Richard Rucker (William Howard Taft High School, Woodland Hills, CA) - Western Girls Winner Gill Coach of the Year

News and Notes, Volume 11, 13

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In this issue:
Gill Coach of the Year Regional Winners Announced
Dan O'Brien performs at La Biennale Di Venezia
Team USA Athletes to visit Springfield High School
Longtime official, Jerry Perry, passes away

Gill regional Coach of the Year Winners announced

USATF and Gill Athletics are proud to announce the regional winners, and finalists for the national Gill Coach of the Year Award:

Juan Plaza (Calvary Baptist Academy) - Central Boys Winner
David Emeott (East Kentwood High School) - Mid-Atlantic Boys Winner
Bob Nihells (Lake Park High School) - Midwest Boys Winner
Mike Potter (Warwick Valley High School) - New England Boys Winner
Woody Barnett (Pearl High School) - Southeast Boys Winner
Daunte Gouge (King’s High School, Seattle, WA) - Western Boys Winner
Drew Yoakum (Fayetteville School District) - Central Girls Winner
Rob Defilippis (Red Bank Catholic High School) - Mid-Atlantic Girls Winner
Ryan Krall (Colfax High Shool) - Midwest Girls Winner
Patrick Castagno (the Tatnall School) - New England Girls Winner
Jim Tate (St. Paul’s Episopal School) - Southeast Girls Winner
Richard Rucker (William Howard Taft High School, Woodland Hills, CA) - Western Girls Winner

The Gill Athletics High School Coach of the Year will be selected from the regional finalists. The two national winners, one boy’s coach and one girl’s coach, will each receive $5,000 worth of Gill Athletics track & field equipment and a trip for two to the 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. to receive their awards.

For more information, visit www.GillCoachOfTheYear.com


Dan O'Brien performs at La Biennale Di Venezia

1996 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O'Brien takes the world stage of a different sort at the opening of La Biennale di Venezia, the 54th International Art Exhibition, this week in Venice, Italy. O'Brien will run on a treadmill as part of the opening week performance on "Track and Field," one of six newly commissioned works by Puerto Rico- based artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla that comprise the exhibition "Gloria."

The Indianapolis Museum of Art and the collaborative team of Allora and Calzadilla will transform the U.S. Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, into a dynamic experience for visitors. The IMA has partnered with national athletic organizations USA Gymnastics and USA Track & Field on Body in Flight (Delta), Body in Flight (American), and Track and Field, which will incorporate performances by athletes at intervals throughout the duration of the exhibition. Body in Flight (Delta) and Body in Flight (American) are full-scale reproductions of the latest designs for business class seats found on U.S. commercial airlines. The stained wooden sculptures substitute for the balance beam and pommel horse, creating an unusual platform for a new language of movement that "contaminates" strict gymnastic routines. Track and Field will feature a full-scale, overturned military tank that has been repurposed by superimposing a functioning treadmill above its right track, on which USA Track & Field athletes will run.

The US Pavillion will be on view from June 4 through November 27, 2011.

To learn more about Gloria and the U.S. Pavilion, please visit: www.IMAmuseum.org/Venice

Team USA Athletes to visit Springfield High School

USATF Athletes Natasha Hastings, Kara Patterson and David Oliver join emcee Ato Boldon for USATF's Win with Integrity program in Eugene, Oregon just prior to Saturday's Nike Prefontaine Classic. Springfield High School will play host to two assemblies beginning at 8:45 a.m., Friday.
Athletes will speak to students about the benefits of living a healthy, drug-free, active lifestyle.

"Anytime we have an opportunity to reach out to young people, its important that we recognize our position as role models in the sport," said Oliver, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and current American record holder in the 110 hurdles.


USATF athletes participate in as many as 25 Win with Integrity programs annually in Visa Championships Series cities as well as where they live and train. Since 2004, Win with Integrity has reached more than 100,000 students across the country.

Hastings won gold in the women's 4x400 in the Beijing Olympics while Patterson is the current American record holder in the javelin. All three athletes will compete in Saturday's Nike Prefontaine Classic, the first stop in the 2011 Visa Championships Series.

For more info on Win with Integrity, contact Susan Hazzard at Susan.Hazzard@usatf.org.


Longtime official, Jerry Perry, passes away

Jerry Perry passed away on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 after a brief illness. He was 81 years old. Perry served as the Chair of the Officials Committee for many years and also as President of the North Carolina Association.


About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.