Olympians return to Mount Oread for Kansas Relays

Champions Maurice Green, Justin Gatlin, Allyson Felix, Muna Lee and Rachelle Smith will be among the track stars featured at the Kansas Relays April 20-22 at Memorial Stadium. For the second year the relays will culminate April 22 in the GOLDZONE, a meet-within-a-meet highlighting celebrity races. GOLDZONE II competitions will run from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

The men's main event will showcase Greene and Gatlin, both Olympic champions in the 100-meter dash, facing off as anchors of their respective 4x100-meter relay teams.  The women's featured race has world champions Felix and Lee and world silver medalist Smith squaring off in the 100-meter dash.  Felix was also the Olympic silver medalist at the 2004 games.

"A great track meet draws a great crowd, and to draw a great crowd, a meet must assure people that they will be entertained," said meet director Tim Weaver. "The GOLDZONE is nothing more than a vehicle for entertainment—an opportunity to tell a story.  Last year's story was the presence of track and field's household names in Lawrence.  This year is all about match-ups.  Each of our featured events will have at least two champions competing for the relays crown and the attention of our fans."

Kansas Relays meet director Tim Weaver was named the 2005 Meet Director of the Year by the The United States Meet Director's Association.

The theme of "champion vs. champion" will dominate the three-hour GOLDZONE II.  Greene's team, HSI, also will feature world champions John Capel and Leonard Scott.  Joining Gatlin as part of Sprint Capitol will be Olympic champion Shawn Crawford and Dwight Thomas, ranked No. 4 in the world in the 100-meter dash.  The men's main event will also feature Hobson's Choice, a team from Kansas City directed by Greene's first coach, Al Hobson.  It includes Mark Jelks, Mardy Scales and Rae Edwards, all members of the U.S. 4x100-meter relay pool at the 2005 World Championships.  World junior champion Ashley Owens will join the other gold medalists in the Women's Invitational 100-meter dash. Participants in the 12 other invitational events will be released over the next two weeks.

Last year's inaugural GOLDZONE brought more than 24,000 people to the meet, the second-highest attendance in the event's history.
 
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