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by: LetsRun.com June 29, 2008 *Sunday Field Event Recap Here (Olympic Champ Dwight Phillips Comes Up Short, Jeff Hartwig Makes the Team at 40) Mens 100 Final: Tyson Gay the Fastest 100 Ever 9.68 An historic weekend of sprinting came to a fitting conclusion with a 100 meter final for the ages. It didnt feel windy in the press box, but the 4.1 m/s was well over the allowable so while Tyson Gay ran faster than any human being in history, it wont go down as a record. But it will go down as a thrilling, electric moment. And for Travis Padgett, it will go down as heart-break as he ran 9.85 .but 9.85 was only good for fourth. Walter Dix ran great to place second in 9.80 and Darvis Patton edged Padgett with a 9.84 for third. Overall, six men broke ten! But most of 20,700 on hand will remember Gays fantastic effort that is the fastest time ever run, under any conditions. The former performance in that category was Obadele Thompsons 9.69 in 1996. Dix continued to run in his Florida State jersey, but we're when he toes the line for the 200, it seems like for sure he'll have a pro contract. As impressive Gay's 9.68 was, Gay said afterwards it was far from a perfect race. He told Dick Patrick of USAToday, "Relaxation is the key to track and field. (Saturday, when he ran 9.77) I was totally relaxed and let the time come to me. I may have pressed a little today." Finals 1 Tyson Gay adidas 9.68 4.1 2 Walter Dix Florida State 9.80 4.1 3 Darvis Patton adidas 9.84 4.1 4 Travis Padgett unattached 9.85 4.1 5 Rodney Martin Nike 9.97 4.1 6 Leroy Dixon Nike 9.99 4.1 7 Michael Rodgers Nike 10.01 4.1 8 Xavier Carter Nike 10.11 4.1 Semifinal One: After a false start tensed the field
a bit, Tyson Gay was out solidly but not spectacularly.
He pulled away from Walter Dix and the rest of the field at 50
meters but then seemed to relax 30 meters from the finish. The
wind was just over the allowable (2.2), he crossed the line in 9.85, with
Dix right behind in 9.93. Heat 1 Semi-Finals Wind: 2.2 1 Tyson Gay adidas 9.85Q 2 Walter Dix Florida State 9.93Q 3 Rodney Martin Nike 10.08Q 4 Xavier Carter Nike 10.09Q 10.086 5 Ivory Williams Nike 10.09 10.087 6 Rae Edwards Nike 10.16 7 Trindon Holliday L S U 10.17 8 Chrisdon Hargrett adidas 12.11 Semifinal Two: High school phenom Jeffery Demps seemed to flinch at the gun, but the race was not recalled and he got a poor start. Any hopes of taking the world junior record under 10.00 were dashed, as were his hopes for advancing to the final. Darvis Patton blew by Travis Padgett at half-way and cruised into the finish a clear winner in 10.04. Wallace Spearmon, who still has the 200 remaining, was denied a spot in the final by one one thousandth of a second. Heat 2 Semi-Finals Wind: 0.5 1 Darvis Patton adidas 10.04Q 2 Travis Padgett unattached 10.11Q 3 Leroy Dixon Nike 10.17Q 4 Michael Rodgers Nike 10.18Q 10.178 5 Wallace Spearmon Nike 10.18 10.179 6 John Capel unattached 10.21 7 Mark Jelks Nike 10.24 8 Jeffery Demps unattached 10.34 Womens 400 Hurdles Final: World Leader Demus Won't Be in BeijingThe womens 400 hurdles was witness to a big upset as the current world leader, Lashinda Demus was out hard and leading through the first five hurdles but then paid for her aggression by tying up over the last hurdle to fade to fourth. Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech, who didnt even win the NCAA title this year (she qualified for the meet but did not start after suffering a hamstring injury while running in the preliminary rounds of the 4X100 for the Hokies in Des Moines), came on strong to finish second and PRed in 54.60. An additional piece of hardship she had to overcome was hurdling another athlete who fell in her lane: "I had to go around her and jump at the same time, so it was my extra hurdle. Stuff like that happens all the time. I came to do my best and I had to build my confidence after my hamstring injury." The winner was Tiffany Ross-Williams, who ran the most patient race among the qualifiers, coming on strong to win in a seasonal best 54.03 (also the second best in the world this year). Grabbing the final spot on the team was Sheena Tosta, who also ran a seasonal best, 54.62. Harrison and Tiffany Ross-Williams both have fathers currently in prison and have overcome difficult circumstances to make the team. Finals 1 Tiffany Ross-Williams Reebok 54.03 2 Queen Harrison Virginia Tech 54.60 3 Sheena Tosta Nike 54.62 4 Lashinda Demus Nike 54.76 5 Christine Spence Nike 55.74 6 Angel Perkins adidas 56.23 7 Miriam Barnes Nike 1:00.18 -- Latosha Wallace Asics DQ hooking 7th hurd Mens 400 Hurdles Final: Bershawn Jackson Storms Back to WinIn a loaded field that included 2000 Olympic gold medallist Angelo Taylor, 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson and 2007 world champion Kerron Clement, the Big Three all qualified for the U.S. team. But there was nothing formulaic about the race. Jackson struggled with hurdles, 2, 3, and 4 so much so