FRANCIS TO RUN WITH THE PROS:
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission

Benjamin Cardozo High School's Claudia Francis, twice the USA high school 800-meter champion, will run with the pros at Saturday's New Balance Games at the Armory.  The six-foot tall 17 year-old from Queens, who left her high school team in 2009 over a dispute about overtraining with her coach Gail Emmanuel, returned to the Judges after competing in last summer's Youth Olympics in Singapore where she placed 12th in the 1000m, a distance she does not favor.  "I had to run my first 1000 outdoors," Francis told reporters, apparently referring to the USA trials race which she won in Arlington, Tex., last April.  "I never ran 1000 outdoors so I was a little freaked out about it."  At next Saturday's race at the Armory, Francis, who has an 800-meter personal best 2:05.47 (2:08.06 indoors), will be racing against national stars like Maggie Vessey and Phoebe Wright who have both broken two minutes.  She hopes to gain valuable experience from the race.  "They run a little different," she said of top elites, looking a little embarrassed.  "A little smarter." 

PHOTO: Two-time USA high school 800m champion Claudia Francis (Photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)