Track team ready to roll in Athens

ATHENS - Team USA will open competition at Olympic Stadium in Athens on Friday as 10 consecutive days of track & field competition get under way.

The men's 20 km walk opens the day at 9 a.m. and will be the first final as Tim Seaman (Chula Vista, Calif.), John Nunn (San Diego, Calif.) and Kevin Eastler (Aurora, Colo.) compete. Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.), Dan Browne (Beaverton, Ore.) and Dathan Ritzenhein (Boulder, Colo.) run the men's 10,000 meter final at 10:30 p.m.

Thirty-seven-year-old, five-time Olympians Gail Devers (Decatur, Ga.) and Jearl Miles-Clark (Knoxville, Tenn.) will lead a young Team USA squad in preliminary action as the women's 100m and 800m open first-round competition. The medal-contending U.S. 100-meter contingent also includes Olympic Trials champion LaTasha Colander (Garner, N.C.) and NCAA champion Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.). American indoor record holder Nicole Teter (Palo Alto, Calif.) and 2000 Olympic Trials champion Hazel Clark (Knoxville, Tenn.) will join Miles-Clark in the 800.

The youngest athlete on the men's team also will compete Friday. Promising 20-year-old Olympic Trials and NCAA champion Jeremy Wariner will run in heat 6 of the first round of the men's 400.

World leader Melvin Lister (Fayetteville, Ark.), world #4 Walter Davis (Baton Rouge, La., and world #6 Kenta Bell (Chula Vista, Calif.) are in men's triple jump qualifying.

The first day of the heptathlon competition will be held with the 100 hurdles and high jump in the morning session, while the shot put and 200 will be contested in the evening session. Preliminary rounds will be held in the women's 100, women' s 800 and women's 5,000 along with the men's 400 and men's 1,500. Qualifying rounds will be held in the four field events: the men's hammer throw, men's triple jump and men's high jump along with the women's discus throw.

Below is a full listing of Team USA competitors Friday. All times are local to Athens:

9 a.m. - Men's 20k Race Walk Final (Olympic Stadium) - Kevin Eastler, Aurora, Colo.; Tim Seaman, Chula Vista, Calif.; John Nunn, San Diego, Calif.

9:15 a.m. - Men's Hammer Throw Qualifying Round -Group A (Olympic Stadium) - A.G. Kruger, Sheldon, Iowa

9:30 a.m. - Women's Heptathlon 100 hurdles Heat One (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

9:55 a.m.- Men's Triple Jump Qualifying Round-Group A & Group B (Olympic Stadium) - Kenta Bell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Walter Davis, Baton Rouge, La.; Melvin Lister, Fayetteville, Ark.

10:40 a.m. - Women's Heptathlon High Jump (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

10:45 a.m - Men's Hammer Throw Qualifying Round-Group B (Olympic Stadium) - James Parker, Great Falls, Mont.

11:04 a.m. - Women's 100 Round 1 -Heat 3 (Olympic Stadium) - Lauryn Williams, Miami, Fla.

11:18 a.m. - Women's 100 Round 1 - Heat 5 (Olympic Stadium) - LaTasha Colander, Garner, N.C.

11:25 a.m. - Women's 100 Round 1 - Heat 6 (Olympic Stadium) - Gail Devers, Duluth, Ga.

7:30 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon Shot Put (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

7:40 p.m. - Men's 1,500 Round 1 - Heat 1 (Olympic Stadium) - Grant Robison, Mountain View, Calif.

7:48 p.m. - Men's 1,500 Round 1 - Heat2 (Olympic Stadium) - Alan Webb, Fairfax, Va.

7:56p.m. - Men's 1,500 Round 1 - Heat 1 (Olympic Stadium) - Charlie Gruber, Lawrence, Kan..

8:05 p.m. - Women's 100 Round 2 (Olympic Stadium) - LaTasha Colander, Garner, N.C.; Gail Devers, Duluth, Ga.; Lauryn Williams, Miami, Fla.

8:20 p.m. - Men's High Jump Qualifying Round (Olympic Stadium) - Tora Harris, College Park, Ga.; Matt Hemingway, Littleton, Colo.; Jamie Nieto, Chula Vista, Calif.

8:50 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon 200 - Heat 1 (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

8:56 p.m. -Women's Heptathlon 200 - Heat 2 (Olympic Stadium) - Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah

9:26 p.m. - Men's 400 Round One - Heat 2 (Olympic Stadium) - Otis Harris, Columbia, S.C.

9:38 p.m. - Men's 400 Round One - Heat 4 (Olympic Stadium) - Derrick Brew, Raleigh, N.C.

9:50 p.m. - Men's 400 Round One - Heat 6 (Olympic Stadium) - Jeremy Wariner, Grand Prairie, Texas

9:30 p.m. -Women's Discus Throw Qualifying Round - Group A (Olympic Stadium) - Stephanie Brown, Oceano, Calif.

10:22 p.m. - Women's 800 Round One - Heat 3 (Olympic Stadium) - Jearl Miles-Clark, Knoxville, Tenn.

10:34 p.m. - Women's 800 Round One -Heat 5 (Olympic Stadium) - Nicole Teter, Palo Alto, Calif.

10:40 p.m. - Women's 800 Round One - Heat 6 (Olympic Stadium) - Hazel Clark, Knoxville, Tenn.

10:50 p.m. - Men's 10,000 Final (Olympic Stadium) - Abdi Abdirahman, Tucson, Ariz.; Dan Browne, Beaverton, Ore.; Dathan Ritzenhein, Boulder, Colo.

11:15 p.m. - Women's Discus Throw , Qualifying Round - Group B (Olympic Stadium) - Aretha Hill, Opelika, Ala.; Seilala Sua, Anaheim, Calif.

11:15 p.m. - Women's 5,000 Round One - Heat 1 (Olympic Stadium) - Shayne Culpepper, Lafayette, Colo.; Marla Runyan, Eugene, Ore..

11:55 p.m. - Women's 5,000 Round Two - Heat 2 (Olympic Stadium) - Shalane Flanagan, Chapell Hill, N.C.