Savante Stringfellow, Miguel Pate and Dwight Phillips, three young stars leading a resurgence in U.S. men’s long jumping, will compete against each other at the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships, June 21-23 at Stanford’s Cobb Track and Angell Field in Palo Alto, California. The USA Outdoor Championships, the final event of this year’s USATF Outdoor Golden Spike Tour, will be televised on ESPN2 from 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 23.

Other jumpers expected to contend at the Championships include 1999 U.S. Outdoor champion Kevin Dilworth and 2002 NCAA Outdoor long and triple jump champion Walter Davis.

USA Track & Field hosted a media teleconference on Monday, June 17, where Stringfellow, the 2001 World Outdoor Championships silver medalist, Pate, the 2002 USA Indoor champion, and Phillips, the 2001 U.S. indoor champ, discussed their preparations for this year’s Outdoor Nationals.

A four-time NCAA champion, Stringfellow won his first U.S. Outdoor title last year in Eugene with a best of 8.47 meters/27 feet, 9.50 inches. After ending the 2001 season ranked #2 in the world and #1 in the U.S., Stringfellow, the owner of a ‘Superman’ alter ego and a tattoo to match, owns the top two outdoor performances in the world this year. His May 11 personal best of 8.49m/27-10.25 in Osaka, Japan, tops the 2002 world outdoor list.

The runner-up to Stringfellow at last year’s USA Outdoor Championships, Miguel Pate enters the 2002 Nationals after setting a meet record 8.59m/28-2.25 in winning the 2002 USA Indoor long jump crown in New York. Pate’s performance was the best indoor jump by an American since Carl Lewis set the world indoor record of 8.79m/28-10.25 at the 1984 Millrose Games. It also made him the #3 indoor jumper of all-time, behind Lewis and Olympic champion Ivan Pedroso. A senior at the University of Alabama, Pate ended the 2002 indoor season with the top three marks in the world. He currently owns the third best mark on this year’s world outdoor list with his winning 8.28m/27-2 effort at the June 8 Oracle US Open in Palo Alto.

A two-time NCAA runner-up, Dwight Phillips finished eighth at both the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and the 2001 World Outdoor Championships in Edmonton. After finishing the 2001 season ranked #4 in the U.S., Phillips has a best outdoor performance this year of 8.22m/26-11.75 in winning the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona. The runner-up to Miguel Pate at the 2002 USA Indoor Championships (7.99m/26-2.75) in New York, Phillips will look to improve on his third place finish at last year’s USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene.

For more news on the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships, including the latest on entries for the meet, click on the 2002 USA Outdoor Championships section on the USATF Web site at www.usatf.org. For biographies of all three athletes who participated in Monday’s teleconference, visit www.usatf.org.

Below are excerpts from Monday’s teleconference. Or listen to the full teleconference on our Web site, www.usatf.org.

Q: Did your 28-foot jump at 2002 Indoor Nationals surprise you?

Pate: To tell you the truth, it did. I expected it to come outdoors, so indoor was unexpected. When they put the distance on the board, I was just as shocked as anybody else.

Q: Dwight and Savante, how did you feel when you saw Miguel’s mark?

Phillips: I was in that competition. I was like, ‘dang, that’s a good jump.’

Stringfellow: I was in a good mood that night. Then my coach called me and I was like, whoa he said what? I was up the rest of the night thinking I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to change this. That dude jumped 28 feet INDOORS, just think what he can do outdoors. It put a damper on my whole night! (laugh)

Q: There is resurgence in long jumping right now. Savante, you really got things going last year at the USA Championships and then your great performance at Worlds.

Stringfellow: As far as the three of us on the phone, we’ve always had great competition because we were competing against each other in college. We knew we could do it, we just got such flak from the media because we had such shoes to fill. But I think we answered the call.

Phillips: I definitely think the sky is the limit. As you’ve seen the last few years, we’ve had a lot of guys stepping up. Because we’re all so young, I think you’re going to see a lot more to come.

Stringfellow: The biggest thing is we learned the game. We learned what we had to do. We all communicated to each other. We didn’t like the attention we were getting as far as not jumping up to par against the rest of the world. That got under all of our skin. Track & Field News put out an article saying ‘Where are the U.S. jumpers?’ I called the other jumpers asking what they thought about it. Ever since Sydney, we’ve been talking about putting it up.

Q: When you called other jumpers, what response did you get?

Pate: My response was that I was really shocked. I was just coming into my own, going 27 feet. To read that article and get down, I thought what do I have to do to get a little attention? I was only 20 years old. I tried to use it as motivation.

Q: When you compete in Europe, have you sensed a change in how your competitors look at you?

Stringfellow: I think respect. I go out whether I’m there, Dwight’s there, Kevin Dilworth’s there, we’re the ones to beat. Early on I did a whole lot of talking. But now I just come out and I think my presence can be intimidating. It’s different than 1999 and the Olympics when nobody knew us. They know they have to bring it. Even (Ivan) Pedroso (of Cuba), who is the #1 jumper in the world right now. … When I go to Europe I get asked about Pate now. He’s created quite a buzz.

Q: Are you intimidated by Pedroso? Is he the man to beat?

Stringfellow: I’m not intimidated at all. Last year I think I beat him 4 times and he beat me 4 times. One of those times was at the World Championships. But he’s not as intimidating as he once was to me.

Q: As each of you has gotten better, have you learned small things that you have to master?

Phillips: I definitely think there are things you can always improve on. You want to do something bigger and better. Once you surpass one goal, you are always hungry to go further. … My form is so bad. I’ve really sharpened up on things that are going to make me a better jumper.

Q: What are your goals?

Pate: My goal is to stay consistent around the 27-foot mark, then when the time comes, to pop that 28-foot jump. Year to year, meet to meet, that changes.

Phillips: I definitely want to be a lot more consistent in the 27-foot area. I just want to get some big jumps this year, because in the past I’m consistently at 26-7, 26-8. Even this year, I’ve been consistently at where I want to be. I want to jump some big 28s and win the U.S. championships.

Stringfellow: My goal is to just go out and continue to win. If I continue to win, the number will be there. The simplest goal is to continue to win. Long-term is to be remembered as one of the greatest long jumpers any one of you have talked to on the phone.

Q: When did you develop your Superman alter-ego?

Stringfellow: That started in college, with a coach, Brian O’Neill. (Stringfellow was competing in 4-5 events in one meet.) Then a friend of mine bought me a T-shirt. Everything else is history. I respond under pressure. A lot of times I say things, I do things, and that creates pressure. I have something to live up to. In college and now, I bring attention to the long jump.