White powers past field in 200m
6-22-2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jill Geer
Director of Communications
USA Track & Field
(317) 261-0478 x360
[email protected]
STANFORD, Calif. – Kelli White came away with her second
decisive victory Sunday at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field
Championships presented by Verizon.
A current resident and native of nearby Union City, White dominated
her competitors in the women’s 200 meters to thrill a facility-record
crowd of 7,698 fans at Stanford’s Cobb Track and Angell field.
It was the second single-day attendance record in as many days at
the Championships, and Sunday’s attendance brought total attendance
for the four-day meet to 25,135.
As she did on Friday in the Nike women’s 100 meters, White
simply overpowered the rest of the 200m field and displayed textbook
technique en route to victory. Her time of 22.21 seconds was the
best of her career, and on Friday she had run a world-leading a
personal-best time of 10.93 seconds in winning the 100. 100m runner-up
Torri Edwards again finished second to White in 22.45. World junior
record holder Allyson Felix of Los Angeles Baptist showed composure
while running with a hamstring that tightened up slightly in the
semifinals, moving from fifth to third in the last 100 meters of
the final to punch her ticket to Paris with a time of 22.59.
The top three finishers in each event at the USA Outdoor Championships
qualify for Team USA at the 2003 IAAF World Outdoor Track &
Field Championships, August 23-31 in Paris, provided they have met
IAAF standards.
The most emotional victory of the day on the men’s side came
from David Krummenacker in the men’s 800m. The overwhelming
favorite heading into the meet as the defending U.S. champion and
the 2003 World Indoor gold medalist, Krummenacker had suffered a
hamstring injury, and on Tuesday morning he had told friends he
would not be able to compete at Stanford. After receiving extensive
treatment on the injury, Krummenacker decided to try to run at Stanford.
That decision bore fruit as Krummenacker came from off the pace
in the final 150 meters of the race to win in a U.S.-leading time
of 1:45.53. Khadevis Robinson placed second in 1:46.21, with Jonathon
Johnson of Texas Tech, the leader by more than a second halfway
through the race, third in 1:46.76. Krummenacker’s race was
made more special by having his mother, who hadn’t seen him
run in roughly three years, in the stands.
Kenta Bell and Walter Davis pitched a thrilling competition in
the men’s triple jump to provide the day’s highlight
in the field. Davis, the defending U.S. champion and the 2002 NCAA
champion while at LSU, led through the third round, when Bell posted
a mark of 17.40m/57-1. Davis retook the lead in round five with
17.55m/57-7, which was his best jump of the day, but Bell responded
on the next jump of the competition with the winning mark of 17.59m/57-8.5,
a 2003 U.S. leader, to take his first U.S. title. Aarik Wilson of
Indiana was third at 16.65m/54-7.5.
American record holder Jearl Miles-Clark put on an impressive display
of 800-meter running in the women’s race, simply running away
from 2002 U.S. champion Nicole Teter and sub-2:00 runner Jen Toomey
in the last 200 meters of the race. At age 36, Miles-Clark ran 1:58.84
to win her third U.S. title, in the fastest American time of the
year. She was followed by Teter, who is recovering from a navicular
bone stress fracture in her foot, in 1:59.91, and Toomey in 2:00.12.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Joey Woody took an early lead,
but the field caught him coming off the final turn to make for an
exciting stretch run. Eric Thomas, a 2000 Olympian and third in
this race last year, moved up to win convincingly with a time of
48.76. U.S. leader Bershawn Jackson, the 2002 U.S. junior champion,
placed second in 49.01, and Woody (49.22) barely held off 2002 national
champion James Carter (49.23) for third, to make his third World
Championships team.
The Verizon men’s 200m was as hotly contested as expected,
given the even field that was filled with former U.S. champions
and top-ranked sprinters. A virtual wall of runners came down the
final stretch. The 2002 U.S. indoor and outdoor runner-up, Darvis
Patton came away with his first national title in 20.15 seconds.
2000 Olympic Trials champion John Capel was second in 20.17, and
J.J. Johnson placed third in 20.22 to make his first World Championships
team in an individual event. Maurice Greene withdrew from the final
after running his semifinal heat Saturday morning in lane 1, placing
fourth in 20.44 and noticeably favoring his right knee after the
finish. Greene’s coach, John Smith, withdrew Greene from the
final when Greene again drew lane 1.
Three-time world champion and American record holder Gail Devers
racked up her ninth U.S. crown in the women’s 100m hurdles,
holding off a fast-closing Miesha McKelvy by .01 second, 12.61 to
12.62. Former NCAA champion Jenny Adams overtook early leader and
2000 Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Morrison for third in 12.68.
The trio will be joined by reigning world champion Anjanette Kirkland,
who had a baby earlier this spring but gets an automatic berth to
the World Championships as the defending gold medalist, in Paris.
Anything the men’s pole vault lacked in high heights due
to swirling winds was made up for by close competition. American
record holder Jeff Hartwig made just two jumps, but that’s
all he needed to win his fourth U.S. title. Hartwig took and made
just one jump each at 5.55m/18-2.5 and 5.70m/18-8.25, which stood
as the winning height. Derek Miles and Tim Mack, in second and third,
respectively, also had a best height of 5.70m. But Miles had one
miss at 5.65m/18-6.5, and Mack one miss at 5.55 and two at 5.65.
The women’s high jump brought no surprises in the composition
of the team for Paris. Amy Acuff won her fourth U.S. title with
a clearance of 1.95m/6-4.5. She will be joined at the Worlds by
2002 runner-up Gwen Wentland (1.92m/6-3.5) and four-time U.S. champion
Tisha Waller (1.92m/6-3.5)
Yuliana Perez successfully defended her U.S. triple jump title
with a U.S.-leading mark of 14.23m/46-8.25 on her last jump, which
moved her from second to first in the competition and also gave
her the IAAF “A” standard for the World Championships.
2001 U.S. champion Tiombe Hurd jumped a wind-aided 13.96m/45-9.75
for second place, and Nicole Gamble placed third with a wind-aided
13.90m/45-7.25.
Stanford graduate and two-time U.S. indoor champion Jason Lunn
won his first U.S. outdoor title in a tactical final of the men’s
1,500 meters. With the field coming through the 800 meters in 2:07
– just three seconds faster than the 800m split in the women’s
1,500m on Saturday – a race favoring kickers shaped up. It
was Lunn who was fastest in the final stages of the race, winning
in 3:44.00. Former NCAA champion Bryan Berryhill was second, and
2003 NCAA champion Grant Robison of Stanford was third in 3:44.83.
Leader Tom Pappas opened Day 2 of the decathlon with a time of
14.13 in the 110m hurdles for 958 points, then followed with a discus
throw of 45.84m/150-5 (784 pts). USATF will update the decathlon
later in the day.
For live results and athlete quotes from the USA Outdoor Track
& Field Championships, visit the USATF Web site, www.usatf.org
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