The Central Park Track Club/New Balance is taking a large contingent of 37 competitors to this weekend’s USATF club championships in San Francisco, in an effort to reclaim the national team title it won in 2008.
The CPTC, long known for its distance strength, now has all the bases covered, as it is sending sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and throwers as well.
Eastern teams have dominated these championships in recent years, in part because the meet has often been held at Randall’s Island. This year’s meet will be Friday and Saturday at San Francisco State University. As a result, the defending champions, the Shore AC of New Jersey, are sending a small contingent of six athletes, led by Aliann Pompey, the meet recordholder in the 400.
Last year the Shore AC won the men’s competition and the combined, the latter in a narrow victory over the Greater Boston Track Club and the CPTC. The GBTC won the women’s in 2009 over Central Park in a close competition, 159-154.
The CPTC won the women’s and the combined in ’08, the Executive TC of New York won all three titles in 2006, and the 2005 titles were won by the Shore AC men and the Le Mans TC women.
This year’s leading teams appear to be the CPTC, the GBTC, and the Norfolk Real Deal TC of Virginia.
The CPTC is led by Katharine Irvin, defending champion in the 1,500 and 5,000; Chris Spooner, 3rd a year ago in the 5,000, and javelin throwers Kateema Rietti and Stephanie Zollman, 1-2 last year. They also won the women’s 4x8 and DMR last year. This year they have entered all nine relay races.
The men’s squad features four sprinters – Rawle Delisle (10.76/22.07), Adrian Crichlow (10.77/21.41), Oronde Vassell (10.80/21.85) and Lyndon Walters (11.03/22.42). Vassell is also entered in the long jump.
In addition to Irvin, the women’s distance crew includes Stephanie Herrick, Melissa Salerno, Andrea Bradshaw, Aileen Conlon, Nicole Falcaro, Maria Pavkovitch and Kristina Maletz. In the throws, the club has Riettie, Zollman and Chanel King. King is entered in the shot, discus and hammer.
Riettie holds the meet record in the javelin, 179-9 in 2008, and Irvin holds the record in the 10,000, 37:06.16 in ’08. Pompey, who is preparing for the Commonwealth Games this fall in India, set the meet record in the 400 in 2007, 51.61.
The other leading entries for the Shore AC are jumper Brandon Roulhac, the favorite in the triple jump, and thrower Lucais MacKay, the favorite in the hammer. /JP/