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The Canadian contingent of athletes competing in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on April 28th will be bolstered by a strong field of both men and women competing primarily in the middle distance events.
“My goal for Payton Jordan is to toe-the-line ready to hurt, and then hurt some more and beat as many people as I can in my section.”
In the men’s 800m race the University of Guelph’s Anthony Romaniw and the unattached Quin Ferguson lead the way, as they both have run under 1:48. Ferguson’s personal best of 1:47.11 is two years old though, where Romaniw ran his best during the 2012 season. Complementing the top two are a pair of University of Victoria Vikes, Adam Gaudes and Thomas Riva who own personal bests of 1:48.90 and 1:49.54, respectively. Also running are, Stuart Ellenwood, Travis Vugteveen and Cameron Proceviat, the latter three will be representing Simon Fraser University. The standards for making the Canadian team going to the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in the 800m are, “A” 1:45.30 and “B” 1:46.20.
The men’s 1500m event features 5 sections. There are several Canadian runners who will be looking to qualify for the IAAF World Championships, which require performances of either, “A”-standard 3:35 or “B”-3:37. Peter Corrigan who is sponsored by the Running Room; owns a 3:40.15 personal best from the 2012 season. Lucas Bruchet, who runs for the University of British Columbia owns a best time of 3:47.70. There are also two athletes from the University of Guelph, Ross Proudfoot, who has run as fast as 3:41.56 and Yves Sikubwabo, his best is 3:50.15 from 2010 however, he is an 800m specialist and his personal best at that distance is a respectable 1:49.93. When asked for predictions, Corrigan said, “My goal for Payton Jordan is to toe-the-line ready to hurt, and then hurt some more and beat as many people as I can in my section.”
The men’s 3000msc is bolstered by veteran Speed River Track Club athletes Alex Genest and Chris Winter as well as Matt Hughes who is listed as unattached at the Payton Jordan confirmation listing. Genest competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games where he ran his best steeple time of 8:22.62. Hughes' personal best is two years old however, is a solid 8:24.87, while Winter’s personal best of 8:28.46 is solid, he has been running well over the previous six months, mostly in cross-country including the provincial, national, NACAC and World Cross Country Championships, demonstrating good aerobic strength after a couple of injury-filled years. “It's my first steeplechase of the season so I'm just looking to get in a good effort and try to compete for the win,” shared Winter. He added, “Training has been going really well, but having just come off of world cross country, I haven't done as much speed work as I normally would have at this point. So, with worlds in August my coach (Dave Scott Thomas) and I are looking at these early season meets as good opportunities to get in and just race, and hopefully the times will come as we get more speed work in.”
Ryan Brockerville of Point Grey Track Club has enjoyed a strong spring season to date. He ran a new personal best of 8:45.01 on April 18th. Ryan Cassidy of the University of Victoria and the University of Guelph’s Chris Dulhanty, round out the strong Canadian contingent for this event. The World Track and Field Championhips standards are, “B” 8:32.00 and “A” 8:26.00.
The first of two men's 5000m sections features two Canadian (at press time) Andrew Nixon from the University of Guelph Stephane Colle (14:05.03) from the Idaho Vandals. Nixon is enjoying his best spring to date with two recent personal best performances in the 1500m and 5000m where he has run 3:52.81 indoors for the 1500 and 13:55.80 for 5000m on the 18th of April at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, California. Mo Ahmed and Cameron Levins are not in this event or the 10000m as previously indicated. Levins will be competing in the Oxy High Performance meet on May 18th. “I will be racing in the Oxy meet in May, taking in the 5000m and 1500m,” said Levins. “Before that I will be racing the mile in San Diego. I am getting excited to race, as I am feeling good.” For Andrew Nixon to qualify for the IAAF World Track and Field Championhips, he will have to run at least as fast as 13:20 to meet the “B” standard. **See the studded start list below.
Lone competitor in the men’s high jump is Dkay Ayivor who represents Simon Fraser University. Ayivor is having a very competitive 2013 accomplishing personal bests in high jump and long jump both indoors and outdoors. Ayivor has cleared 1.92 already this year. Jerry He who attends Simon Fraser University will be the lone Canadian competing in the long jump.
In the women’s 800 metre event there will be a very competitive field with some close finishes expected, led by 2012 London Olympian Jessica Smith. Smith has run as fast as 1:59.86. Rachel Aubry who runs for the University of Guelph has run as fast as 2:02.86 however, that was two years ago. On the other hand she ran an indoor personal best for 600m March 9th; she ran 1:30.02 in Edmonton. Helen Crofts (who was sidelined for five months with injury), like Aubry, ran her best 800m race two years ago, finishing in 2:02.12 however, she ran an indoor personal best 800m March 9th in Birmingham, Alabama, which was 2:05.96. The field is rounded out by three athletes from Simon Fraser University in Lindsay Butterworth, Michaela Kane, and Sarah Sawatsky. Additionally, there will be Grace Annear from the University of Victoria with teammate Kendra Pomfret and Nicole Soderberg from the Edmonton Thunder. Worlds qualification standards are 2:00.00 and 2:01.50.
