FRENCH FOURTH IN OLYMPIC TRIALS 1500M
August 14, 2000
(INDIANAPOLIS)--The Indiana Invaders saw an impressive performance
out of club member Kelly French in the 2000 Canadian Track & Field
Championships held at Centennial Stadium on Saturday, July 12th in
Victoria, British Columbia. French's PR wraps up her best season ever
with a near 7 second improvement at 1500 meters.
"Kelly faced a pre-race dilemma with a 4:07 athlete in the field versus
a handful of sub-4:20 types and the possibilities that the race goes
out
too fast with the field chasing the class of the field in Leah Pells or
too slow if the field ignored Pells and raced for places in typical
championship type tactical race that ends in a kickers race. She
kept her head and dealt with Pells running conservatively early by
putting herself in a good tactical position and not letting the pace
lag
too much in the favor of the kickers," said Invaders Head Coach Chris
Buhler.
Buhler added, "Kelly French is a great example to others of what the
possibilities are within our environment. She has come into our
setting
with a simple mentality of excepting nothing short of competitive
excellence and then letting things like personal best times take care
of
themselves. French now is free to think about competing at the next
level."
Canadian Olympic Trials Top 5 in the 1500 meters:
1 Pells, Leah 4:13.27
2 Sullivan, Krestena 4:16.89
3 Douma, Carmen 4:20.14
4 French, Kelly 4:25.05
5 Collins, Jeanette 4:26.35
Canadian Olympic Trials Results available at http://TrackMeets.com.
For additional Invaders information, please contact Greg Harger.
INVADERS' FRENCH AT OLYMPIC TRIALS AND MCMULLEN IN USA UNIFORM
August 12, 2000
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Kelly French will compete in the 1,500 meters at the
Canadian Olympic Trials on Saturday August 12, 2000 in Edmonton.
French competes Saturday at 2:45 PM (PST). "She has the opportunity
to
finish in the top 10," said Invaders' Head Coach Chris Buhler. Buhler
added, "French has prepared to run and compete at a new level ever
since
joining our club last fall, having taken nearly a minute off her best
5,000 meter time I expect we'll see the same type of progress in her
1500 meter time."
Fourth place U.S. Olympic Trials Decathlon finisher Phil McMullen,
is also in competition this weekend. McMullen joins Bevan Hart, Kip
Janvrin, Stephen Moore, David Pope, Chad Smith and Dan Steele for the
2000 USA vs. Germany Decathlon Dual Meet, August 12-13, in Uniondale,
Long Island, N.Y.
"Phil is staying sharp in the event that some misfortune befalls
the top 3 guys on the U.S. Olympic Team as he would be called to fill
in
if someone can't go," commented Coach Buhler. Buhler added, " you can
expect to see a solid performance from McMullen as he is not the type
for a major letdown even after a 4th place finish at the Trials."
Each country enters seven competitors, with the top five finishers from
each team counting toward the team scores. USA vs. Germany Decathlon
results since its inception:
Year Site Team Score Differential
1993 Aachen, GER USA 39,353 GER 38,292 +1061
1994 San Luis Obispo, CA USA 37,997 GER 37,580 +417
1995 Ratingen, GER USA 39,725 GER 39,831 -106
1996 Edwardsville, IL USA 40,607 GER 39,605 +1065
1997 Kreutzal, GER USA 39,299 GER 39,141 +158
1998 Lubbock, TX USA 39,016 GER 38,667 +349
1999 Aachen, GER USA 38,980 GER 38,975 +5
Canadian Olympic Trials Results available at
http://www.athleticscanada.com
A live webcast of the Canadian Trials is available at
http://TrackMeets.com.
Decathlon information is available at http://www.decathlonusa.org
For further Invader information, please contact Greg Harger.
