Week Long Contest of Talent Mother Nature took center stage on the first day of the 2010 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships as rain washed out the majority of final events on Friday evening.

Before the storms rolled in, four 800m races were held for different classification groups and several field events were completed during the morning session.

U.S. Army veteran Jeannette Thompson (Augusta, GA) never had dreams of being an American record holder in anything, especially not after having been severely injured in an IED attack while she was stationed in Iraq in 2008.

Competing in just her third track & field meet ever, Thompson did just that, as she set a new American record in the women’s javelin (F58) with a throw of 19.47 meters.

“I’m floored right now, just in shock,” said Thompson. “I never thought I’d be at this point and it feels so good to compete. I trained hard so that when I got to competition I knew I’d be ready.”

University of Illinois athletes made a strong statement on the track by winning each of the 800m events in which they were entered. In the T54 category, Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, MD) breezed to gold in a time of 1:51.93, easily defeating Great Britain’s Shelley Woods (1:55.53) and Canada’s Diane Roy (1:56.45).

In the women’s T53 race, Illinois teammates Amanda McGrory (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Jessica Galli (Savoy, IL) took the top two spots with times of 1:57.38 and 1:58.22, respectively, while Shirley Rilley (Tucson, AZ) earned the bronze with a time of 1:58.58.

“I started a little slower than I would have liked, but I’m happy that I was able to finish strong and take the win,” said McGrory.

The only other women’s race of the session saw Canada’s Michelle Stillwell (2:41.51) beat out Kerri Morgan (St. Louis, MO), who ran a 2:54.24, in the T52 category.

Only one men’s 800m race was contested during the rain-shortened evening and Illinois’ Joshua George (Fairfax, Va.) demolished the field with his time of 1:46.18, more than six seconds better than his teammate and second place finisher, Brian Siemann (Champaign, Ill.). Third place went to Eric Gauthier of Canada.

The men’s triple jump, javelin and shot put were the only other events to go final on Friday.

The F33/34/53 shot put competition saw Sam Craven (Walnut Creek, AZ) edge out Canada’s Kyle Pettey by just 30 centimeters to win gold. Craven’s throw of 10.62 narrowly clipped Pettey’s 10.32 to earn the top spot.

Dennis Ogbe (Louisville, KY) staked claim to gold in the F55/56/57/58 shot put with a heave of 12.93m.

Two athletes, each competing in a different classification, took on the triple jump. Elexis Gillette (Raleigh, NC) put out a best jump of 12.05m (F11), while Daniel Rizzieri (Cohocton, N.Y.) had a top performance of 12.45m (F46).

“Lex did well today, but we expect to see him jumping even better as we approach the world championships next January,” said Al Joyner, Gillette’s coach and Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump from 1984.

Sunday - McFadden had an opportunity to get five wins in five events, but was narrowly edged out in the women’s 1500m (T54) by Great Britain’s Shelley Woods. Woods crossed the line in 3:49.19 with McFadden less than three-tenths of a second behind in 3:49.41.

“I think this weekend went great,” said McFadden. “We’ve been training twice a day to prepare and that training really paid off. I am also fortunate enough to train with great teammates who push me and make me faster, so that definitely had a positive impact on my racing.”

In the men’s T54 category, Jordan Bird (Tucson, AZ) emerged as the man to beat, winning both the 400m and 1500m races. Bird clocked a 48.94 in the 400m and a 3:15.29 in the 1500m.

Wheelchair racer Joshua George (Fairfax, VA) also looked strong for the U.S., winning his 400m race (T53) by nearly two seconds (52.50) and taking third place in a combined T53/54 1500m event with a time of 3:16.83.

Anjali Forber-Pratt (Natick, MA) capped off a great weekend of racing with a win in the women’s 400m (T53) by holding off teammate Amanda McGrory (Kennett Square, PA) at the finish. Forber-Pratt crossed in 58.38 and McGrory was right behind in 58.50. A third place finish by Jessica Galli (Savoy, IL), in a time of 58.84, gave the University of Illinois a sweep in that event.

A rising star among the amputee runners, Blake Leeper (Church Hill, TN) ran a personal best time in the 100m (T43) on Saturday, then came back on the final day of competition to take second place in the combined T43/44 400m race (58.28) and help Team USA with a strong showing in the 4 x 100m relay.

Leeper was joined by Jim Bob Bizzell (Odessa, Texas), David Prince (Norcross, Ga.) and Brandon Pelletier (San Antonio, TX) in running a time of 46.03 in the 4x100m, which put the U.S. in second behind a blazing fast team from Brazil that hit the line in 43.19.

“The heat was a big factor all weekend,” said Leeper. “My energy was down, but this was my best competition so far of my career. It was fun to finish off with the relay and now I’ll head home to start preparing for world championships since we’ve got exactly seven months to get ready for that meet.”

Prince was the winner in the 400m (T43/44) with a time of 54.75, followed by Leeper and Daniel Rizzieri (Cohocton, NY) in third at 58.56.

Pelletier was the top American finisher in the men’s 400m (T46) with a time of 56.92, while Markeith Price (Baltimore, MD) won the T13 (visually impaired) category in 51.69.

The 2010 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Championships is the premiere annual track & field event for athletes with physical & visual disabilities in the United States. This year’s event also served as a qualifier for the 2011 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships, which will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand next January.

Complete results and additional event information can be found at usparalympics.org