January 15, 2008

 

Dear sports editor/director:

 

The 30th annual Simplot Games will be held Feb. 14-16 at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena. As executive director of the Games, I invite you to attend and report on this year’s activities. This will be a very special year as we celebrate three decades of excellence.

 

Based on the registrations received so far, we expect another outstanding weekend of track and field. I anticipate that close to 2,000 high school athletes from across the United States and Canada will compete at this year’s nationally recognized event. During last year’s event, one national record, one meet record, one all-time record, a couple national best marks for 2007, and an uncountable number of personal bests highlighted the Games.

 

Among the outstanding athletes to watch will be:

·        Luke Puskedra, a senior from Salt Lake City, Utah, who set a new Simplot Games meet record last year in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:13.62.

·        Turquoise Thompson, a junior from Long Beach, Calif., set a U.S. #1 last year in the 400 meters with a time of 53.78. She looks to break the Games record this year.

·        The Spanish Fork Track Club, from Utah, returns with an exciting team of women athletes including twin sisters Natalie and Nachelle Stewart, making girls’ relays, sprints, and long distance must-see events.

·        Throw One Deep athletes, a throwing club out of Marietta, Georgia, including the junior thrower Lauren Chambers. This team made their presence known at last year’s Games by clinching the top five places in the women’s event, while the men swept all six places.

·        The girls' 60-meter hurdles features the top three in the U.S.: Vashti Thomas of San Jose, Calif., Julian Purvis of Oakland, Calif., and Jacquelyn Coward of Knoxville, Tenn.

·        The pole vault promises to be especially exciting this year with the top two U.S. high school boy vaulters — Nico Weiler’ of Los Gatos, Calif. (at 17’6-1/4”) and Corey Shank of Ft. Wayne, Ind. (17’) — and the top two girls ­— Shade Weygandt of Mansfield, Texas (13’7”) and Rachael Laurent of Houma, La., at 13’5-1/2”.

 

Featured again this year are the All-Idaho relay finals on Saturday. We are excited to watch the state’s top boys’ and girls’ 4x200-meter relay teams compete for Gem State supremacy.

 

A full roster of guest athletes will also attend the Games, including track and field legend Dick Fosbury, our honorary chairman and 1968 Olympic high jump gold medallist; Tommie Smith, 1968 gold medallist in the 200 meters; Stacy Dragila, an Idaho State alum and 2000 pole vault gold medalist; gold medallists Andre Phillips (1988 400-meter hurdles) and Kevin Young (1992 400-meter hurdles), plus new guest athletes including Willie Banks, three-time triple jump Olympian; and Billy Mills, 1964 10,000-meter run gold medalist.

 

As in years past, a team of media coordinators will be on hand to provide you and your staff with media passes, information, and whatever other assistance is needed before and during the Games. Please contact me if you have any questions or if I can be of service to you. More information on the Games is also available at www.simplotgames.com.

 

                                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                                Carol Lish                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Simplot Games Executive Director