1 MACROZONARIS, Nicolas     80 CA Saint Lauren           6.64    
2 Palmer, Hank              85 CA Saint Lauren           6.75    
3 Pedneault, David          86 CA Saint Lauren           6.82    
4 Horacius, Pierre-Hans     86 CA Perfmax-Raci           6.90    
5 McAuley, Randy               CA Indépendant            6.98    
6 Sarfati, David            86 CA McGill Olymp           7.05    
7 Dion, Guillaume           88 CA Perfmax-Raci           7.07    
8 Richard, Bianco           88 CA Perfmax-Raci           7.07    

Lane Name Team Final
1 Nicolas Macrozonaris Canada 6.66
2 Brian Barnett Canada 6.71
3 Sam Effah Canada 6.72
4 Pierre Brown Canada 6.75
5 Emanuel Paris Canada 6.77
6 Ashhad Agyapong United States 6.84
7 Carlos Moore United States 6.95
8 Hank Palmer Canada 6.95

If Nicolas Macrozonaris ruled over the track and field world, he'd likely hold every race in Saskatoon.

The 27-year old native of Montreal won his third-straight 50-metre crown at the 43rd annual Knights of Columbus Indoor Games at the Field House on Friday night. After a false start, Macrozonaris burst out of the blocks and sped to a time of 5.76 seconds, coming in ahead of fellow Canadians Pierre Brown, in 5.81, and Brian Barnett, at 5.83.

"I felt strong," said Macrozonaris. "I felt good in the race and I knew things were going good with me. I was a little bit confident and excited. I didn't lose sleep last night, let's put it that way. I was ready."

It's the sixth overall 50m win at the K of C Games for the two-time Olympian, who first won in 2002 with a meet record time of 5.69.

As he prepares to try and qualify for his third Olympics, Macrozonaris sees competing at the K of C Games as advantageous on myriad levels.

"It's the only meet in Canada that can fly in Olympians from around the world to compete together, so it's a wonderful opportunity to run with good competition. And the crowd here is terrific. Believe it or not, this crowd is the equivalent of the crowd we normally receive in an outdoor competition at the Canadian championships. To have a full crowd it's nice to see."

Macrozonaris has far from a one-track mind when he makes the yearly trek to Saskatoon.

"They invite such high level athletes here and we all try to go to the schools and try to keep them positive," said Macrozonaris. "If I can influence at least one kid in a school to take track and field and down the line have a successful career in the sport, then I feel like I've done something worthwhile."

Last year, Macrozonaris won both the 50m and 60m events and is eager to score the double again. The 60m race runs this afternoon, also featuring Montreal's Hank Palmer, who has run the fastest 60m in Canada this year.

"He's ranked No. 1 in the country right now, but I welcome anyone in the race," said Macrozonaris. "I want to race against the best."

In Friday's other invitational event, Chad's Kaltouma Nadjina won the women's 200 in a photo finish. Nadjina finished in 24.63 seconds, just ahead of the 24.64 clocked by Carline Muir of Toronto.

Nadjina, 30, had a baby only seven months ago.

"At first I was scared, because I haven't been running that much, but I'm just happy and glad that I was able to have the opportunity to not only come back, but to win as well in front of this crowd," Nadjina said. "I'm very proud of myself."

Nadjina first competed at the K of C Games in 2001, winning the 200. She set the meet record in 2005 with a 23.69 and two years ago won both the 200 and 400m.

"I'm happy to be here, not only because I won, but because of this crowd and the way it feels to run here," said Nadjina. "It's so nice to see the kids and see how excited they are to see us running. Saskatoon likes me and they are such good fans and I always seem to run fast here."

Nadjina competes in the 400 today.

cwalper@sp.canwest.com

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/sports/story.html?id=08f9cf62-dfd5-4627-8189-5d1314a3d132