The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS the Diamond League shifts to the Western hemisphere for the third meet in the 2015 series, some of the Bahamas’ top names in athletics are already confirmed for next week’s showdown.

Quarter-miler Chris Brown and high jumper Donald Thomas both appear on the early entry lists for the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, May 29-30.

The preliminary entry list will be continually updated as each event is released.

Brown will compete in his signature event, which will be his first individual 400m run since the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, in late April.

At Drake, Brown - the Bahamian national record holder - clocked 44.76s which was the No. 10 time on the IAAF top list this season. He finished second to reigning Olympic Games and 2011 World champion Kirani James of Grenada, who stopped the clock in 44.22s. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi out of Saudi Arabia was second in 44.70s.

The field in Eugene will include both James and Marashi along with other major 400m names.

American powerhouses LaShawn Merritt, who has recorded two Prefontaine Classic wins over James in the heated rivalry, will attempt to add another chapter, and 2013 World Championships silver medallist Tony McQuay will also compete.

In their 13 matchups, James has an edge in the head-to-head record (8-5) but Merritt has more victories in Eugene.

Also in the race will be junior sensation Abdalleleh Haroun of Qatar making his debut in the Unted States.

At 18 years and 2 months, no one younger has ever run as fast as 44.68s.

In the field, Thomas will look to continue his form that saw him win gold medals at all of the major international competitions except the Olympic Games.

In a stacked field, every competitor has jumped a lifetime best of 7-8 (3.34m) or higher.

Thomas turned in a season’s best of 2.33 metres or 7-feet, 7 3/4-inches to win the men’s high jump at the International Athletic Meet in Guadeloupe earlier this month while his national teammates competed at the IAAF/BTC World Relays.

The Grand Bahamian native beat out the field that included Bahamian Ryan Ingraham, who was third with 2.25m (7-4 1/2).

He improved on his season opener at the aforementioned Drake Relays where he got 11th with 2.16m (7-1) behind Bahamian Trevor Barry, who was fourth with 2.25m (7-4 1/2).

The field in Eugene will be headlined by world leader Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar.

In his last visit to Eugene, the Qatari star jumped what was at the time both the world’s highest clearance in this century and the highest ever on US soil, at the 2013 event with a leap of 7-10 1/2 (2.40m).

Thomas will also compete against two of the top five jumpers on the IAAF Top Lists, Guowei Zhang of China and Derek Drouin of Canada.

When the Diamond League started on May 15 in Doha, Qatar, there was an immediate Bahamian presence with sprinter Anthonique Strachan and hurdler Jeffery Gibson picking up a third and fifth place respectively in their signature events.

Strachan clocked a season’s best of 22.69s in the 200m to trail American Allyson Felix, who won in 21.98s with Murielle Ahoure, of the Ivory Coast, second in 22.29s.

Gibson had to settle for fifth in the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.48s. The race was won by American Bershawn Jackson in a new world-leading time this season of 48.09s.

The IAAF Diamond League is comprised of 14 of the best invitational track and field meetings in the world. The meetings are spread across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US, and are part of the top tier of the IAAF’s global one-day meeting competition structure. The series, which began in 2010, showcases 32 event disciplines which are carefully distributed among the meetings.

In each discipline, there is a Diamond Race with points available throughout the 14-meeting season. Winners of each Diamond Race receive a US$40,000 cash prize and a spectacular Diamond trophy.