May 30, 2007

NEW YORK CITY (May 30) – Two of the brightest high school stars in the country are set to compete in the elite open division of the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2, organizers  announced today. Matthew Centrowitz, a senior at Broadneck High School in Annapolis, Md., will run the Mile, while Bianca Knight, a senior at Ridgeland High School in Ridgeland, Miss., will compete at 200 meters.

Centrowitz, who is bound for the University of Oregon, set a Class 4A and Maryland record on Saturday when he won the state title at 1600 meters in 4:04.09, the top high school time in the US this season. A three-time state cross-country champion, he also holds the nation’s fastest time in the mile this year, thanks to his victory at the Penn Relays in 4:08.38 – a time that broke the 35-year-old meet record.

At the Reebok Grand Prix, Centrowitz has a unique goal: to break the 4:02.7 high-school mile personal best set by his father, Matt Sr., in 1973 while running for Power Memorial High School in Manhattan. In a field that includes two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat; 2005 World Championships 5000m bronze medalist Craig Mottram of Australia; and Alan Webb – the most recent of only four high schoolers in history to break the 4-minute barrier – Centrowitz will be flirting with an historic sub-4 clocking.

The elder Centrowitz is a New York running legend, ranked the #1 high school miler in the country in 1973 and the first New Yorker to break 9 minutes for 2 miles. He is a two-time Olympian and former American Record-holder at 5000 meters.

Knight, the 2005-2006 Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year, is one of the top high school sprinters in the country, winning 15 Mississippi Class 4A state titles. The 2005 World Junior Champion at 100 meters and silver medalist at 200 meters, Knight has an outdoor 200-meter personal best of 23.06. She is the US high-school record-holder at 200 meters indoors with a time of 22.97, breaking a mark previously held by current World Champion Allyson Felix. She will attend the University of Texas.

The third-annual Reebok Grand Prix will begin at 5 p.m. June 2 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. Named one of the two top international track-and-field events in the United States, the Reebok Grand Prix has tickets at $20 and $30 remaining ($40 tickets are sold out) by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC. For more information and event updates, visit the event website at www.ReebokGrandPrix.com.

Print | Return