Olympic Trials: Day 5

The news from Eugene and day five of the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials...

MEN'S 400 METERS: The expected story line was for defending Olympic champion (and Michael Johnson coached) Jeremy Wariner to come in, cruise to the victory and lead the U.S. team to Beijing where he would win another gold. Apparently, somebody forgot to tell LaShawn Merritt about that.

Merritt pulled off what many will call another upset over Wariner on Thursday night, pulling ahead of Wariner in the final 100 meters to win in 44.00 seconds. Wariner, who had the lead with 150 meters to go, finished second in 44.20. In another surprise, David Neville, who drew lane 8, finished third in a respectable 44.61 seconds.

The race marks the second time this season that Merritt has better Wariner. Merritt also won a duel last month in a IAAF Grand Prix meet in Berlin.

I almost wonder how much of Wariner's heart was in the races in Eugene. Sure, you need only be in the top-three to make the Olmypic team, but Wariner cruised through the first two rounds. He pulled up well ahead of the line in thre preliminaries and seemed to be putting strides in during the semifinal. Wariner was a no-show at the post-race press conference, instead making himself available to reporters later.

WOMEN'S 400 METERS: Sanya Richards made her comeback complete. One year after fighting off a rare illness, Behcet's Syndrome, which left ulcers on her legs and left her severely fatigued, Richards won the women's 400 meter finals in 49.89. She led from start to finish in a very competitive race that included 50.85-second second place finish by Mary Wineberg and a 50.88-second third place finish by Dee Dee Trotter.

MEN'S 1,500 PRELIMINARIES: In the three heats of the quarterfinals, none was as exciting as the third and final heat featuring two of the top milers in the world today: Bernard Lagat and Alan Webb. Webb, appearing in his first race at the trials, put down the hammer and raced, finsihing first with the best time of the preliminaries at 3:41.27. Lagat, who earned a trip to Beijing by winning the 5,000 meters on Monday, cruised to a fourth place finish in 3:42.11. Lagat spent most of the race lurking in the back of the pack, then moving up to an automatic advancement spot in the final lap. Not that he would have needed it: all 10 runners in the third heat advanced to today's semifinals by either place or time.

WOMEN'S 3,000 METER STEEPLECHASE: Anna Willard was the easy one to pick out of the group in the steeplechase. She was the blonde with the streaks of pink through her hair. By the end, though, Willard was easy to pick out because she was the one in front, running an American record of 9:27.59 to become the nation's first ever women's steeplechase qualifier for the Olympics (this is the first year the event will be contested in the Olympics). Lindsay Anderson was second in 9:30.75. Colorado's Jennifer Barringer, who had set a new stadium record in Monday's semifinals, was third in 9:333.11.

MEN'S MASTER'S 3,000 METERS: The first of two exhibition races that started the evening was a master's 3,000 meters. I can only dream of being able to run as fast as some of these guys after I turn 40! In fact, 13 of the 16 entrants finished with times faster than I ever ran in high school! Tony Young of Club Northwest won the event in an amazing 8:47.17. Damian Baldovino, a resident of Lakeview and a graduate of Medford High School, was third in 8:56.35.

IN THE PRESS TENT: I had fun catching up with Herald and News (Klamath Falls newspaper) writer Lee Juillerat, who was up to do stories on both Ian Dobson and on Baldovino. He didn't recognize me when I first saw him Monday night (I have put on a few pounds since me HS days) and it was nice to talk and hear things were well for him. An avid runner himself, Lee for years was the mastermind behind the Lake of the Woods Run that I participated in for a number of years. He was known for making sure he wore bib number 337, which when worn upside down read, "Lee." Considering how many races now use personalized bib numbers with names, it was safe to say that he was ahead of his time.

IN THE PRESS: My good friend at The Oregonian, Molly Blue, continues to create some great online content for the O's Web site, OregonLive.com. Her work (with former UO runner Pat Tyson) yesterday includes an interview with 800 meter placers Christian Smith and Andrew Wheating and an interview with Jeff Johnson, who provided Phil Knight with the name for his little shoe company, Nike. (Oh, and by the way, he was a high school coach of Andrew Wheating's).

The Eugene Register-Guard continues to put together spectacular coverage of the trials, which once again includes an 8-page wrap-up section of yesterday's coverage. Included in today's July 4 recap is an article about athletes at the trials who are members of the military and proudly represent their country every day, not just on the track. After the Olympics, all of these athletes will be back on true active duty, performing their job specialties alongside the everyday rank and file. On a day like this, we can only thank them for their work as athletes and, more importantly, for their service to our country.

WHAT TO WATCH ON FRIDAY: The second edition of the speed show begins as preliminary rounds of the men's and women's 200 meters take place, as do semifinals in both the men's and women's 1,500. The finals of the women's 5,000 meters are tonight at 8:55. The race features, most notably, Kara Goucher. The men's 10,000-meter final is the last event at 9:20 p.m. The event features a number of well-known names, include Dan Browne, Adam Goucher and Dathan Ritzenhein. The crowd favorite will be Galen Rupp, who sat out his 2008 Oregon collegiate track season to concentrate on training for the trials and Olympics. He will be racing in the yellow Oregon singlet this evening. Also run will be Meb Keflezighi, who was first coached in high school by former Pacific coach Ron Tabb. Keflezighi was the silver medalist in the 2004 Athens Olympic marathon, but failed the make the marathon squad for Beijing.