Note: PA/USATF's Stephanie Brown-Trafton, Cecilia Barnes, Suzy Powell-Roos, and Rachel Longfors will compete
at the 2008 Maui International Discus Challenge, May 13-16. Plus, 2007 NCAA Div. I Champion Kelechi Anyanwu
(who graduated from Cal-Berkeley last year) is slated. Full release below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Bart Templeman
Iron Wood Throwers
208-691-7926 (phone)
www.ironwoodcamp.com
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, March 10, 2008 - Bart Templeman, founder of Iron Wood Throwers, an Idaho-based non-profit
organization dedicated to the advancement of American athletes and coaches in the throwing events of track and
field, today announced the anticipated field of competitors for the 2008 Maui International Discus Challenge
meet series (formerly known as the Maui "Big-Wind" Discus Challenge).
Twelve international athletes representing seven different nations, featuring reigning IAAF Men�s Discus World
Champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia and past IAAF Women�s Discus World Champion Beatrice Faumuina of New Zealand,
will join five former United States Olympians and several elite American post-collegiate discus throwers for
the highly anticipated event to be staged from Tuesday, May 13th through Friday, May 16th at the historic War
Memorial Stadium Complex in Wailuku, Hawaii.
Several early season world-leading marks, including Suzy Powell's American Record breaking performance,
resulted from the inaugural Maui event in 2007. "We foresee even greater results occurring this year with
the addition of these outstanding foreign athletes," said Templeman. "However, our main goal for expanding
the meet series is to provide our American athletes with highest level of competitive experience possible
prior to the U.S. Trials and ultimately the Olympic Games."
With its ideal climate and strong prevailing winds, many of these athletes view the Maui event as their best
opportunity to surpass the current IAAF "A" standard mark (64.50m/211-7 for men, 61.00m/200-1 for women),
initially required to become eligible for obtaining a coveted spot on their respective National teams for the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad to be held later this summer in Beijing, China. Undoubtedly all athletes will be
seeking to harness the power of the legendary Hawaiian trade winds to surpass several long-standing National
and World Records:
Men's Discus
American Record: Ben Plucknett, SC Striders, 72.34m/237-4 (1981)
World Record: Jurgen Schult, German Democratic Republic, 74.08m/243-0
(1986)
Women's Discus
American Record: Suzy Powell-Roos, Asics, 67.67m/222-0 (2007)
World Record: Gabriele Reinsch, German Democratic Republic, 76.80m/251-11
(1988)
One such athlete is Estonia�s Gerd Kanter, who has recorded the furthest throw in the world for the past two
consecutive years and boasts a personal best mark of 73.38m/240-9 from 2006, which ranks as the third best
in history. "There is simply no other place in the world that can rival Maui in its ability to provide such
great natural resources for elite discus throwing," said Templeman. "Obviously we're tremendously excited to
have this much talent assembled as some amazing performances are bound to result."
Event Schedule
Tuesday, May 13 "B" Section Competition Day #1 @ War Memorial Stadium
12:30 PM Women's Discus "B" section warm-up
1:00 PM Women's Discus "B" section competition
2:00 PM* Men's Discus "B" section warm-up
2:30 AM* Men"s Discus "B" section competition
*Men's warm-up will immediately follow women's competition
Wednesday, May 14 "A" Section Competition Day #1 @ War Memorial Stadium
12:30 PM Women's Discus "A" section warm-up
1:00 PM Women's Discus 'A' section competition
2:00 PM* Men's Discus 'A' section warm-up
2:30 AM* Mens Discus 'A' section competition
*Men's warm-up will immediately follow women's competition
Thursday, May 15 "B" Section Competition Day #2 @ War Memorial Stadium
12:30 PM Women's Discus "B" section warm-up
1:00 PM Women's Discus "B" section competition
2:00 PM* Men's Discus "B" section warm-up
2:30 AM* Men's Discus "B" section competition
*Men's warm-up will immediately follow women's competition
Friday, May 16" A" Section Competition Day #2 @ War Memorial Stadium
12:30 PM Women�s Discus � �A� section warm-up
1:00 PM Women's Discus "A" section competition
2:00 PM* Men's Discus "A" section warm-up
2:30 AM* Men's Discus "A" section competition
*Men's warm-up will immediately follow women's competition
Biographical information for anticipated 2008 Fields:
(Sources: www.iaaf.org and www.tilastopaja.org)
Women's "B" section
KELECHI ANYANWU (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 57.58m/188-11 (2007).
#55 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 2007 NCAA Champion. 1x NCAA All-American at Cal-Berkeley.
GRETE ETHOLM-SNYDER (Norway/Unattached): Personal Best: 59.48m/195-1 (2003).
#98 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 1x NCAA All-American at SMU. 7x Norwegian national champion.
RONDA GULLATE (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 57.43m/188-5 (2005).
OLIVIA KORTE (USA/Armed Services World Class Athlete Program): Personal Best: 54.04m/177-3 (2007).
1x NCAA All-American at Air Force.
MARIE-JOSEE LE JOUR (Canada/St-Laurent Select): Personal Best: 54.34m/178-3 (2007).
#128 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list . 1 x NCAA All-American at Arkansas. 3x Canadian national champion.
RACHEL LONGFORS (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 57.48m/188-7 (2007).
#119 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 6x NCAA All-American at Florida.
LIEJA TUNKS (Canada/Asics): Personal Best: 58.93m/193-4 (2002).
#70 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. Canadian national record holder (shot put).
2007 Canadian champion (shot put and discus).
Represented the Netherlands at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics (shot put).
17x Dutch Shot Put and 4x Dutch Discus national champion.
