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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

Year-End Rankings Feature
32 Total Sports Athletes

Posted January 13th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Sprint newcomer Carmelita Jeter (Nike/USA) and jumps veteran Pegge Devetzi (Adidas/GRE) headline the year-end Track and Field News world rankings which featured 14 Total Sports athletes. Jeter completed the 2007 season ranked no. 3 in the women’s 100 meters according to the magazine, while Devetzi earned the same ranking in the women’s triple jump.

Xavier “X-Man” Carter (Nike/USA) [Pictured]bounced back from an early season injury and ranked no. 4 in the men’s 200 meters, while Luis Tsatoumas (Puma/GRE) used a big early season jump to rank 4th in the men’s long jump. Joining Carter and Tsatoumas with a no. 4 ranking was one-lap specialist Novlene Williams (Adidas/JAM) who took the bronze medal in Osaka. David Payne (Nike/USA) rounded out the list of Total Sports athletes in the top five ranking at no. 5 over the short barriers. Lolo Jones (Asics/USA) in the 100 hurdles, and Kenia Sinclair (Nike/USA) in the 800 meters, just missed top five rankings as they finished in the no. 6 spot in their respective events.
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TFS News Briefs: 11/29/07

Posted November 29th, 2007 at 2:46 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

X-Man Moves to Gainesville To Train for Beijing
Xavier “X-Man” Carter, history’s 2nd alltime fastest 200m runner, has moved to Gainesville, FL to train with his coach Mike Holloway and to focus on qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Read more at: [Total Sports Management]

Asafa Powell To Begin 2008 Campaign in Australia
Enthused by the Australian track and field fans, 100m world record holder Asafa Powell (JAM) will begin his 2008 track & field season there. He will train in Australia and compete in two meets: the Sydney Athletics Grand Prix on February 16th, 2008 and the IAAF World Athletics Tour meet in Melbourne on February 21st, 2008. Read more at: [IAAF]

Precedents May Favor Marion Jones’ Teammates in Their Bids To Keep Medals
Several precedents may allow the US women’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams (other than Marion Jones, of course) to keep their medals. An article in the LA Times pleads their case for them.Read more at: [LA Times]
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Stuczynski, Gay keep Visa Championship Series leads

Posted June 12th, 2007 at 6:27 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Jenn Stuczynski and Tyson Gay held onto their respective leads in USA Track & Field’s Outdoor Visa Championship Series following Sunday’s Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.

Michelle Perry moved up from fifth to third in the women’s standings with her win in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Her time of 12.51 seconds is worth 1,207 points using IAAF scoring tables. Sheena Johnson, Sanya Richards and Alice Schmidt all entered the standings with their performances at Pre, but Stuczynski’s 1,218 points from her American-record pole vault of 4.88m/16-0 at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2 keeps her atop the standings.
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Prefontaine Classic: Recap of middle & long distance events

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 1:57 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

If the late Steve Prefontaine was watching this meeting from above his beloved Hayward Field, he surely had a smile on his face as gutsy performances in the middle and long distance events dominated this meeting.

For the second year in a row, the meet was held in cool and sometimes rainy conditions, and that was just perfect for the rollicking two-miler which was won by Australian Craig Mottram in the fastest time every on U.S. soil. John Jefferson and Bernard Kiptum set the early pace, and Tariku Bekele and Mottram were running 1-2 when Kiptum left the track after about 2000 meters.

Bekele led out of turn-2 on the final lap, but Mottram started his long sprint with more 250 meter to go. Bekele just couldn’t answer, and the big Aussie motored to the line in a sparkling 8:03.50, blowing through Eliud Kipchoge’s U.S. all-comer’s best of 8:07.68 set at the same meet in 2005.

“It comes down to the size of your balls, really,” said Mottram on live television after the race.

Bekele ran a personal best 8:04.83, while a hard-charging Matt Tegenkamp broke Alan Webb’s U.S. best of 8:11.48 with a terrific 8:07.07 clocking. Dathan Ritzenhein nearly got under Webb’s mark, finishing in 8:11.74 in fourth place. As for Webb, he finished a disappointing 9th, surely a letdown after his commanding victory over Bernard Lagat in the Reebok Grand Prix last Saturday.
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Runners wow Hayward Field crowd at 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 8:04 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

2007 USA Indoor 3,000m champion Matt Tegenkamp set an American record in front of a standing room only crowd Sunday at the 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., which is the fourth event of USA Track & Field’s 2007 Outdoor Visa Championship Series.

