Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@daiIyemerald.com
Tuesday, May 27,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NBA Playoffs:
Dallas at San Antonio, Game 5
6 p.m., TNT
Women shine with world, Pre records
The women set high track
and field standards at Saturday’s
Pre Classic at Hayward Field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The 29th annual Prefontaine Classic had
its typical flair Saturday afternoon under
gloomy skies and humid temperatures.
Nearly every event set the top marks
in the world this year. And it wouldn’t
be the Pre Classic if bigger records
weren’t broken along the way.
The women’s 1,500 meter race, the
first running event, set the stage.
Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak outkicked
Suzy Favor Hamilton in the final 200
meters for a 4 minute, 2 second finish.
Ceplak’s time was the fastest in the
world by seven seconds this year. Fa
vor Hamilton, a former Eugene native,
finished second in 4:03.47, but wasn’t
disappointed.
“I’m really quite pleased with today,
it felt really really good,” Favor Hamil
ton said. “Most of the world times are
under four minutes but it’s a great time
to start off.”
Kelli White of the United States im
pressed as the only women in the 100
meter dash to run under 11 seconds.
White’s time of 10.96 leads the world
this year.
Chryste Gaines, an Olympic gold
medalist, finished second in 11.03.
The 100 meter high hurdles consisted
of a star-studded field from the USA and
Jamaica. Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster
crossed the line first in 12.45, a new
Hayward Field and Pre Classic record.
Foster’s time also broke her previous Ja
maican national record by .04 seconds.
“Technically it was a great race
and I have to be grateful for that,”
Foster said. “I was hoping to run
around 12.5 and that would be satis
factory. My start has improved dra
matically from last year, and I think
that is what made the difference.”
Gail Devers, who set the Hayward
Field and Prefontaine Classic record
at 12.64 in 2000, struggled while
recovering from an injury. Devers
finished eighth in 13.06.
Maria Mutola of Mozambique
owned the 800 meter field again as
she has for the past 12 years.
Mutola’s time of 1:57.98 nearly broke
her own Hayward record of 1:57.57,
but it was still the fastest time in the
world this season by two seconds.
American record holder Jearl Miles
Clark was mere moments behind in
1:58.61, which leads the USA this season.
Mexico’s Ana Guevara had her own
fan club as she crossed the 400 meter
finish line in 49.34. Guevara’s time was
the first ever sub-50 second time run at
Hayward field, breaking Cathy Free
man’s record (50.02) set in 1998.
“All the history of the Prefontaine
Classic, it is a wonderful place for run
ning and the track is very fast too,” Gue
vara said. “I feel very good in the race.”
Stacy Dragila was victorious in the
women’s pole vault for the third
straight year. Dragila owns the world,
American, Hayward Field and Pre Clas
sic records in the event.
Turn to Women's, page 10
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Stacy Dragila overcame a loss to Svetlana Feofanova at the World Indoors to beat Feofanova at the Prefontaine Classic
r re Classic men put on a show at Hayward Field
Kevin Toth and two Oregon
hurdlers provide highlights
at Saturday’s premier meet
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
It started with a300-pound hurdling
man, it ended with a blistering final
mile lap, and in between, the men of
the 2003 Prefontaine Classic wowed
the Hayward Field crowd on Saturday.
Kevin Toth opened the action with a
win in the shot put, the meet’s first
event. Toth threw 71 feet, 4 3/4 inches
on his second throw and fouled the rest
of his five tosses, but it was enough to
edge Missouri’s Christian Cantwell. On
his victory lap, the jovial Toth jumped
two hurdles as they were being set up
for the women’s 100-hurdle race.
“What was my time?” he jokingly
asked the media afterward.
The shot put competition wasn’t
nearly as exciting as last year’s, when
Toth battled fellow American stars
Adam Nelson and John Godina to a
dramatic finish and Toth won with a
Hayward Field record of 72-09 3/4.
Both Nelson and Godina pulled out of
this year’s Pre Classic the week before
the event.
Toth said he just loves the Pre and
wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“This place is magical,” Toth said.
