American Record: Suzy Powell, 222-0
2007 U.S. Champion: Suzy Powell, 198-11
2004 Olympic Trials Champion: Aretha Hill, 208-6
Top 5 Seed Times
1.) Suzy Powell-Roos, 222-0
2.) Stephanie Brown Trafton, 217-1
3.) Becky Breisch, 210-3
4.) Aretha (Hill) Thurmond, 206-11
5.) Cecilia Barnes, 203-4
Suzy Powell-Roos, who set the American record in the event last year, will look to defend the U.S. championship that took her 11 years to get back the first time. After winning the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta, Powell-Roos finished second at the U.S. Championships six times before reclaiming her title in Indianapolis last summer.
There is a strong group of women looking to take the title away, however, including Stephanie Brown Trafton, the 2004 Olympic Trials runner-up, Becky Breisch, the 2005 U.S. champion and 2007 runner-up, and Aretha Thurmond, a three-time U.S. champion.
Though not a threat to make the Olympic team, keep an eye on Annie Hess from Portland’s Concordia University. Hess, who trains under former Duck great Mac Wilkins, is a two-time NAIA champion and owns a personal best of 192-7, a mark that would shatter the Oregon school record and is the best by any collegian this year.