Courtesy: USATF

Maurice Greene (pictured) and Antonio Pettigrew will lead Team USA in defending its 1999 World Championships men's relay titles at the 2001 IAAF World Outdoor Championships next month in Edmonton, Canada.

The men's relay pools for the World Championships were announced Wednesday by USA Track & Field. The men's lineups (subject to change) are:

4x100-meter relay: Maurice Greene (Granada Hills, Calif.), Bernard Williams (Los Angeles), Tim Montgomery (Norfolk, Va.), Dennis Mitchell (Gainesville, Fla.), Curtis Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.), Shawn Crawford (Clemson, S.C.), Jonathan Carter (Miramar, Fla.) and J.J. Johnson (Dallas, Tex.).

4x400-meter relay: Antonio Pettigrew (Raleigh, N.C.), Angelo Taylor (Atlanta), Leonard Byrd (Raleigh, N.C.), Jerome Young (Raleigh, N.C.), Derrick Brew (Baton Rouge, La.), Andrew Pierce (Columbus, Ohio), Thomas Gerding (Waconia, Minn.) and Geno White (Gainesville, Fla.).

Greene, a two-time 100m world champion, Olympic gold medalist and the 100m world record holder, will join Bernard Williams and Tim Montgomery after all three won gold medals in the 4x100m relay at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

The 1997 World Championships 100m bronze medalist and 2001 U.S. 100m champion, Montgomery ran the second leg of the gold medal winning U.S. 4x100m relay at the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain. Greene ran the anchor leg as Team USA won the gold in 37.59. Montgomery equaled the third-fastest time ever in the 100 meters by running 9.84 seconds in Oslo, Norway last week. After his fourth place finish at the GMC Envoy USA Championships last month in Eugene, Dennis Mitchell returns to the national 4x100m team after winning Olympic relay gold in 1992, silver in 1996 and world titles in 1991 and 1993. A two-time world outdoor championships 100m bronze medalist, Mitchell won the bronze medal in the 100m at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Curtis Johnson was also named to the relay pool, and will run the open 100 meters in Edmonton after his third-place finish at Nationals in10.01. 2001 U.S. 200m champ Shawn Crawford, who finished fifth in the 100 meters in Eugene and is the 2001 World Indoor champion at 200m, is also on the relay squad, along with newcomers J.J. Johnson and Jonathan Carter, who finished 7th and 8th respectively last month at Nationals.

1991 world 400m champion Antonio Pettigrew (pictured) will lead the men's 4x400m squad in Edmonton after winning his fifth U.S. Outdoor title last month in Eugene. A two-time world 4x400m champion, Pettigrew added an Olympic relay gold medal to his trophy case last year in Sydney.

Pettigrew will be joined by double Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor. Taylor won the 400 hurdles in Sydney and came back to run the first two rounds of the 4x400 to win relay gold. Possessing great speed, Taylor was part of the 4x400 team that won the 1999 world title in Seville.

Also on the relay pool is Jerome Young, who won gold on the U.S. 4x400m relay squad at the 1997 World Outdoor Championships and at the 2000 Olympic Games. A two-time U.S. outdoor 400m champ, Young is joined by Leonard Byrd, who placed second in Eugene (45.26), and won a gold medal on the U.S. 4x400m relay team at the 1995 World University Games. 1999 World University Games 4x400m relay gold medalist Derrick Brew is also in the pool after placing fourth in the 400m in Eugene in 45.35. Additional 4x400m relay pool members include recent Ohio State graduate Andrew Pierce, who placed fifth in Eugene (45.42), University of Minnesota grad Thomas Gerding (6th-45.79) and 2001 University of Florida graduate Geno White (7th-45.80).