Ohio State record holder Melanie Price also is entered in the steeple field. She set the Buckeye standard of 10:46.55 last season.
Men’s discus preview (5:30 p.m. Saturday): The men’s discus may be a one-man competition for the top spot. Kibwe Johnson, who will compete unattached, was a Top 8 finisher in the discus at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. He is a disciple of former American record holder Jud Logan, Ashland’s head coach. Johnson and his top mark of 200 feet, 1 1/2 inches will get pressure from Alabama tandem of Steven Boozer (191-10) and Jason Dixon (180-0). OSU sophomore Lenny Jatsek will compete for a top mark as well. The 2005 Big Ten Indoor Weight Champion has a top discus mark of 173-3 1/2 this year.
Men’s hammer preview (6 p.m. Friday): Johnson also serves as the favorite in the hammer. He owns a best this year of more than 246 feet. A pair of throwers from the Indiana Invaders could give Johnson his biggest test. Dameion Smith has a top throw of 230-4 1/2 and fellow Invader Garland Porter has reached as far as 219-5 3/4. Ohio State will be represented by its throws coach Kevin Mannon and Jatsek, who leads four current OSU student-athletes in the competition. As an athlete, Mannon was a 12-time All-American between two-year stints at South Carolina and Wyoming. The West Jefferson, Ohio native set the American Collegiate record in the indoor weight in 1999. That record was snapped in 2004 by former Buckeye All-American Dan Taylor (2001-04).
Men’s Relays (Saturday): D. Johnson, L. Johnson, Lewis, Settle, Walls and Team USA’s Ivory Williams all will compete in the men’s 4×100-meter relay.
