2019 Camel City Elite Men’s Fields Announced

Star-Studded Mile Field Includes Centrowitz, Chelimo, Cheserek and Willis

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – December 19, 2018 – JDL Fast Track has begun finalizing the fields for the Seventh Annual Camel City Elite, to be held at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC, on Saturday, February 2, 2019.  Elite races begin at 2 pm.

Recruiting for the 2019 races began in earnest as soon as the 2018 races were over.  In fact, three of the headliners were announced in May via social media, as Matthew Centrowitz, Paul Chelimo and Edward Cheserek had all committed to the mile race in the spring of 2018.

“Track and field has a lot of star power right now in some of the distance races, and Centro, Ches and Chelimo are three of the biggest names in the U.S. and the world right now.  We knew that it would be a very special event if we could get all three of them in the same race in 2019, so it was an early goal of ours.  Being able to add Nick Willis to the field this fall was an added bonus that we hadn’t even contemplated until talking with his agent in September,” said facility director and elite athlete coordinator Craig Longhurst.

Paul Chelimo brings the local flavor, as an alumnus of UNC-Greensboro and an Olympic silver medalist at 5000m.  Edward Cheserek is the winner of 17 NCAA titles during his time at Oregon and is the facility record holder at JDL Fast Track.  Nick Willis is a member of 4 Olympic teams for New Zealand and has Olympic silver and bronze medals.  And Matthew Centrowitz holds the trumpp card with his 2016 Olympic gold medal, the first by an American at 1500m since 1908.

The men’s mile is truly going to be special, but the other races have their share of great athletes and stories, as they include Olympians like Alex Amankwah of Ghana and Patrick Tiernan of Australia.  Also, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy will be featured in the men’s 800.

Athletes will be competing for prize money of $6000 for first place, $4000 for second place, $2000 for third place and $1000 for fourth place. Additional prize money is available through 8^th place.  There are also individual race bonuses of $1000 to the winner if they break a set time: 800m (1:48.50), mile (3:58.00), 3000m (7:50.00).

Below is a list of the professional athletes confirmed in each event:

Men’s 800m Presented by Total Sports US (www.totalsportsus.com)

·        ALEX AMAKWAH | Ghana | 2016 Olympian for Ghana at 800m | Finished 6th at 2015 NCAA indoor championships | 800m PR of 1:44.80

·        CURTIS BEACH | Albuquerque  | Pacer | 2-time NCAA indoor heptathlon champion while at Duke | 800m PR of 1:47.36 | @curtis_beach

·        CHRIS GIESTING | Hoka NJNY Track Club  | Member of Gold medalist 4x400 team at 2016 World Indoor Championships | 800m PR of 1:46.49 | @the_geese

·        CLAYTON MURPHY | Nike Oregon Project | 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist at 800m | 2016 NCAA indoor 800m and outdoor 1500m champ | 800m PR of 1:42.93 | @clayton_murph

·        DREW PIAZZA | Unattached | NCAA runner-up at 2017 indoor championships at 800m while attending Virginia Tech | Finished 2nd at 2018 Camel City Elite 800 | 800m PR of 1:45.69 | @drewpiazza

Men’s Mile Presented by Mondo (www.mondoworldwide.com)

·        MATTHEW CENTROWITZ | Nike | 2016 Olympic Gold medalist at 1500m | Also won World Champs Bronze in 2011 and Silver in 2013 | Was World Indoor Champ in 2016 | Also won Camel City Mile in 2016 with a 3:54.02 clocking | @mattcentrowitz

·        PAUL CHELIMO | Nike | 2016 Olympic Silver medalist at 5000m | Also won World Champs Bronze in 2017 | Won Camel City 3k in 2017 and 2018, clocking facility record 7:45.49 in 2017 | Finished second in Camel City Mile in 2018 with PR of 3:58.59 | @paulchelimo

·        EDWARD CHESEREK | Skechers | 17-time NCAA champion in cross country, indoor and outdoor track | NCAA indoor mile record holder and owner of 2nd fastest indoor mile ever in the world | Won 2018 Camel City Mile in facility record time of 3:53.85 | @kingches

·        CRAIG NOWAK | Asics Furman Elite | Pacer | NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State | Paced the men's 3000m in 2018 | Has a mile PR of 3:58.93 | @craignowak

·        NICK WILLIS | adidas | 4-time Olympian representing New Zealand | Won Olympic Silver medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics and Bronze medal at 2016 Rio Olympics | Will be his first time competing at Camel City Elite | @nickwillis

Men’s 3000m Presented by Salem Sports (www.salemsports.com)

·        JAMAINE COLEMAN | Asics Furman Elite | 2018 NCAA runner-up in 3000m steeplechase | 3k steeple PR of 8:31.91 | @jamaine_1995

·        KIRUBEL ERASSA | American Distance Project | 2014 Big 12 cross county champ and 2015 Big 12 champ at 5k/10k | 3000m PR of 7:47.78 | @ErassaOK

·        WILLY FINK | VT Elite | Pacer | 2017 MAC outdoor champ at 5k and 3k steeple | NCAA All-American in 3k steeple | 3000m PR of 7:53.35 | @EagleWilly22

·        RILEY MASTERS | Nike | NCAA All-American at Oklahoma | 3k PR of 7:48.79 and 5k PR of 13:16.97 | @riley_masters

·        PATRICK TIERNAN | Nike | 2016 Olympian for Australia at 5000m | 2016 NCAA cross country champ for Villanova | 3000m PR of 7:37.76 | @tiernan_patrick

Admission for the event is $10 for adults, $5 for students and kids 12 and under are FREE.

Camel City Elite will be streamed live online at www.jdlfasttrack.com as part of the RunnerSpace +Plus subscription package which starts at $12 a month.

ABOUT JDL FAST TRACK (www.jdlfasttrack.com)

JDL Fast Track is a privately owned facility that is quickly becoming one of the premier indoor track and field venues in the southeast. Opened in 2012, the facility houses a 200-meter oval track with a Mondotrack FTX surface—the same surface used at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. With a seating capacity of 1,700, ten HD televisions showing real-time field event results, and five high definition projector screens for video playback, JDL Fast Track offers fans a unique track and field experience.

To date, JDL Fast Track has hosted four national championships:  2014 NCAA Division II, 2015 NCAA Division III, 2015 USATF Masters Indoor and 2016 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.  JDL Fast Track is currently slated to host the 2019 USATF Masters Indoor and 2020 NCAA Division III National Championships.