California Relays launch Sacramento debut Saturday

Olympic medalists, world champions and yearly leaders top strong field

by Bob Burns

A shot put summit, a red-hot high hurdler, one of the world’s fastest
men and an Olympic champion with local ties top the entry list for
Saturday’s 68th California Invitational Relays at Hughes Stadium.

The California Relays moved to Sacramento following a 67-year run in
Modesto. The Modesto event produced 33 world records by such all-time
greats as Ralph Boston, Dutch Warmerdam, Bobby Morrow, Jim Hines, Hal
Connolly, Jay Silvester and Stacy Dragila.

Meet director Gregg Miller and Save Mart Supermarkets, the meet’s
presenting sponsor, decided after the 2008 event that a move to
Sacramento offered the best opportunity to recapture the old magic.
After taking a one-year hiatus in 2009, one of the oldest and most
successful meets on the West Coast is back.

“We’re very excited to be in Sacramento,” said CIR meet director Gregg
Miller. “This town has a great track history, making it an ideal fit
for a meet with such a rich tradition. We’re going to get off to a
strong start Saturday.”

The event begins at 10 a.m. with a youth meet. The invitational
portion of the event begins at 4 p.m. Tickets are priced at $10
(general admission) and $20 (finish line) and will be sold at the
Hughes Stadium gate.

Saturday’s field features world champion shot putter Christian
Cantwell, Olympic medalist hurdler David Oliver, 200-meter standout
Wallace Spearmon and Olympic discus champion Stephanie Brown Trafton,
a Galt resident who frequently trains at Hughes Stadium.

The biggest contestants – the men’s shot putters – will occupy center
stage Saturday at Hughes Stadium. Cantwell, the defending world
outdoor and indoor champion and a silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics
in Beijing, is undefeated in 2010 and is eager to improve on his
six-year-old personal best of 73 feet, 111⁄2 inches and challenge the
world record of 75-101⁄4, set in 1990 by Randy Barnes.

But some stunning news this past weekend out of Tucson, Ariz.,
supplies Cantwell with additional motivation. Cory Martin, a former
NCAA champion at Auburn University, improved his career best from
68-33⁄4 to a world-leading 72-61⁄4 in Tucson to move to ninth on the
all-time U.S. list.

Martin surpassed his previous best on four of his six throws in
Tucson. Cantwell did not compete in the meet.

In addition to Martin and Cantwell, Saturday’s shot field includes Dan
Taylor, a member of the U.S. team at last year’s World Championships;
former Idaho standout Russ Winger, who matched his lifetime best with
a 69-83⁄4 toss in Tucson; and Noah Bryant, a former NCAA champion from
USC who threw a career-best 67-10 in Tucson.

While Martin was making news that reverberated around the track world
in Arizona, Oliver, a bronze medalist in the 110-meter high hurdles at
the 2008 Olympics, clocked the fastest time of the year (12.99
seconds) in winning the Shanghai Diamond League meet in China.

Oliver’s top-shelf competition Saturday includes Dominique Arnold
(12.90 best), Aries Merritt (13.09) and Jason Richardson (13.21).

Spearmon, a three-time medalist at the World Outdoor Track and Field
Championships, is the fifth-fastest performer ever in the 200 meters
at 19.65 seconds. Spearmon has already clocked 19.98 this season, the
sixth in a row in which he has broken 20 seconds.

Brown Trafton won the women’s discus title at the 2008 Olympics in a
huge upset, but the Galt resident will have plenty of competition
Saturday. Becky Breisch has the top U.S. mark of the year at 211-2,
and Aretha Thurmond is a three-time Olympian.

Other athletes to watch Saturday in Sacramento include:

• Pole vaulter Chelsea Johnson, the bronze medalistt at last year’s
World Championships in Berlin;
• Derek Miles, the fourth-place finisher in the men’s pole vault at
the 2008 Olympics and a graduate of Bella Vista High School;
• Xavier Carter, who at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Sacramento
became the first athlete since Jesse Owens to win four events in a
national collegiate meet, will compete in the 400 meters;
• A.G. Kruger, a four-time U.S. champion in the hammer who threw 253-9
last weekend in Tucson;
• Muna Lee, a former LSU standout and two-time Olympian in the 200 meters;
• Olympic triple jumpers Kenta Bell and Erica McLain; and
• Maggie Vessey, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate who clocked
1:57.84 in the 800 meters last season.

The invitational portion of Saturday’s meet will be preceded at 10
a.m. by a youth meet. The Sacramento City Unified School District
Championships, which were rained out last weekend, will be held in
conjunction with the youth event Saturday.

For a meet schedule and entry list, visit californiarelays.org.