Monday, June 07, 2010

ALL THE MEDALISTS & MORE IN PRE CLASSIC POLE VAULT

June 7, 2010
For Immediate Release


Eugene, Oregon—There’s the 2009 World Championships gold medalist, and the silver medalist, and the other silver medalist (we’ll explain), and the American recordholder, and the 2010 World Indoor Champion. All will be at Hayward Field on Saturday, July 3rd for the pole vault competition in the 36th annual Prefontaine Classic.

The Diamond League event features Anna Rogowska of Poland, the 29-year-old surprise winner of the Berlin World Championships last summer. Joining her are the co-silver medalists, compatriot Monika Pyrek and American Chelsea Johnson (Atascadero High School, CA 2002; UCLA 2006), the 2002 CIF State Meet Champion at 13-3, who had identical marks and therefore shared the runner-up spot. Then add in comebacking Jenn (Stuczynski) Suhr, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, who recorded the second highest vault in the world last year before injury shortened her season, and Brazilian Fabiana Murer, victor in the recent World Indoor Championships in Doha. Murer is continuing red hot outdoors: this past weekend she improved her lifetime best to 15-11 (4.85) to become history’s No. 4 jumper ever. Will she join the exclusive 16-foot club at the Prefontaine Classic?
Missing from the field is world recordholder Elena Isinbaeva who, after suffering a defeat at the hands of Murer at the World Indoor, announced that she will take a break from vaulting outdoors in 2010.
In all, five of last year’s top 10 in the world as ranked by Track & Field News magazine will be in the event. All but Johnson have lifetime bests that exceed the Hayward Field record of 15-5 ¾ (4.72) set by now-retired Stacy Dragila (Placer HS (Auburn, CA) 90; Yuba CC 92; Idaho State 95)in 2002. The Hayward Field stadium record is the American record set by Suhr at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene.
Tickets for the Nike Prefontaine Classic are still available at www.preclassic.com or by calling 1-800-WEBFOOT.

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