Olympian DeDee Nathan

June 27, 2004
(INDIANAPOLIS) The Indiana Invaders are to set to defend their 2003 national team championship titles at the fourth edition of the USATF National Club Track & Field Championships, in Bloomington, Indiana on July 2-3, 2004.

The Invaders will face the 2003 Club Championship runners-up and 2002 Club Champions, the Greater Boston Track Club, along with other Top USA Track & Field Elite Development Clubs in what promises to be the most competitive event in history.

The Invaders are led on the women's side by defending Olympic Trials Heptathlon Champion DeDee Nathan, a graduate of Indiana University. Nathan is also the defending MVP for the championships and will contend again for MVP status as she competes in the high jump, shot put, javelin throw, and 100 hurdles along with the relays.

The key for the Invaders women may likely be the strong duo's scheduled to compete in each of four events, the long jump, 100, 200, and 400. The Long Jump will see 6 meter jumpers, Francesca Green and Pristina Jones prepared to dominate. Likewise, Amber Plowden, Sharline Maxwell-Divis, and Alicia Miller will double up in the 100, 200, and 400 meter races.

Olympic Trials Qualifier Hope Sanders will compete in the 800 along with teammate Natasha Lothery. Monica Stupian will do double duty in the 1500 and 5000. Olympic Trials Marathoner Heather May, a local Bloomington Indiana resident, will be joined in the 5000 by teammates Stephanie Dueringer and Kim Lorenz.

On the men's side of the championship the Invaders' roster has momentum in the form of several top performances from Big Red National Invitational keyed by the Olympic Trials "A" standard qualifying performance of hammer thrower, Zack Riley.

Jason Briggs, a graduate of Indiana State University, will see action for the first time as an Indiana Invader in several of the relays and the 400. Briggs is joined by fellow Olympic Trials 800 meter Qualifier Jacob Koczman. Koczman has a season best of 1:47.47 and will be competing in the relays and the 800. Teammates Eddie Nehus and Daniel Walden will also compete in the 800 and several of the relays.

Alex Sprague, a 2003 USATF Indoor Championships pentathlon competitor, will look to score points for the team in a multitude of events; the 110 hurdles, high jump, pole vault, long jump, shot put, discus throw, and javelin.

The Invaders look to dominate the long jump and triple jump with Hasaan Reddick, a graduate of Indiana University, Marc Dzradosi, the 2002 Drake Relays Champion in the triple jump, and Olympic Trials Triple Jump Qualifier, Greg Yeldell.

John Ngigi, a graduate of Huntington College, will see action in the 5000. Jamey Sperle will see action in the 100, 200 and relays. Olympic Trials Qualifier Adrian Swanson will compete in the 400 hurdles along with the relays.

Highlights of the 2003 Club Championships included 25 scoring teams, 12 athletes posting marks meeting or exceeding the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard, and athletes representing communities from 31 different states. 2004 is set to rewrite the record books as fans will also see Olympians Paul McMullen (1500), Robert Gary (3,000S), Jason Pyrah (1500), and Olympic Gold Medalist Darnell Hall (4X4) in action.

Team Director Greg Harger said, "It's been great to experience the growth in competitiveness of the Club Championship. For us it's an exciting challenge to defend our title while having 15 athletes qualified to compete next week in the Olympic Trials." Harger added, "The prospects of additional support from USA Track & Field and those elements responsible for the development of our sport to make this an event of excellence for fans and athletes alike has never been better. We have much work remaining in front of us but we are very encouraged by the prospects and possibilities for the continued growth and development of this championship."

