Team USA roster for Daegu includes eight athletes with Washington ties...
On the roster are a total of 19 World Championships medalists and 16 Olympic medalists. At the most recent 2009 World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Germany, Team USA won a total of 22 medal, well ahead of second place Jamaica (13). Of the 22 medals, 10 of them were gold for Team USA, which was also ahead of second-place Jamaica (7).
A total of 66 men and 63 women find their names on this year’s team.
Athletes with Washington connections named to the team include national champions Bernard Lagat (Washington State/5000m), Kara Patterson (Skyview HS-Vancouver/javelin), Jarred Rome (Marysville-Pilchuck HS/discus), and Jeshua Anderson (Washington State/400 hurdles).
Also on the squad by virtue of their top 3 finishes, and meeting the qualifying standard for their events at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon are Aretha Thurmond (Univ. of Washington/discus), and Michael Mai (Ft. Lewis/hammer).
Michael Berry (Rainier Beach HS), the fifth place finisher in the 400 meters at the USA championships, was named to the men's 4 x 400 meter relay pool, but is not guaranteed to run in either the preliminary rounds or the finals by the relay coaching staff.
Mike Sayenko (Sammamish HS/Univ. of Washington) will run on the five-man Team USA squad in the marathon on the meet's final day, as the marathon doubles as the IAAF World Marathon Cup championship race.
Staff members with Washington ties include Dr. Bob Adams of Redmond, Dr. Monique Burton of Seattle (medical doctors), Cheryl Parker of Seattle (athletic trainer), and former Garfield HS standout Ross Flowers (sports psychologist).
The full USA Track & Field release is available here.
paulmerca.blogspot.com will have daily coverage of the IAAF World Track & Field Championships from Daegu, South Korea, including tweets, Facebook and Google+ updates throughout the day.
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES ROSTER RELEASED
In a related note, USATF posted the roster for the World University Games squad that competes in Shenzen, China, which will have national champ Jeshua Anderson on the squad.
Additionally, James Alaka of Great Britain, the University of Washington's Pac-10 champ at 100 and 200 meters, along with Husky senior javelin thrower Kyle Nielsen of Canada, and Washington State high jumper Holly Parent from Canada, will represent their countries at the World University Games.
Former Washington State assistant coach James Li, who is the personal coach to Bernard Lagat, serves as Team USA's head men's coach, and Jim Murphy of Spokane is the head manager at the World University Games.
Track & field competition at the World University Games occurs from August 16-20th.
NOTE: USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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