Olympians, International Pros & Rising Stars Ready to Race to Camel City

Chelimo, Bishop, Oliver and Manzano headline February 4th indoor meet to be streamed live online by RunnerSpace; 5th edition to award more than $50,000 in prize money and bonuses

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – (January 30, 2017) – JDL Fast Track has announced deep fields for the 5th Camel City Elite, to be held in Winston-Salem, NC, on Saturday, February 4, 2017. The annual indoor meet, featuring one of the largest prize purses in the U.S. indoor track & field season, will award more than $50,000 in prizes and bonuses in seven events: men’s 60m hurdles, men’s & women’s 800m, men’s & women’s mile and men’s & women’s 3000m. Each race will award prize money of $4000 (winner), $2000 (runner-up), $1000 (third) and $500 (fourth). Additionally, there is a $1000 bonus to the winner of each race if an event record is broken.

“Post-Rio Olympics, we are pleased by the depth of our 2017 fields that have Olympians, global championship medalists and national champions as well as rising stars, and like past editions, we expect outstanding competition and perhaps a meet record or two,” said Craig Longhurst, JDL Fast Track’s facility director and the elite athlete coordinator for Camel City Elite.

THE HEADLINERS

Paul Chelimo, now running for the US Army, capped an impressive 2016 by winning the 5000m silver medal at the Rio Olympics. Chelimo, who ran at JDL Fast Track multiple times in college while attending UNC-Greensboro, is excited to return to the area he deems his “hometown” to compete for the first time as a professional. Chelimo will run the Camel City 3000m presented by Salem Sports, an event where he boasts a personal record of 7:37.98.

The next headliner is Melissa Bishop of Canada. The Nike-sponsored athlete is a two-time Olympian who finished fourth at 800m in Rio after earning the silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. Bishop is also the Canadian record holder at 800m with a personal record of 1:57.02 that she set in the Olympics. Bishop won the 2016 Camel City 800m in a facility record of 2:02.10, which she eyes to break again this year.

David Oliver of Nike returns to Winston-Salem to compete in Camel City Elite. Oliver competed here in 2015 and was slated to run in 2016 until an injury the day before the meet forced him to miss last year’s event. Oliver was the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in the 110m hurdles and won that event at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Oliver also hosts a large high school invitational at JDL Fast Track, the David Oliver Classic, which brings in some of the best high school track athletes from the Southeast to Winston-Salem each winter. Oliver will compete in the Camel City Men’s Hurdles presented by Visit Winston-Salem.

Leo Manzano also returns to JDL Fast Track. The University of Texas grad, who currently runs for HOKA ONE ONE, ran here in 2015 and finished fourth in the Camel City Mile. Manzano is a two-time Olympian who won the 1500m silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Manzano, with a mile personal record of 3:50.64, will compete again in the Camel City Men’s Mile presented by Champion.

Other notable entries in this year’s meet include (the complete Elite athlete list by event with schedule can be found HERE):

Women’s Camel City 3000m

●       Kerri Gallagher (Nike), defending Camel City Elite 3000m champion; member of the 2015 World Championship team at 1500m

●       Shalaya Kipp (unattached), 2012 Olympian for Team USA in the steeplechase

●       Allie Buchalski (Furman), NCAA All-American in cross country

●       Erika Kemp (NC State), NCAA All-American in cross country and Indoor 5000m

●       Rachel Koon (NC State), NCAA All-American in cross country

Men’s Camel City 3000m presented by Salem Sports

●       Lee Emanuel (HOKA ONE ONE), finalist at the 2016 World Indoor championships at 3000m for Great Britain

●       Riley Masters (unattached), 2016 Bring Back the Mile Grand Prix Tour men’s champion

●       Lawrence Kipkoech (Campbell), NCAA All-American in cross country

●       Troy Reeder (Furman), NCAA All-American in cross country

●       Amon Terer (Campbell), NCAA All-American in cross country

●       Jacob Thomson (Kentucky), NCAA All-American at 10,000m

Women’s Camel City 800m

●       Hanna Green (Virginia Tech), NCAA Indoor 800m runner-up

●       Hannah Segrave (Milligan), NAIA Indoor & Outdoor 800m champion

Men’s Camel City 800m presented by Total Sports US

●       Edward Kemboi (Nike), 2015 NCAA indoor/outdoor champion at 800m

●       Robert Heppenstall (Wake Forest), NCAA All-American at 800m

●       Eliud Rutto (Mid Tennessee State), NCAA Indoor 800m runner-up

Women’s Camel City Mile

●       Stephanie Garcia (New Balance), represented the United States at the 2015 World Championships in the steeplechase

●       Rachel Schneider (Under Armour), 2015 NACAC gold medalist at 1500m

●       Erin Teschuk (ASICS Furman Elite), represented Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the steeplechase

●       Nevada Mareno (unattached), 2015 New Balance Nationals Indoor mile champion; Leesville Road High School, Raleigh, NC

Men’s Camel City Mile presented by Champion

●       Nate Brannen (unattached), a three-time 1500m Olympian for Canada

●       Andy Bayer (Nike), 2015 NACAC gold medalist in the steeplechase

●       Chad Noelle (ASICS Furman Elite), 2015 NCAA champion at 1500m

●       Sampson Laari (Mid Tennessee State), NCAA All-American at 1500m

In addition, the Camel City Elite meet 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

JDL Fast Track is a privately owned facility that is quickly becoming one of the premier indoor track & 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 & 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 & Field Championships.

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