Tegenkamp finished third in men’s two mile race in the American record time of 8 minutes 7.07 seconds, which betters the previous American standard of 8:11.48 set here in 2005 by Alan Webb. Tegenkamp was led to the finish line by Australia’s Craig Mottram, who won the race in 8:03.50, which is the sixth-fastest performance all-time in the two-mile. Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele was the runner-up in 8:04.83, which is the eighth-fastest time ever.

Komen wins amazing Bowerman Mile

Kenyan Daniel K. Komen ran the fastest time ever on American soil to win the signature event of the Nike Prefontaine Classic, the Bowerman Mile. In a race that saw nine competitors finish under the 4-minute barrier, Komen was victorious in a blistering time of 3 minutes 48.28 seconds, which is the fastest time in the world this year. Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat was the runner-up in 3:50.56, which is the fastest time by an American this season.
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VIDEO: Kikaya upsets “X-Man” Carter on wet track

Posted June 5th, 2007 at 1:13 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Gary Kikaya scored a thrilling victory in the men’s 400 meters in wet and cold conditions at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Glasgow on Sunday. The 29-year-old Congolese star held off the American Xavier “X-Man” Carter; edging him to the finish by a one-hundredth-of-a-second.

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adidas Track Classic: Spearmon sprints past Merritt, Crawford and the X-Man

Posted May 20th, 2007 at 5:21 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The pre-race favorite in the 200m at today’s adidas Track Classic was arguably Wallace Spearmon, but the field also included Xavier “X-Man” Carter, LaShawn Merritt and 2004 Olympic Champion Shawn Crawford. However, when all was said and done, Spearmon was able to live up to the hype and earn the victory.

Merritt and Spearmon were neck and neck over the last quarter of the race, but Spearmon was able to hold on for the win. Spearmon’s winning time of 19.91 is the fastest time of the year thus far.

Merritt’s time of 19.98 set a new personal record and was his first time under 20 seconds. Shawn Crawford rounded out the top three. Carter finished a disappointing fourth - possibly the result of a late start to his training season.

Race conditions were also perfect, warm with a slight tailwind, in this very exciting and competitive early season race.

Complete Results:

1 WALLACE SPEARMON USA 19.91 1.4
2 LASHAWN MERRITT USA 19.98 1.4
3 SHAWN CRAWFORD USA 20.21 1.4
4 XAVIER CARTER USA 20.26 1.4
5 JORDAN VADEN USA 20.33 1.4
6 RODNEY MARTIN USA 20.52 1.4
7 MICHAEL MITCHELL USA 20.52 1.4
8 JUAN PEDRO TOLEDO MEX 21.13

For more information, please visit: www.adidastrackclassic.com

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Xavier Carter DQ’ed for stepping out of lane; stripped of 400m victory

Posted February 18th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

After winning the 400m yesterday at the Norwich Indoor Union Grand Prix, his only planned indoor race of the season, Xavier “X-Man” Carter was disqualified and stripped of the victory.

Race officials reported that Carter stepped out of lane before taking the lead from Britain’s Robert Tobin. Carter was said that he was “shocked” by the DQ and that he never stepped over the line.

Carter will have his eyes on Michael Johnson’s 200m (19.32 sec) and 400m (43.18 sec) records this season and aims to break the 200m mark at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.
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“X-Man” Carter to open indoor season at Tyson Invitational

Posted February 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 PM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

USA sprinting sensation Xavier Carter has signed on to race at the Tyson Invitational next Friday night, February 9th, at the Randal Tyson Track Center, joining a growing list of international superstars at what is becoming the biggest indoor track meet in the country.

Carter, one of Team USA’s rising stars, posted the second fastest 200-meter time in the history of the event last spring at the Super Grand Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland and chose to begin the quest for his first world record at the Tyson Invitational in the 4×400-meter relay.
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T&F News honors Liu, Defar, Wariner and Richards

Posted December 27th, 2006 at 3:47 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field

Track and Field News released their choices for 2006’s best performances and athletes. For the second time in three years, Chinese hurdler Xiang Liu was was deemed to have produced the campaign’s top men’s performance.

The women’s top performance was given to Ethiopian distance expert Meseret Defar. Defar set the world record for the 5k at the New York Reebok meet this past. Her time was an astounding 14:24.53.

Jeremy Wariner, the top-rated male 400m runner, was chosen as the male World Athlete of the Year. Wariner received a nearly perfect score (99.6%) and only one member of the 23-member voter panel didn’t choose Wariner as number one. Tyson Gay was the runner-up. Stand-out Xavier “X-Man” Carter came in fifth; although we believe he should have been ranked higher.
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