Carmen Douma Hussar, Jen Rhines and Sara Hall Squaring Off at New Balance Mile This Weekend in NY By David Monti (c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW
YORK (16-Jan) -- Saturday's New Balance Games at the Armory Track and
Field Center here will feature a top women's mile, a tasty appetizer
for the great middle distance races which will follow at the Reebok
Boston Indoor Games and the Millrose Games over the next two weekends.
There are also invitational miles for men, and high school boys and
girls.
Race director Ian Brooks has assembled a strong
international women's field, and nobody has more experience running the
mile on the Armory's fast 200m banked Mondo track than Canadian Carmen
Douma-Hussar. She will be making her sixth start in this event since
2002. She won the race in 2005 and has only once finished lower than
third.
"The Emerald Nuts Midnight Run showed me that I am on the
right track, fitness-wise," Douma-Hussar reported via e-mail, referring
to her victory at the New Year's Eve four mile road race in Central
Park where she shattered the course record. "I had spent some time
cross training on the eliptical in December because of a sore foot and
it's a little harder to tell how fit you are when cross training.
Overall, my training over the last couple of months is much the same
as the training that I did before I won three years ago (due to sore
knee), so maybe having a little niggle is key for me!"
Her top
rival should be Russia's Liliya Shobukhova, the former world indoor
record holder for 3000m. Shobukhova will be making her New York City
debut to kick off her indoor season. In 2006 she was the IAAF World
Indoor 3000m silver medalist, and her 4:22.14 mile personal best speaks
for itself.
Also in the field are Americans Sara Hall and Jen
Rhines. Hall, the wife of Olympic Trials Marathon champion Ryan Hall,
has been training at altitude in Flagstaff, Ariz., where she has been
staying with her friend Alicia Shay. She's looking forward to a strong
indoor season and would like to compete at the IAAF World Indoor
Championships to sharpen herself for her outdoor track season.
"I
am excited about coming to the New Balance Games because it was the
perfect place to kick of my season last year," Hall wrote in an e-mail
message. She was second by a whisker in last year's race to Irishwoman
Mary Cullen. "I know it will be a great race to start gaining momentum
going into the Olympic year. I am feeling physically stronger than I
ever have at this point in the season, and am looking forward to
getting out on the track."
Rhines, who finished seventh at the
IAAF World Championships in the 5000m last August, will be running her
first race at the Armory. "I'm looking forward to kicking off the
indoor season and what better place to start than in New York," Rhines
wrote via e-mail. "I have never raced at the Armory but I've heard
great things about it and I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all
about."
What Rhines is likely to find is a wildly enthusiastic
crowd of both spectators and high school competitors who pack the meet
every year. More than 5000 athletes are expected to take part; the
meet is scheduled to last about 11 hours.
# # # # #
Here are the fields for the invitational miles at Saturday's New Balance Games and a list of previous winners:
WOMEN (with personal best times): 1. Carmen Douma-Hussar, Canada, New Balance, 4:26.76 2. Sara Hall, USA, Asics, 4:32.24i 3. Hilary Stellingwerff, Canada, New Balance, 4:28.62 4. Liliya Shobukhova, Russia, Adidas, 4:22.14 5. Amy Mortimer, USA, Reebok, 4:34.54i OT 6. Jen Rhines, USA, Adidas, 4:41.04i OT 7. Megan Metcalfe, Canada, New Balance, 4:31.91i 8. Marina Muncan, Serbia, New Balance, 4:34.67i 9. Nikeya Green, USA, Reebok, 4:14.39 (1500m) 10. Jo Mersh (née Fenn), Great Britain, Adidas, 4:09.54 (1500m) 11. Amanda Bales, USA, NYAC, 4:38.98 12. Kassi Andersen, USA, Nike, 4:44.49i OT 13. Colleen Newhart, USA, Unattached, 4:52.61i OT 14. Jessica Minty, USA, New Balance Boston, 4:46.49i
MEN (with personal best times): 21. Eliud Njubi, Kenya, Westchester TC, 3:56.84 22. Andy Baddeley, Great Britain, New Balance, 3:51.95 23. Adrian Blincoe, New Zealand, New Balance, 3:54.40 24. Josh McAdams, USA, New Balance, 4:00.59i 25. Rob Myers, USA, Nike, 3:53.78 26. Ryan McKenzie, Canada, Nike, 3:58.52 27. Neville Miller, USA, NYAC, 4:04.86i OT 28. Abiyot Endale, Ethiopia, Westchester TC, 4:13.20i (3:58.9 road) 29. Tim Dunn, USA, NYAC, 3:48.27 (1500m) 30. Stephen Chemlany, Kenya, Westchester TC, 4:08.49i 31. Egor Nikolayev, 1988, Russia, Adidas, 3:48.27 (1500m)
i = Indoor mark; OT = Mark achieved on oversized indoor track
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1996: Erik Nedeau, New Balance, 4:11.54; Alisa Hill, Unatt., 4:48.88 1997: Andy Keith, New Balance TC, 4:06.21; No women's race contested 1998: Larry Weiss, NYAC, 4:08.52; No women's race contested 1999: Richie Boulet, New Balance, 3:57.89; Sinead Delahunty, New Balance (IRL), 4:31.96 2000: Mark Carroll, Unattached(IRL), 3:54.98 MR; Regina Jacobs, Clifbar/HSI, 4:21.79 MR 2001: Leonard Mucheru, New Balance (KEN), 3:57.90; Amy Rudolph, Reebok, 4:28.47 2002: Leonard Mucheru, New Balance (KEN), 3:55.54; Amy Rudolph, adidas, 4:34.15 2003: James Thie, NYAC (GBR), 4:02.05; Hayley Tullet, New Balance (GBR), 4:27.46 2004: Elkanah Angwenyi, New Balance (KEN), 4:02.73; Hayley Tullett, New Balance/GBR, 4:27.28 2005: Elakanah Angwenyi, KEN, 3:59.38; Carmen Douma-Hussar, New Balance (CAN), 4:28.43 2006: Elkanah Angwenyi, Nike (KEN), 3:57.47; Hayley Tullet, New Balance (GBR), 4:29.23 2007: Alan Webb, Nike, 3:56.70; Mary Cullen, Reebok (IRL), 4:32.29
