BOSTON, Massachusetts (Jan. 13) -- Alabama state 800m and 1600m champion E.C. Gibbs has accepted an invitation to compete in the Reebok Boston Indoor games. The professional meet, to be held January 29, will feature a race for top high school milers this year. Gibbs, a senior at Cullman High School, set a 1600m personal best of 4:17.25 at the AHSAA State Championships last May.
Kenneth Cormier and Aislinn Ryan, the reigning Foot Locker Cross Country champions, headline a field of elite international runners set for the Junior Invitational Mile. With deep fields for both boys and girls, the new Junior Invitational Mile is set to be one of the best in the country in its inaugural year.
Cormier, a senior at Douglas High School in Douglas, Ariz, boasts a personal best of 4:09.61 from 2004, making him one of the fastest returning prep milers in the country; Also slated to compete are Kevin Tschirhart (North Port, NY), the 2004 New York State 3200m champion; Ross Toole (England), a 3:47 1500m runner; Mark Mitchell (Scotland), who has run 1:50.90 for 800 meters; Cody Harper (Albuquerque, NM); Ryan Finn of Canada; Daniel LaCava (Hurst, TX); E.C. Gibbs (Cullman, AL); and Ryan Gasper (Ft. Atkinson, WI)
For the girls, Ryan is the 2004 indoor scholastic 2-mile national champion and currently the fastest 3000-meter high schooler in the country. She is a junior at Warwick Valley High School in Warwick, NY. She will be challenged by Nicole Blood, the Saratoga Springs (NY) junior whose 4:42.4 was the fastest high-school mile in the US last year;
Brittany Sheffey (Bellport, NY), who has run the fastest indoor mile in the country this season (4:55.39); Devon Williams (Towson, MD), who last month set a national record for 500 meters (1:11.44); Samantha Gawrych (Westerly, RI), the Rhode Island state record-holder for both 1500m and the mile; Lindsay Ferguson (Saratoga Springs, NY), the fastest (4:54.91) 1600m runner in the US so far this year; plus Canada's Avril and Lise Ogrodnick; Jennifer Barringer (Oviedo, FL); Brianna Felnagle (Tacoma, WA); and Natasha LeBeaud (Folsom, CA)
More athletes may still be announced.
The 10th-annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St., Boston, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 29, and will be broadcast on ESPN from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30. It is also the first stop on USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series.
Tickets are available on-line at www.BostonIndoorGames.com or by calling 1-866-GO-BIG05.