Philadelphia (Canadian Press-4/26/2003) — Pierre Browne of Toronto anchored Mississippi State to victory in the men's 4x100-metre relay at the prestigious Penn Relays Saturday. Browne took the baton in second spot in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 at Franklin Field, and blew by Texas State's Eren Giles for the win. MSU finished in 39.20 seconds, while Texas State was second in 39.35 and Texas Christian University, anchored by Hamilton's Jermaine Joseph, was third in 39.77. "When I got the baton, I knew I had to roll. And I brought it home," said the 23-year-old Browne, a member of the 2000 Olympic team. "This gives us big bragging rights." Canada's women's 4x200-metre relay won the bronze, as part of Saturday's featured relay attractions that pit national teams against the cream of the crop of American sprinting in what was billed the United States vs. the World. American teams took the top two spots, clocking 1:31.41 and 1:33.02, while Canada's team of Lindsay Lochhead of Toronto, Martine Cloutier of Montreal, Daniella Carrington of Waterloo, Ont., and Asha James of Mississauga, Ont., finished in 1:36.06 for third. “This is not a common race in track so it can be difficult at times with the exchanges,” said Canadian coach Glenroy Gilbert of Ottawa, an Olympic relay champion in 1996. “You can’t really tell how fast your relay is coming. So considering we only do this event at this type of meet we ran it very well.” The Americans took the top three spots in the men's 4x100, with Jon Drummond, Justin Gaitlin, Coby Miller and world-record holder Tim Montgomery clocking 38.62 for the win. Canada, with Hank Palmer of Montreal, Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., Okiki Akinremi of Toronto and Canadian champion Nicolas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que., was sixth in 40.06. “That was a nerve-wracking race against this field in this stadium,” said Gilbert. “And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with our relays. Get them more exposure like this so that they can feel more comfortable. In the past we would just come together at major meets. So I think we’re starting to do a better job in that area. We need to establish that cohesiveness before the big international meets.” Canada was fourth in the men's 4x200 with Akinremi, Henry, Shane Niemi of Kamloops, B.C., and Tyler Christopher of Edmonton, and fifth in the 4X400 with Tyler, Niemi, Monte Raymond of Toronto and Lawrence Ringwald of Ottawa. "The 4x400 was a reassuring race for us because we didn't run it too well at a meet last week," said Niemi. "After this weekend we feel we've got a chance to field a team for the world championships [in Paris in August]." Canada was fourth in the 4x100 women's relay with James, Carrington, Adrienne Power of Halifax, and Hamilton's Erica Witter, and sixth in the women's 4x400 with Lochhead, Cloutier, Power and Witter. "We had a great performance in the 4x100," said Witter. "With worlds coming up, it's good to get some of our relay runner adjusted and come out with an understanding about each other." |
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