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OLYMPIANS WIN AT AMERICAN MILERS CLUB SERIES
July 7, 2005
(INDIANAPOLIS) Olympian Prince Mumba (Zambia) along with two-time U.S.
Olympian Robert Gary won their respective events of the 800 and
steeplechase on the first day of the American Milers Club High
Performance Series on July 6th, in Bloomington, Indiana.
Mumba, followed closely by athletes from the NIKE Farm Team and the
Indiana Invaders, won the 800 with a time of 1:47.97. The race went out
very aggressively in the first 150 meters as Mumba, Jacob Koczman, and
Ricardo Bell (Indiana Invaders) pursued a 1:46 pace but slowed down in
the last 100. Invaders' Jacob Koczman, a 2004 Olympic Trials Finalist,
ran a season best to take fourth with a time of 1:48.47.
In the 1500, Ryan McKenzie, of the University of Windsor (CAN), came out
on top with a winning time of 3:41.23 beating runner-up Olympian Julius
Achon, of the Nike Oregon Project. Achon is a five-time World
Championships competitor and two-time NCAA mile champion. The 1500 also
had an aggressive early pace as several athletes explored 3:36 pace in
the first half of the race.
In the 3000 steeplechase, two-time U.S. Olympian Robert Gary, of
Reebok, missed the stadium record by half a second with his winning time
of 8:26.58 and 12 seconds faster then his time at the US Outdoor
Championships qualifying round.
A total of eight athletes bettered the 2005 US Outdoor Championship
qualifying standards on the first day of American Milers Club High
Performance Series and five athletes ran life time bests.
Invaders Director Greg Harger said, "The races went out very fast, maybe
a little too fast for these athletes on the first night of competition
but I expect that this will set things up for excellent racing on the
remaining two days. No one left anything on the track. It was an
exciting evening of high performance racing." Harger added, "On
Saturday these athletes will return to Bloomington to face an even
larger field of accomplished athletes including recent additions to the
meet in Olympian Derrick Peterson and Jebreh Harris in the 800."
American Milers Club High Performance Series:
http://www.nftl.net/events/2005/american_milers.asp
The American Milers Club High Performance Series is an outgrowth of
meets hosted by the Indiana Invaders in 2004 to meet the needs of Elite
Athlete Development programs from throughout the country. For the July
12th meet there will also be open and community races at the venue.
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