The women’s 1500 metre race will be exciting as three of Canada’s top middle-distance athletes will be toeing-the-line including Rachel Cliff who is coming off a terrific round of cross-country championships events including the provincial (BC), national, NACAC and World Championships. At the Mt. Sac Relays she ran the 5000m in a new personal best time of 16:07.89. Favoured top-finishers are Athletics Toronto competitor Kate Van Buskirk and 2012 London Olympian Hilary Stellingwerff. Stellingwerff has shown excellent range from 800m to the 3000m distance however, her specialty is the 1500m and she owns an international-level personal best time of 4:05.08, which she ran as recent as May 31, 2012 in Rome, Italy. Kate Van Buskirk who has run as fast as 4:11.45, like Stellingwerff has shown good range in her distances however, her strongest to date may be in the 5000m and 10000m distances as she has run as fast as 15:29.72 and 32:25 (road), respectively. The field is rounded out by Lindsey Butterworth who is scheduled to double at this meet. Maria Bernard who runs for the University of British Columbia, Erica Digby who runs for the Vancouver Thunderbirds. The “A” and “B” Worlds qualification standards for this distance are 4:05.50 and 4:09.00.
Representing the Speed River Track and Field Club in the women’s 3000msc is Chantelle Groenwoud. Her personal best in this event is from 2012 and is a 9:54.70. The IAAF World Track and Field Championships “B” qualification standard is 9:48.00.
Rachel Cliff of Vancouver, Nicole Sifuentes of Winnipeg and Kate Van Buskirk of Toronto will both double and their second race will be the 5000m. Van Buskirk leads the way with a 15:29 personal best and again, Cliff's personal best was run at the Mt. Sac Relays where she finished in 16:07.89. Lindsay Carson of Athletics Toronto has a faster personal best however, it was run in 2009. Carson ran 15:55.62. The women’s 5000m event is rounded out by two University of Guelph competitors, Carise Secaffien and Carise Thompson. Sifuentes is a 1500m specialist, she said, "I'm actually really looking forward to the 5000m this weekend and I feel prepared to run significantly faster than my PB of 15:27. But regardless of the result on Sunday, I know that the 5km race experience and the training I did in preparation for it will be beneficial for my 1500m and 800m later this season."
Port Moody, BC’s Natasha Fraser is having the best year of her running career. She won the 2012 TC10k, Vancouver Sun Run and the BC 10000m Championships at The Q’s Victoria Track Series. During the cross season she continued to improve starting with a win at the BC Cross Country Championships, third place at the Canadian Cross Country Championships, a win at the NACAC Cross Country Championships, helping team Canada to victory. She also set two new road personal bests with a 25:28 8k (and course record run) in January 2013 and a victory at the 2013 Vancouver Sun Run, where she finished in 32:42. Natasha Fraser will be seeking a new personal best at the Payton Jordan meet with her eye on qualifying for the IAAF World Track and Field Championships which take place in Moscow, Russia. She will need to run 32:05.00 to accomplish the “B” standard as set by Athletics Canada. Asked if she feels that her Sun Run performance is an indication of being ready to run 32:05 at Payton Jordan, she said, “That would be nice, but really I just want a great race and another personal best.”
The lone Canadian competitor in the fields events at press time is Jade Richardson who will compete in the discus throw. Richardson will represent Simon Fraser University. The Nanaimo native also competes in the shot put.
Event 18 Men 5000 Meter Run Section 1
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Name Year School
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1 473 George-Byron Alex Unattached
2 318 Sam Chelanga OTC
3 510 Paul Chelimo Unc-Greensbo
4 194 Bobby Curtis Hansons-Broo
5 534 Maverick Darling Wisconsin
6 279 Chris Derrick Nike/Aurum
7 294 Diego Estrada Northern Ari
8 487 Arne Gabius Unattached
9 127 José Mauricio González Gonzá Colombia
10 353 Garrett Heath Saucony/Auru
11 271 Dan Huling nike
12 272 Evan Jager nike
13 292 Eric Jenkins Northeastern
14 181 Leonard Korir Global Sport
15 493 David McCarthy Unattached
16 320 Hassan Mead OTC
17 306 Girma Mecheso Oklahoma Sta
18 153 Byron Piedra Ecuador
19 502 Zane Robertson Unattached
20 350 Jeff See Saucony
21 274 Chris Solinsky nike
22 351 Ben True Saucony
23 508 Aldo Vega Unattached
24 275 Alan Webb nike