July 2, 2004
CSN

Victoria's Cummins class of field at Harry Jerome track meet

Victoria's Diane Cummins is firmly established among the top-eight in the world in the women's 800 metres, but she hopes to crack the medals at the Olympic Games this summer in Athens.

Cummins preparation appears to be right on target, as she broke the two-minute barrier once again on Thursday for the gold medal in the 800 m at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby, B.C. Cummins clocked one minute, 59.78 seconds with Sarah Ali Khan of Montreal second in 2:02.29.

"I was just really comfortable the whole way," said Cummins, the Canadian record holder, who finished fifth and sixth at the last two world championships.

"I lost a bit of focus with about 200 to go and I heard everyone screaming so I got back to the moment. I've been consistently running under two minutes this year, which is good.??

The annual meet is named for one of Canada's all-time greatest sprinters, Harry Jerome, who won a bronze medal in the 100 m at the 1964 Olympics.

In the men's 800 m, Gary Reed of Kamloops, B.C. in 1:46.36, followed by Victoria's Zach Whitmarsh.

"I was just trying to run for the win," said the 21-year-old Reed, one of the most promising of an up-and-coming generation of Canadian track and field athletes. "I've got my standards for Athens so I'm just trying to run tactically, prepare for the Games, getting through the rounds."

Pierre Browne of Toronto won the men's 100 m in 10.42, with Jamaica's Patrick Jarrett finishing second, while Krysha Bayley of Port Coquitlam, B.C. took the women's 100 m in 11.61, to defeat veteran sprinter Philomena Mensah of Surrey, B.C. Bayley has not yet qualified for the Olympics and needs another sub-11.30 clocking this year to make the Canadian team.
"I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, and see what happens," said Bayley. "It would have been nice for me to go, but it's looking really bleak right now."

One of the most talked-about races at the meet was the women's 100 m hurdles, and not because world champion Perdita Felicien was competing.

Danielle Carruthers of the U.S., won the gold in 13.08 followed by Priscilla Lopes of Whitby, Ont. in 13.10, followed by Angela Whyte of Edmonton.

Lopes, 21, was a star this year on the American college circuit earning a silver at the NCAA Championships, the same circuit where Felicien first made her name. Lopes' time at the championships was 12.64, which would actually make her faster than Felicien at this point last season.

The 100 h hurdles stacks up as Canada's deepest track event, since there are now three young Canadian women with the potential to make the Olympic semifinals or beyond.

"I think that's amazing for Canada, I don't think there's been that many hurdlers go to represent Canada in a while, so it's going to be a great experience," said Lopes. "I really love running with these girls, they're great people to run with."

Felicien and Lopes, who live in neighbouring cities, have known each other since high school, and Felicien called Lopes to congratulate her on her performance.

"To have a teammate like that is unbelievable, because sometimes you have people who don't even want to talk to you face to face, let alone give you a call on the phone."

Felicien and Whyte have both attained the demanding Canadian Olympic standard, but Lopes still needs to run faster than 12.91 once more this season to satisfy the "A" qualifying standard.

The Canadian track and field championships next weekend in Victoria will be Lopes' opportunity to register the needed clocking.

"I've got to be right in there with those girls, but it's great competition, I'm looking forward to it," said Lopes.

reprinted with permission