Day 1, Session 1

*****

Men's Pole Vault

The pole vault is one of the most unforgiving events in athletics. The vault requires the agility of a gymnast, the strength of a hurdler and the insanity of a surfer. And in the pole vault, like all events in track and field, the athlete is only as good as their present competition.

Keep the above in mind when we tell you that while eighteen feet, and zero inches is pretty darn high, 13 vaulters moved on, with clearances of 5.40m to 5.50 m. Toby Stevenson, Derek Miles, Timothy Mack, Tye Harvey and Jim Davis moved on. American recrod holder Jeff Hartwig did not move on to the final.

*****

Men's 400m intermediate hurdles, semi finals

Joe Woody showed that he is the class of this field, with his easy 49.43, La Bronze Garrett was third in 49.44, Bennie Brazell was second in 49.53, James Carter was third in 49.74.

In the second sem final, La Ron Bennett won in 49.09, Bershawn Jackson was second in 49.14, Regan Nichols was third in 49.65 and Angelo Taylor, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist, was fourth in 49.78.

*****

Women's 800m run, quarterfinals

In heat 1, Hazel Clark ran 2.02.65, with Perry Fields in 2.03.47, Lauren Simmons in 2.03.52 and Chantee Earl in 2.03.59, all four qualifying.

In heat 2, Jearl Miles-Clark, the American record holder, ran 2.03.24 to win, with Jennifer Toomey, the find of 2004, in second in 2.03.35. Nicole Cook was third in 2.04.37, and Francis Santin fourth in 2.04.48.

In heat 3, Nicole Teter controlled this race, winning in 2.03.30, with Nakiya Johnson in 2.03.55, Sasha Spencer in 2.03.58 and Kameisha Bennet in 2.03.95.

In the final four qualifiers, three came from heat 2 and one from heat 3. Kristina Bratton, Ashely Wysong and Alice Schmidt from heat 2 and Mishael Bennett from heat 3 moved on to the 800 meter semis.

*****

Men's 800m, quarterfinals

Heat 1

Khadevis Robinson took heat 1 in 1.46.42, with Jebreh Harris in 1.46.67, Marc Sylvester third in 1.46.87 and Jeffrey DeLong was fourth in 1.47.06.

Heat 2

Jesse O'Connell won here in 1.47.99, with Christian Smith in 1.48.06, David Krummenacker, the 2003 World indoor gold medalist, was third in 1.48.09 and Samuel Burley was fourth in 1.48.18.

Heat 3

Derrick Peterson won this one at the finish, in 1.47.83, with James Hatch in 1.48.40, Elliot Blount in 1.48.67, and Jonathan Johnson in fourth in 1.48.87.

The final four qualifiers all came from heat 1, and they were MIchael Inge, Toby Henkels, Jacob Koczam and Trent Riter.

Krummenacker, in an interview early today spoke with the quiet confidence of someone who knows that the body is working well and the racing is coming around.

*****

Women's 400m Hurdles, Qualifying

Heat 1

Brenda Taylor won the first heat in 54.98, with Raasin McIntosh in 55.25, Melinda Sallins in 56.46, and Cara Evans in 57.23.

Heat 2

LaShinda Demus won heat 2 in 55.14, with Patrina Allen in 56.57, Kim Batten, 1995 world champ and former world record holder, in 57.53, and Dominique Darden in fourth in 58.05.

Heat 3

Sandra Glover won heat 3 in 54.52, with Shauna Smith in 55.23, Ellannee Richardson in 55.61, and Ryan Tolbert-Jackson in 56.52.

Heat 4

Sheena Johnson won heat four in 55.64, with Megan Addy in 56.16, Tanisha Mills in 56.61 and Christine Spence in 57.52.