“This crowd is so awesome. They
can take you from a down situation
to being up.”
The men’s track events got under
way after the shot put ended, with
Tyree Washington taking first in the
400 meters with a nation-leading time
of44.70 seconds. Washington, who re
cently won the Indoor World Champi
onship in the 400 meters, signed with
Oregon as a football player in 1996, but
was forced to refuse the Ducks’ schol
arship because of academic reasons.
Now he’s one of the premier 400 run
ners in the world.
In the 110 hurdles, top-ranked hur
dler Larry Wade won in a blistering
13.24 seconds. Oregon record holder
and recent graduate Micah Harris fin
ished fifth in 13.69, while current
Duck freshman Eric Mitchum finished
eighth with a near personal best of
13.84 seconds.
“He’s going to be a great hurdler,”
Harris said of Mitchum. “To get into this
meet and race against these guys is go
ing to be great for him down the line.”
In the 100 meter dash, Kim Collins
of St. Kitts and Nevis used the absence
of some of the world’s best runners to
take the 100 crown in 10 seconds, ty
ing the Pre Classic record. American
stars Maurice Greene and Tim Mont
gomery were both absent and Britain’s
Dwain Chambers, who holds the
world’s second-fastest time, was ab
sent from contention. He finished
fourth in 10.17 seconds.
Collins, who also won the 100 me
ters at last week’s Oregon Track Clas
sic in Portland, won at the Pre despite
a hitch in his travel plans. His plane
didn’t touch down in Eugene until
midnight on Friday, and Collins did
n’t get to his hotel until later that
Turn to Men's, page 12
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Steve Magness (72) couldn't duplicate the Pre feats of Alan Webb (73).
High schoolers miss marks in mile
Mike McGrath and Steve Magness
can’t run under four minutes
but prove they belong among
the best at the Prefontaine Classic
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Running the mile at Saturday’s Pre
fontaine Classic, Alan Webb had the oppor
tunity to look over and see two high school
track stars in the lanes next to him.
For Webb, seeing Lincoln High School’s
Mike McGrath of Oregon and Steve Mag
ness of Klein Oak High School in Texas was
an opportunity to bring back memories of
his high school days. TWo years ago, at the
27th annual Pre Classic, Webb, who went
to South Lakes High School in Reston, Va.,
took fifth in the event with a surprising time
of3:53.43.
Saturday, McGrath and Magness did
n’t quite hit the same mark, but still
earned praise from the former high
school phenom.
“They’ve got great collegiate careers
ahead of them,” said the former Michigan
runner. “Only good things.”
For Oregon fans, McGrath is the one
high school phenom to watch. Next season,
he is set to begin his collegiate career in Eu
gene, running at Hayward Field for head
coach Martin Smith.
At Lincoln this year, McGrath has set the
Oregon state record in the 800 meters and
is expected to make his mark in the 1,500
meters and mile.
At the Prefontaine Classic, he finished
15th with a time of 4:10.66.
“I just had a bad race,” he said,
adding that running in another race
just days before may have hurt him.
“I’m just disappointed.”
Saturday’s race was not the first time Mc
Grath had been lucky enough to run at
Hayward. Just weeks before, he took sec
ond in the Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial
Twilight Mile with a time of4:05.28.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” he said of
his races at Hayward Field. “The crowd is
behind you. You feel bad when you don’t
run well here because they all show you so
much support. So hopefully next time I’ll
run well for them.”
With the Ducks, McGrath will join a tal
ented group of runners next season that in
cludes Noel Paulson and Eric Logsdon in
the 1,500 meters, and Ryan Flaherty in the
800 meters.
“I’m still looking forward to Oregon,” he
said, still undecided on what he will study.
“It’s tiring to even think about running
again, but that’s the way I am after races.”
Magness, who finished 14th Saturday, is
set to attend Rice next season. At Klein
Oak, he has become one of the top high
school track and field athletes in the nation.
His time of 4:01.02 didn’t quite come
Turn to Mile, page 12