Courtesy: USATF

Although the Verizon men's 100 meters had been among the most hyped finals of the 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Verizon, it was Kelli White in the Nike women's 100m who on Friday turned in the most powerful and impressive performance of the night.

Running into a stiff and chilly headwind of 1.1 meters per second at Stanford's Cobb Track and Angell Field, White powered to victory in 10.93 seconds, a world-leading time and personal best despite the challenging conditions. Torri Edwards placed second in 11.13, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Gail Devers (11.16) beat out 1999 World Outdoor silver medalist Inger Miller (11.17) for third.

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.

A crowd of 6,057 took in the latest world-topping performance by White, the 2001 World Outdoor bronze medalist over 200 meters. White also owns the world's second- and third-best women's 100m times this season (10.96 and 10.97), and has the fastest time under any conditions with her wind-aided 10.79 June 1 at the Home Depot Invitational.

In the Verizon men's 100, Bernard Williams stole victory from world record holder Tim Montgomery. The 2001 World Outdoor bronze medalist, Williams used a fantastic start to propel him to victory in 10.11 seconds. Sluggish out of the blocks, Montgomery rallied to place second in 10.15, and veteran sprinter Jon Drummond took third in 10.18. The three will join defending world champion Maurice Greene, who gets an automatic berth by virtue of being the reigning world champ, on Team USA at the Worlds.

Montgomery had narrowly won his semifinal in 10.27, just .01 ahead of Monzavous Edwards Jon Drummond. Williams won the second semi in 10.17. In the women's 100 semis, Devers (11.32) and White (10.06) had finished first.

Marla Runyan extended her reign in the women's 5,000 meters, winning her third consecutive U.S. title in 15:16.18. 2003 NCAA runner-up Shalane Flanagan of the University of North Carolina placed second (15:20.54) and Shayne Culpepper was third (15:23.59).

World Indoor champion Dwight Phillips continued his winning ways in the men's long jump, taking the title with a leap of 8.24m/27- 0.5 2002 NCAA long jump and triple jump champion Walter Davis was second with the same distance, but he was runner-up due to having no second-best mark with which to break the tie with Phillips - Davis fouled on his first jump and passed his last four attempts. Two-time defending champion Savante Stringfellow was third at 8.22m/26-11.75, giving Team USA a potent lineup for Paris.

Other field events, as they did on Thursday, provided surprise winners.

Jamie Nieto, fourth at nationals in 2002 for his best-ever finish, raised his game to win his first national crown in the men's high jump. The 1998 graduate of Eastern Michigan tied his personal best on Friday with a winning clearance of 2.30m/7 feet, 6.5 inches. Nieto had cleared all four of the heights he attempted, including 7-6.5, on his first attempt before missing his first try at 2.33m/7-8.5. He passed on his remaining attempts at that height. Matt Hemingway placed second at 2.27/7- 5.25, with Terrance Woods third, also at 2.27/7-5.25.

James Parker won his first U.S. title in the men's hammer throw with a toss of 73.04m/239-7, beating John McEwen (72.96m/239-4) and Patrick McGrath (72.12m/236-7).

Kristin Heaston won her first U.S. crown in the women's shot put with a personal-best throw of 18.33m/60-1.75. She was followed by 2001 U.S. champion Seilala Sua (17.69m/58-0.5) and two-time NCAA Division II champion Adriana Blewitt (17.47m/57-3.75).

Yet another first-time winner was Erica Wheeler in the javelin. The two-time U.S. runner-up rose to the winner's podium with a throw of 56.85m/186-6. American record holder Kim Kreiner placed second (56.39/185-0), with Denise O'Connell third at 53.38m/175- 1.

The men's distance events again provided an exciting finish. In the final event of the evening, Tim Broe celebrated his 26th birthday by edging away from Adam Goucher to win the 5,000 meters. The American record holder over 3,000 meters indoors, Broe pulled ahead of Goucher, the 1999 and 2000 U.S. champion, in the final meters. Running 59 and 57 seconds for the last two laps, Broe finished in 13:35.23, with Goucher running 13:35.67. 2002 NCAA indoor and outdoor 5,000m champion Jorge Torres was third in 15:36.42.

Kevin Eastler's win in the men's 20,000m race walk marked the first time since 1995 that someone other than Tim Seaman ('98, '00, '02) or Curt Clausen ('96, '97, '99, '01) won the U.S. title in the event. Eastler easily bested the field early Friday morning with his time of 1 hour, 23 minutes, 52.20 seconds in the 50-lap event. Seaman finished second in 1:24:47.37, with John Nunn third in 1:25:15.89.

Shelia Burrell won her third career title in the women's heptathlon, adding to her wins in 1999 and 2002. Burrell had trailed Kim Schiemenz after day 1 of the hep, but a strong second day propelled her to a win with 6,159 points. Schiemenz placed second with 6,003, and Tiffany Lott-Hogan was third with 5,843.

The junior women's heptathlon came down to an exciting conclusion in the seventh and final event, the 800 meters. Shanon Meyer of San Diego State needed to beat Danielle Ayers- Stamper of Seattle Pacific University, the leader after six events, by 14 seconds in order to win. She did just that, running 2:17.08 to score 864 points and finish with a total of 5,154. Ayers-Stamper ran 2:31.60, good for 673 points and 5,149 overall. Ashley Wilhelm of Cincinnati was third with 4,973 points.

The junior men's decathlon was significantly less in doubt, with Donovan Kilmartin of YMCA Team Idaho successfully and easily defending his U.S. junior title with 7,431 points. Chris Helwick finished second with 6,967, and Robert Arnold of Arizona was third with 6,772.

In the women's 400m hurdles semifinals, four-time defending champion Sandra Glover posted the fastest time with 54.75. World junior record holder Lashinda Demus won the second semifinal in 55.65.

The men's 400m hurdles ran their first heats, with Joey Woody winning heat 4 with the fastest qualifying time of 49.35. Current world leader Bershawn Jackson won heat 3 in 45.55 for the second-fastest time. Among other top hurdlers advancing were James Carter (50.32), Torrance Zellner (50.21), Ricky Harris (50.49), and Eric Thomas (50.14). 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor was fourth in his heat in 50.72 and missed making the next round by one position, with the 17th-best time.

American record holder and two-time U.S. champion Jearl Miles Clark ran 2:03.23 to win the second heat of the women's 800 meters, while defending U.S. champion Nicole Teter won the first semi in 2:03.69.

In the men's 800 semis, Jonathon Johnson had the fastest time among those advancing to the finals with his 1:47.56 in the first heat. Khadevis Robinson won the second heat in 1:48.29, followed by World Indoor champion David Krummenacker (1:48.71), who on Monday injured his hamstring in training.

Favorites Jason Lunn (3:47.04) and Bryan Berryhill (3:48.90) won their respective semifinals of the men's 1,500 meters.

In first-round action of the men's 110-meter hurdles, Larry Wade ran 13.28 to post the fastest time into a .5 meters-per-second headwind. Three-time world champion Allen Johnson (13.38) and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Terrance Trammell (13.43), recovering from a hamstring injury, were among the 16 athletes advancing.

The top qualifiers from Thursday's first round of the 400 meters stayed true to form on Friday, with Tyree Washington (45.09) and Sanya Richards (51.74) turning in the top times in the men's and women's semifinals, respectively.