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| 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
Track & Field
University of Oregon, Hayward Field - Eugene OR
June 27 - July 6, 2008
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Highights - USATF's Results Page - John Nepolitan Photos
Sunday 6/29 - Demps' Blazing Trials Run Ends
But whether his performance is record-setting or average, FL star maintains same easy demeanor
Story by SteveU
 | Jeff Demps (right) pushes with Clemson's Travis Padgett in Sunday's semifinal action. Demps was 8th in 10.34, which was not enough for a Finals berth. Photo John Nepolitan.
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He entered the mixed zone Sunday with his cool intact, almost the same way he appeared there a day earlier after he’d helped set the sprinting world on fire.
Saturday, he had a day like no one else in prep 100-meter history, running what was then the #2 time in the qualifying (10.12), then blasting the HSR in the quarterfinal with his 10.01. Sunday, he looked more ordinary, surely suffering fatigue from the previous day and able to manage just 10.34 for 8th in his semi. But you would barely have known the difference from meeting him in the interview area.
Win or lose, run great or not so great, Jeff Demps lets it all roll off him, not getting too high or too low. He gives the impression of an athlete who always knows there’s more to accomplish and better days ahead, whether it’s on the gridiron – where he was set to begin training Monday – or on the track.
“I had nothing to lose out there,” he said.
Saturday had begun for him with a sluggish start out of the blocks in the 100 qualifying, but once the South Lake FL senior got into his drive phase, he mowed the competition down. Mowed them down all the way into second place, passing at least four others after the 30-meter mark. The result was a 10.12 (+1.8w), second only to the 10.08 J-Mee Samuels ran in 2005. More impressive was the runner-up spot, ensuring another big race later in the afternoon and a good lane.
In the quarterfinal, there was no sluggish start and Demps flew down the track faster than any prep ever has before him. He was ahead of Tyson Gay for awhile, before the meet favorite would pull away for an American Record 9.77. But there was no one else ahead of him. Gay would pull up a few meters from the finish (not the 20 meters he had done in the surprising qualifying round) and, just beyond the line, Demps’ momentum would carry him past Gay as he clapped the winner lightly on the back. It was a gesture that seemed to epitomize how much the high schooler already belonged in this crowd.
While most of the fans focused on Gay’s new AR, prep followers were left to ponder what they had just witnessed: A 10.01, riding a friendly, but legal 1.6 breeze, putting himself a healthy .07 beyond Samuels’ HSR. An American Junior Record, topping the 10.05 of Walter Dix in 2005. A tying of the World Junior Record of 10.01 by Darrell Brown of Trinidad & Tobago.
“I got out real hard,” he said afterward. “I wanted to stay in the lead as long as I could … but I saw (Gay’s) head and I knew he was coming.”
Cause for celebration? How about a massage, an ice bath, and generally keeping his distance for well-wishers? “I wanted to stay focused and not let in any distractions,” said Demps.
He came to the line ready on Sunday, but asking for three or four monster races in 24 hours or so was a little much, even for Demps. As in the qualifying round, he didn’t get a great start, but this time, he didn’t have the turbopower to make it up. “I flinched a little at the start, and it through me off,” he said, with a smile that was rueful, but not too rueful. “Then I got out kind of shaky and didn’t have the kick I had yesterday.
“My mind was there, but my body wasn’t,” he added. “But I’m not complaining.”
Little doubt that as soon as Demps left the track, his mind was on the gridiron. He was to report Monday to orientation at the University of Florida, where he will play football for Coach Urban Meyers’ Gators. Demps may not quite rank as the best-ever in football, like he can claim to be in track, but when you’re a top recruit at a football powerhouse, with a 1,700-yard/21-touchdown senior season under your belt, with the prospect of playing before thousands and thousands every week as a collegian and maybe as a pro – well, it’s not easy to resist that.
“My future’s in football,” he said.
But Demps is planning to run track at UF as well, so don’t be surprised to see him running against some of these same dashmen next spring in the NCAA 100 Final.
And don’t be surprised to see him take the ups and downs with the same easy demeanor.
Prep Highlights
- The Olympic Trials experience for Jeff Demps FL came to an end as he finished 8th in the 2nd 100 semifinal, running 10.34 (+0.5) for 8th.
"DyeStat Alums" and other highlights
- Sanya Richards and Monique Henderson, the current and previous holders of the HSR in the 400, were among numerous DyeStat alums who qualified from the quarterfinals of the 400 to the semifinals. Richards, who holds the HSR with 50.69, led all qualifiers with a 51.08, while Henderson (previous HSR of 50.74) ran 52.24. Others included Natasha Hastings and Brandi Cross. Indoor record-holder Francena McCorory, who has been plagued by injuries resulting from car accidents the past two years, ran a non-qualifying 57.73.
- Johnny Dutch, one year removed from his career as an NC prep star, was 5th in the 400H finals with another PR - 48.52. The South Carolina frosh was the only one of the super trio of collegiate freshmen who starred last year - the others being Jeshua Anderson and Robert Griffin - to make the final. Bershawn Jackson, Kerron Clement and Angelo Taylor took the 3 team spots.
US Olympic Trials Index |
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