Kelli White went native on Sunday afternoon and came away with
her second decisive victory of 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.