USATF National Club Track & Field Championships:
http://usatf.org/events/2004/USATFClubTFChampionships/entry/status.asp

2003 Top 15 Teams in Overall Scoring:

 1) Indiana Invaders    490
 2) Greater Boston TC   252
 3) Lords of the Rings  128
 4) Kansas City Smoke    94
 5) LeMans TC            68
 6) First Step TC        64
 7) North Carolina Elite 55
 8) Firebird TC          43
 9) PTC Elite            40
10) U.S. Army            38
11) Ozark Track League   32
12) Club Northwest       29
13) Phenom Athletes      23
14) Buffalo Chips RC     12 
15) Bruin TC             11

 
USATF National Club Track & Field Championships - Record Book:

MEN
100     10.42    Darwin Davis           Maryland Elite          2001
200     20.82    Byron Campbell         North Carolina Elite    2002
400     45.88    Darnell Hall           Detroit Pal             2003
800     1:47.41  Jebreh Harris          Knoxville TC            2001
1500    3:55.48  Tony Young             Club Northwest          2002
5000    14:25.7h Paul Kezes             Club Northwest          2003 
110HH   13.89    Shannon Flowers        Shore Athletic Club     2001
        13.89    Brandon Hon            Indiana Invaders        2003
400H    51.78    Omar Clinton           Maryland Elite          2001
3000SC  9:26.76  Marzuki Stevens        Greater Boston TC       2003
LJ      7.56     Okoineme Giwi-Agbormeire Maryland Elite        2001
TJ      15.72    Marc Dzradosi          Indiana Invaders        2003
HJ      2.14     Kevin Netzer           Lords of the Rings      2002
PV      5.20     Matt Phillips          Club Northwest          2001
SP      18.10    Steve Ercegovac        Indiana Invaders        2003
HT      69.29    Scott Boothby          Club Northwest          2002
DT      62.16    Carl Brown             Athenian Athletics      2001
JT      76.31    Kirt Thompson          Indiana Invaders        2003
4x800   8:08.78  Club Northwest (Young, Swanson, Fryett,Kemper) 2002
4x100   40.71    Kansas City (Murillo, Nelson, Pyant, Drake)    2003
SMR     3:25.95  Phenom Ath. (Mauldin, Burney, Wilson,Roberson) 2003
DMR     10:25.42 Kansas City Smk.(Hacker,Sims,Kifleyesus,Dunne) 2003
4x400   3:12.10  Kansas City Smk.(Sherman,Nelson,Murillo,Pyant) 2003

WOMEN
100     11.21    Nolle Graham           LeMans TC               2003
200     22.70    Crystal Cox            North Carolina Elite    2002
400     52.65    Crystal Cox            North Carolina Elite    2002
800     2:05.65  Priscilla Hein         Indiana Invaders        2001
1500    4:13.79  Collette Liss          Indiana Invaders        2001
5000    17:11.9h Heather Briggs         Mountain West TC        2003   
110HH   13.63    Linise Gordon          Indiana Invaders        2003
400H    1:00.74  Linise Gordon          Indiana Invaders        2002
3000SC  10:25.21 Judy Porter            Indiana Invaders        2001
LJ      6.52     Nolle Graham           LeMans TC               2002
TJ      12.14    Linise Gordon          Indiana Invaders        2001
HJ      1.83     Stacy-Ann Grant        Shore Athletic Club     2001
PV      4.11     Shannon Gallagher      Indiana Invaders        2002
SP      15.32    DeDee Nathan           Indiana Invaders        2002
HT      58.58    Alexandria Earl-Givan  New Haven Age Group     2001
DT      43.24    Toyinda Wilson         Indiana Invaders        2003
JT      45.98    Jamie Strieter         Indiana Invaders        2001
4x800   9:16.51  Invaders (Schnell, Sanders, Stupian, Banks)    2003
4x100   46.71    LeMans   (Brown, Baldwin, Walkes, Nolle)       2003
SMR     4:13.76  Invaders (Nathan, Gordon, Danner, Sanders)     2003
DMR     11:06.56 Invaders (French Smith, Hein, Liss)            2001
4x400   3:45.35  Invaders (Jones, Plowden, Schnell, Sanders)    2003