Men's "B" section
DANIEL AUSTIN (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 63.40m/208-0 (2006).
#84 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
6x NCAA All-American and 2x National Champion at Williams College (Division III).
WILLIAM CONWELL (USA/Club Northwest): Personal Best: 63.61m/208-8 (2007).
#33 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
JAMES DENNIS (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 63.04m/206-10 (2006).
#67 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 2x NCAA All-American at Louisville.
KARL ERICKSON (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 61.12m/200-6 (2006).
#75 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. US National Teams: 1. 7x NCAA All-American at Minnesota.
BENN HARRADINE (Australia/Unattached): Personal Best: 63.65m/208-10 (2005).
#40 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 3x Australian national champion.
AARON NEIGHBOUR (Australia/Unattached): Personal Best: 61.66m/202-3 (2007).
#59 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 1x Australian national champion.
DANIEL SCHAERER (Switzerland/Unattached): Personal Best: 61.45m/201-7 (2007).
#64 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 1x Swiss national champion.
LUKE SULLIVAN (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 61.06m/200-4 (1999).
#81 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. US National Teams: 1. 1995 Pan Am Jr. Champion.
4x NCAA All-American at UCLA.
BRIAN TRAINOR (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 64.08m/210-3 (2004).
2x NCAA All-American at Colorado State.
Women's "A" section
CECILIA BARNES (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 60.17m/197-5 (2007).
#35 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
3. 8x NCAA All-American and 5x National Champion at Cal-State Bakersfield (Division II).
1x NCAA All-American at Washington.
BECKY BREISCH (USA/Nike): Personal Best: 67.37m/221-0 (2007).
#3 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
3. 1x US Champion. 2004 NCAA Champion. 8x NCAA All-American at Nebraska.
STEPHANIE BROWN-TRAFTON (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 61.90m/203-1 (2004).
#28 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
2. 2007 NACAC champion. Represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics.
6x NCAA All-American at Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo.
BEATRICE FAUMUINA (New Zealand/Reebok): Personal Best: 68.52m/224-9 (1997).
#23 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 1997 World Champion.
Represented New Zealand in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics.
ARETHA HILL-THURMOND (USA/Nike): Personal Best: 65.86m/216-1 (2004).
US National Teams:
9. Represented the United States in the 1996 and 2004 Olympics. 3x US Champion.
1999 and 2003 Pan Am Games Champion. NCAA record holder. 4x NCAA All-American at Washington.
SUMMER PIERSON (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 59.46m/195-1 (2004).
#61 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
1. 1x NCAA All-American at Stanford.
SUZY POWELL-ROOS (USA/Asics): Personal Best: 67.67m/222-0 (2007).
American record holder. #2 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
12. Represented the United States in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. 2x US Champion.
1995 Pan Am Jr. Champion. 6x NCAA All-American at UCLA.
RACHEL VARNER (USA/Unattached): Personal Best: 57.93m/190-0 (2004).
#67 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 2x NCAA All-American at Arizona.
Men's "A" section
VIKAS GOWDA (India/Unattached): Personal Best: 64.96m/213-1 (2007).
Indian national record holder. #20 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
Represented India in the 2004 Olympics. 2006 NCAA national champion.
3x NCAA All-American at North Carolina.
MART ISRAEL (Estonia/Unattached): Personal Best: 66.56m/218-4 (2007).
#12 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
GERD KANTER (Estonia/Nike): Personal Best: 73.38m/240-9 (2006).
Estonian national record holder. 2007 World Champion.
#1 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
Represented Estonia in the 2004 Olympics. Silver, 2005 World Championships.
ADAM KUEHL (USA/Nike): Personal Best: 64.98m/213-2 (2007).
#19 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
1. 4x NCAA All-American at Arizona.
NICK PETRUCCI (USA/VS Athletics): Personal Best: 66.35m/217-8 (2003).
US National Teams: 2. 2x NCAA All-American at Northern Arizona.
JARRED ROME (USA/Nike): Personal Best: 68.37m/224-3 (2007).
#4 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
3. Represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics.
1x US Champion. 6x NCAA All-American at Boise State.
DARIUS SLOWICK (Canada/Unattached): Personal Best: 64.56m/211-9 (2004).
#36 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list. 1x Canadian national champion.
JASON TUNKS (Canada/Asics): Personal Best: 67.88m/222-8 (1998).
Canadian national record holder. #43 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
Represented Canada in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics.
2003 Pan Am Games Champion. 1997 NCAA Champion.
2x NCAA All-American at SMU. 12x Canadian Discus and 1x Canadian Shot Put national champion.
IAN WALTZ (USA/Nike): Personal Best: 68.91m/226-1 (2006).
#6 ranked throw on 2007 IAAF world list.
US National Teams:
3. Represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics.
2x US Champion. 8x NCAA All-American at Washington State.
About Iron Wood Throwers
Iron Wood Throwers is an Idaho-based non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of American athletes
and coaches in the throwing events of track and field. Its signature event, the Iron Wood Thrower Development
Camp, is currently in its 20th year of existence and commonly believed to be the largest specialty track and
field camp in the United States. Camp instructional staff members have included several former world record
holders and Olympic medalists. Camp alumni have represented the United States at the Olympic Games, World
Championships, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, World University Games, Francophone Games, NACAC u-23 Championships,
World Junior Championships, and World Youth Championships. Its newest enterprise, the Maui International Discus
Challenge, currently in its 2nd year of existence, is world renown for providing Olympic calibre athletes with an
ideal climate for elite discus throwing. Several world-leading performances, including Suzy Powell's American
Record breaking performance, resulted from the inaugural competition series in 2007.
