Larry Wade and Nicole Teter, two of the top young athletes on USA Track & Field’s (USATF) Golden Spike Tour, will be among the favorites in their events when they compete at the 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, scheduled for March 1-2 at the Armory Track & Field Center at 168th Street in New York City.

Wade, a 60m hurdler, stormed onto the track scene in 2002, winning two Golden Spike Tour meets and beating a tough field at the 2002 Verizon Millrose Games with time of 7.60. One week later, Wade beat an equally impressive field to win at the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic, proving he has recovered from a devastating injury suffered in a 2000 automobile accident. He is excited about the opportunity to compete on the world famous Armory track and plans to add a U.S. Indoor National Championship title to his already impressive list of 2002 victories.

“I’m very happy to be running (at the Armory),” said Wade. “I’ve trained there before and the track is really fast. This is only my second indoor season and I’m excited to go there and perform well.” Teter, who ran a world-leading time of 4:32.71 in her debut of the women’s mile at the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic, is equally thrilled about running on one of the world’s fastest tracks. The California native announced Thursday during a USATF media teleconference that she will concentrate on the 800m at the Indoor National competition and is looking forward to getting her time under 2 minutes in the event outdoors.

“I’m very excited to be going to the Armory in New York,” said Teter. “ I’ve heard nothing but good things about the track, the stadium and the fans. We (Nike Farm Team) had a couple of athletes run there a few weeks ago and they were ecstatic about how they ran.”

The fourth and final stop of the USATF’s Golden Spike Tour, the USA Indoor Championships return to New York for the first time since 1993. The Championships were first held in New York in 1888, resuming in 1906 and held primarily in New York from 1906 to 1993, at Madison Square Garden. The Championships were held in Atlanta from 1994-2001.

The 2002 Indoor Golden Spike Tour puts athletes and track fans in a “New York State of Mind,” as USATF reinforces its strong presence in New York City, the indoor track capital of the country. The National Track & Field Hall of Fame will reopen in the Armory in 2003, while the 2001 USA Men’s and Women’s Marathon Championships were held last November at the New York City Marathon.

The 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be broadcast nationally on ESPN on Sunday, March 3 from 4-5:30 p.m. Eastern. For complete information the 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, visit our Web site, www.usatf.org.

For excerpts from Thursday’s teleconference with Larry Wade and Nicole Teter, visit www.usatf.org.