2015 National Track League begins Saturday in Guelph

Speed River Inferno counts 20 Olympians and a pair of reigning Pan Am Games champs

The 5th edition of the National Track League (NTL) gets underway Saturday, May 30 in Guelph, Ont., with the New Balance Speed River Inferno at Alumni Stadium, University of Guelph. This is the first season for the Speed River Inferno in the Canadian based track and field grand prix series. Other stops in NTL 2015 include Halifax, N.S., (June 2), Vancouver, B.C., (June 8), Victoria, B.C., (June 10), and Edmonton, Alta., (July 12).

NTL 2015 features a prize purse of $300,000, $100,000 in NTL Series prize money and $200,000 in individual event prize purses. The Toronto 2015 Pan American Games qualification window closes June 14, for many the first four stops of NTL 2015 provides a golden opportunity to compete against world class talent in order to move up in the Canadian rankings to secure a spot on the Pan Am Games team.  

The New Balance Speed River Inferno features a talented field of competitors including a number of top Canadian and international athletes. A total of twenty Olympians are scheduled to compete in Guelph’s debut on the NTL circuit.

"We are honoured to be the first meet in this year's National Track League.  In this, Canada's Year Of Sport, we are tremendously excited to welcome athletes from 20 countries to Guelph to kick start what promises to be an incredible year of track and field in Canada.  Being a part of the National Track League has helped us to attract our strongest fields ever, we are extremely confident these athletes will put on a tremendous show for our fans here in Guelph and all the fans watching on AthleticsCanada.tv,” said Chris Moulton, Speed River Inferno Meet Director.   

For those who can’t attend the event will be live at AthleticsCanada.tv starting at 7 p.m. Bob Akamian will call the action, he has 35-years of radio and television experience. Perdita Felicien will provide colour commentary, reprising a role she previously played at the 2008 Olympic Games, and 2013 and 2014 Canadian Track and Field Championships. Perdita will also be an analyst for CBC during the Pan American Games in Toronto.

New Balance Speed Inferno Preview

The women’s 200-metres features a pair of Canadian Olympians, Crystal Emmanuel of East York, Ont., & Jenna Martin-Evans of Bridgewater, N.S., and the two fastest Canadians this year, Khamica Bingham of Caledon, Ont., and Kim Hyacinthe of Lachenaie, Que. Last weekend in Windsor, Bingham and Hyacinthe achieved the 2015 IAAF World Championships and 2016 Olympic Games standards in the event running 22.84 and 23.09 seconds respectively.

With Andre De Grasse’s recent record run, Canadian men now have their eyes set on sub-20 second times in the 200-metres. Olympians Gavin Smellie of Etobicoke, Ont., and Tremaine Harris of Markham, Ont., take on a couple of sub 20.50 performers in Rubin Williams of the USA and Olympian and defending Pan Am Games champion Roberto Skyers of Cuba.

The women’s 100-metre hurdles include a trio of Olympians, two of which are Olympic finalists. Phylicia George of Markham, Ont., was sixth at the 2011 World Championships and at the 2012 Olympic Games. George is coming off a strong performance earlier this month running 12.94 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica to take an early lead on the Canadian leaderboard. George will face stiff competition from Angela Whyte of Edmonton, Alta., who won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is also an Olympic (2004) and World Championship (2007) finalist. Nikkita Holder of Pickering, Ont., is rounding back into form with a clocking of 13.00 last weekend in Windsor.      

The women’s 800-metres is headlined by 2012 Olympian and 2014 Commonwealth Games finalist Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont. Looking to give Bishop a challenge in her 2015 debut are IAAF World Relays team members Rachel Aubrey of Ottawa, Ont.; Cuba’s Gilda Casanova, USA’s Stephanie Herrick and the University of Toronto’s Gabriela Stafford.

The men’s 800-metres will see a collection of four international Olympians and a trio of young, upcoming Canadians. Anthony Romaniw of Hamilton, Ont., represented Canada at the 2013 IAAF World Championships and currently ranks as the second fastest 800-metres runner in Canada. Romaniw will be joined in the field by the University of Windsor’s Alex Ullman and Corey Bellemore. The class of the field is Andy Gonzalez of Cuba, the Olympian is the reigning Pan Am Games champion in the men’s 800-metres.

2012 Olympian and 2013 IAAF World Championships finalist Alex Genest of Lac-aux-Sables, Que., will headline the evening’s final event, the 3000-metres steeplechase. After taking a break from the track in 2014, Genest is back and in great form having achieved the 2015 IAAF World Championships & 2016 Olympic Games standard earlier this season. Genest will be joined by Speed River and 2013 IAAF World Championships teammate Chris Winter of Vancouver, B.C. Americans Ben Bruce, who also has world championship experience, and Travis Mahoney will look to challenge the Canadian duo in this grueling event. 

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