Emerald
Gail Devers (130) returns to the Pretontaine Classic after finishing second in the 100 hurdles in 2001. The former UCLA star holds the
American (12.33) and Prefontaine Classic (12.64) records in the event.
Jones, Devers, Dragila
headline women’s field
■The 28th annual Prefontaine
Classic is set to go with some
of the world’s best athletes
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
They are the “Who’s Who” of
world-class athletes.
They’ve won gold medals,
earned world-record holding times,
and have jumped further and high
er than any women before them.
And for the 28th version of the
Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix,
they will come to Eugene as com
petitors, hoping to energize the
Hayward Field crowd.
They are Stacy Dragila, world
record holder in the pole vault; Gail
Devers, former Pacific-10 Confer
ence standout and world-renown
runner; and Sandie Richards, one
of the top high school athletes in
the nation.
But then, to make the list of ath
letes even more impressive, you
have one of the world’s most re
spected and well-known athletes in
the world. Marion Jones will return
to the Prefontaine to defend her
2001 title in the 100.
Jones will be competing in
her fifth Prefontaine Classic, win
ning the 100, 200, and long jump
twice. Jones has never lost an
event she has competed in at the
Prefontaine.
With so many of the world’s
finest athletes in so close of quar
ters, does this sound like the
Olympics?
‘‘Any time you have the
world record holder, it
makes a difference.
She will push the others. ”
Tom Jordan
meet director on Stacy Dragila,
the world record holder
in women’s pole vault
“In terms of the quality of the
field, it’s very close,” meet director
Tom Jordan said.
First, there’s Dragila, the world
record holder in the pole vault. It
had been expected that the indoor
world record holder Svetlana Feo
fanova would descend upon Hay
ward to challenge Dragila, but that
has now changed due to the Russ
ian’s inability to stay healthy.
Now, in a field that features four
other women who have cleared the
15-foot mark — the required height
for entrance into the classic —
Dragila is still the woman to beat.
“Any time you have the world
record holder, it makes a differ
ence,” Jordan said. “She will push
the others.”
But then, the Eugene crowd will
have a chance to see one of the
most respected, and most success
ful, athletes in the world.
Devers, former UCLA star and
the 2001 Prefontaine Classic run
ner-up in the 100 hurdles, returns
to the field as the best bet in
the event.
But Devers means more to Jordan
and the Eugene crowd than just as
a competitor. Devers is a living leg
end, a type of athlete that excels at
the highest and most competitive
meets, and comes around just once
in a while.
“You want to make sure you see
an athlete like that,” Jordan said,
“because you never know when
she might hang ’em up.
Turn to Women’s, page 4C
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