that he seemed that he must be hurt .but he got back on his stride and absolutely rolled through the field from the 200 meter mark on to cruise to victory in 48.17. His ability to chase down this world class field in the last 200 meters stamps him as the favorite in Beijing despite the credentials of his teammates. And the race for the rest of the spots was equally exciting. Clement, known for his inconsistent hurdle technique, came to a near stop on the 10th and final hurdle and the field seemed to swallow him .but for those who watched Clement in college, it was no surprise that he was able to surge home to the finish and still maintain second place .he is a freakish talent. Taylor, the defending American champ in the flat 400 also rallied down the stretch to move from fourth to third and reclaim a place on the Olympic team in the intermediate hurdles. Justin Gaymon, the SEC champ who was DQed at the NCAA Championships, finished a mere .04 from third with a PR 48.46. Looking ahead to the Olympics, Jackson said "Amazing awaits, that's the whole theme of the Olympics. We're definitely going to sweep, but who comes in first, that's anybody's guess." Finals 1 Bershawn Jackson Nike 48.17 2 Kerron Clement Nike 48.36 3 Angelo Taylor Nike 48.42 4 Justin Gaymon Georgia 48.46 5 Johnny Dutch South Carolina 48.52 6 Brandon Johnson Nike 48.72 7 Reuben McCoy Auburn 49.18 8 LaRon Bennett unattached 50.89 Womens 400 QuarterfinalsNo big surprises here as the top 11 seeds all advanced. Heat winners Mary Wineberg, Natasha Hastings, Dee Dee Trotter and Sanya Richards all won convincingly, with Richards appearing to shut down with a full 100 meters to go. She still finished well clear of second place.Richards, who struggled last year with illness after an outstanding 2006 campaign, said "I haven't had any flare ups since January 1. Recovery is very important to me. I am still on medication, and I need to keep my stresses low. In my mind, it's gone, but I still have to take precautions." Heat 1 Preliminaries 1 Mary Wineberg Nike 51.46Q 2 Monique Henderson Reebok 52.24Q 3 Ashlee Kidd Nike 53.22Q 4 Nina Gilbert unattached 53.37 5 Dominique Blake Penn State 53.90 6 Francena McCorory Hampton 57.73 Heat 2 Preliminaries 1 Natasha Hastings Nike 51.51Q 2 Shareese Woods adidas 51.60Q 3 Shana Cox Penn State 51.69Q 4 Moushaumi Robinson unattached 52.02q 5 Jenna Griffin unattached 53.20 6 Dominique Holmes Tennessee State 53.35 7 Lauren McNary unattached 53.60 Heat 3 Preliminaries 1 Sanya Richards Nike 51.08Q 2 Ebonie Floyd Nike 51.37Q 3 Brandi Cross South Carolina 51.63Q 4 Monique Hennagan Nike 51.73q 5 Jessica Cousins Nike 52.63q 6 Donniece Parrish Kansas State 54.14 -- Miriam Barnes Nike DNS Heat 4 Preliminaries 1 Dee Dee Trotter adidas 51.97Q 2 Debbie Dunn unattached 52.20Q 3 Monica Hargrove unattached 52.36Q 4 Kenyata Coleman Ole Miss 52.92q 5 Cynetheia Rooks unattached 52.95 6 Leslie Cole Oklahoma 53.19 7 LaJada Baldwin unattached 54.01
Mens 400 Quarterfinals: Wariner vs Merritt Gets UnderwayKey players Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt made it through with ease and the main question that needed answering was whether Angelo Taylor (the defending US champ) could somehow recover 45 minutes after making the U.S. team in the 400 hurdles. The 400 hurdles/400 is an incredibly tough under any circumstances and Taylors attempt with the two so close together are the stuff legends are made of. And Taylor did everything he could to make it happen, purposely false-starting and striding out half-way through the turn and walking slowly back to the starting blocks to eke out a few more moments of recovery. But it was not to be as he was behind from the gun and ultimately he pulled out at the 250 mark. Said Taylor, "I thought I'd have more time than I did...I thought I'd have 45 minutes between races and I only had 23 minutes. I just couldn't recover completely." Other key non-qualifiers were Tyree Washington and Andrew Rock. Heat 1 Preliminaries 1 LaShawn Merritt Nike 45.30Q 2 LeJerald Betters Baylor 45.46Q 3 Greg Nixon Asics 45.74Q 4 Miles Smith unattached 45.77q 5 Joel Stallworth unattached 46.68 6 Craig Everhart HS International 48.08 -- Andrew Rock adidas DNF Heat 2 Preliminaries 1 Jeremy Wariner adidas 46.04Q 2 Erison Hurtault RIADHA 46.25Q 3 David Neville Nike 46.41Q 4 Arman Dixon Sacred Heart 46.70 5 Derrick Brew Reebok 46.88 6 Bobby McCoy unattached 46.91 7 Terrance Reid Northern Iowa 47.42 Heat 3 Preliminaries 1 Lionel Larry U S C 45.89Q 2 Reggie Witherspoon Nike 45.94Q 3 Darold Williamson Nike 46.00Q 4 Jamaal Torrence Nike 46.24q 5 Obra Hogans Shore A C 46.36q 6 Justin Oliver Texas A&M 46.85 7 Ahmad Hubbard Mississippi State 47.10 Heat 4 Preliminaries 1 Quentin Iglehart-Summers Baylor 45.87Q 2 Calvin Smith unattached 46.14Q 3 Jordan Boase Washington 46.31Q 4 Fernada Blakely unattached 46.32q 5 Tyree Washington unattached 46.56 6 Drew Morano Colorado State 47.26 -- Angelo Taylor Nike DNF
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