25 Local High Schools to Compete on Saturday
Dec. 7, 2006
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University Women\'s Track & Field/Cross Country team is hosting a High School Indoor Track & Field Meet on Saturday, Dec. 9 and four former Olympians will be on hand to assist and hand out trophies. Twenty-five area schools will compete at the George Mason Field House with a girl\'s and boy\'s team crowned champion at the end of the meet. The field events start at 8:30 a.m. and running events start at 9 a.m.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, described by sports commentators as \"the greatest female athlete in the world,\" will be in attendance from Noon-2 p.m. presenting the award to the top female hurdler at the meet. She\'s a six-time Olympic medalist, including a two-time gold medalist in the heptathlon and currently holds the World Record (7,291 pts.), set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She holds American records in both the long jump indoor (23\'-4 3/4\") and outdoor (24\'-7\"), and the 60 meter hurdles indoor. During her career, Jackie Joyner-Kersee has set more than 18 records in various events and won over 24 recognition awards including the Sullivan Award, the most prestigious amateur athletic award in the sports world.
The other three Olympic athletes assisting at the event are graduates from Northern Virginia high schools. Allen Johnson, who will present the award to the top male hurdler, is a 1989 graduate of Lake Braddock High School. Alan Webb, the first American high schooler to run a sub-four minute mile indoors graduated from South Lakes High School and Tiombe Hurd won the indoor and outdoor triple jump titles at the state AAA track and field championships as a 12th grader at West Potomac High.
Allen Johnson is the 1996 Olympic Champion in the 110-meter hurdles and a four-time champion in the same event at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships. The former American record holder in the 110-meter hurdles (12.92) is a seven-time U.S. Outdoor Champion and four-time U.S. Indoor Champion. He won the 2006 IAAF World Cup in a time of 12.96 seconds.
Alan Webb won the Olympic Trials at 1,500 meters and went on to represent the United States at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In 2005, he won another national title at 1,500 meters, and made it to the Finals of the World Championships in Helsinki in that event. In 2004, Webb also set personal records at every distance from the 1,500 to the 5,000 meters, setting the American record at 2 miles along the way. He still holds the high school records for Indoor Mile (3:59.86), Outdoor Mile (3:53.43), 1500 meters (3:38.26 en route to 3:53.43 mile) and ran the 1600m anchor leg on the National HS Record Distance Medley Relay (9:49.78).
Tiombe Hurd is the American record holder in the Women\'s Triple Jump (14.45 m/47\'5), set at the 2004 Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. She is a four-time US Indoor Champion (2000, \'01, \'04, and \'06) in the Triple Jump and won bronze medals at the 2001 World Indoor Championships and 1998 Goodwill Games. She graduated from CAA rival James Madison University.