*****

Men's Shot Put, Qualifying

History was made tonight, and it was only the qualifying! Two throwers over 70 feet in the qualifying round. John Godina threw 20.00m or 65-7 1/2, then threw 21.55 m or 70-8 1/2 and then it was Adam Nelson, with a throw of 21.44m or 70-4 1/4. Christian Cantwell threw 68-7 1/4 for 20.91m. Reese Hofffa also moved on, with 20.30m or 66-7 1/4.

The men's shot put could see four guys in the 71-72 foot range and one of them will not go to Athens--this will be an amazing competition.

*****

Women's Triple Jump

Vanitta Kinard jumped a wind aided 14.07m or 46-2 to get the automatic qualifier. Tiombe Hurd's 13.99m or 45-10 3/4 also surpassed 13.75m, with Yulianna Perez in 13.64m or 44-9 for third. All jumps were wind aided.

*****

Women's 100m, quarter finals

Heat 1

Contrary to what many media outlets hoped for, Marion Jones was not pulled off the track in hand cuffs, or with armed guards. She did take second in heat one, in 11.35, which was won by LaTasha Colander. Actually the most amazing thing to watch was how fast some media types rushed down the stands to the mixed zone so that they could be the first ones to ask Marion a question.

Heat 2

Inger MIller had a fantastic start, after a call back by Chrystie Gaines. Miller won in 11.28, with Gaines in 11.39, Myrick in 11.42 and Moore in 11.47.

Heat 3

The best applause of the night was for Gail Devers, who won heat 3 in 11.37.

Heat 4

Lauryn Williams, the NCAA champ and World Junior champ, had the best start of the night, running into the wind, with a fine 11.13.

As of right now, Marion Jones did not show much to be impressed with. Inger Miller, Gail Devers and Lauryn Williams look to be on for this race.

*****

Women's 5000m, semi finals

Heat 1

This was a snorer, as Marla Runyan, Shalane Flanagan, Carrie Tollefson, Melssa Buttry and Molly Huddle ran 15.38-15.52. Of the nine in this round, two did not move on.

Heat 2

This one changed, with the DNS of Lauren Fleishman, due to a fractured toe. Amy Rudolph and Jen Rhines ran together, running 15.50 for the win. Smartest race of the night was Shayne Culpepper, 2004 World Indoor bronze medalist, who stayed back, then kicked into high gear and moved into third place in 15.54.

*****

Men's Long Jump, qualifying

Nice night for jumping. First, Walter Davis jumps 27 feet, one half inch. Then, Chris Phillips, the 2003 Outdoor world champion, jumps a 27 foot, six and one half inch world leader and it was all over. Phillips and Davis are the class of the field. It is nice to see Walter Davis jumping well, as he is one of the most talented jumpers that the U.S. has, he just has to put it all together.

*****

Heptathlon, Day 1

As I am freezing, I will give the score after four events and follow up tommorow on a story on the hep. Tiffany Lott Hogan is in lead with 3686, Hylees Fountain is in second in 3659, Michelle Perry is in third in 3634 and Dee Dee Nathan is in fourth in 3598.

*****

Men's 10,000m final

Well, you can tell that this is the Olympic Trials as there are over 10,000 American fans here watching a 10k. What a country! In very cool for Sacto weather, windy, about 60 degrees, many of the crowd are in jackets.

The race started out smart, running 28 minute pace, hitting the 400m in 65.4, with Ryan Shay in the lead, hitting the mile in 4.29.66. The pack was Abdiraham, Shay, Kennedy, and Meb, with Matt Donnelly following, and a group lead by Chris Graff and Matt Downin. Ryan Shay took the lead from Abdi when the pace dawdled, and mile two was hit in 8.50.66. During the first two miles, Abdi, Shay, Kennedy and Meb looked great.

Then, the first surpise. Just as the first pack passed mile two, Bob Kennedy dropped out. He looked to be limping a bit--in the post race interview, Kennedy said that he had achilles tendon problems, and when he felt it, he did not want to risk it, so he dropped out.

The race developed pretty smartly, as Meb and Abdi took the lead, with 2k in 5.36.19, 3k in 8.11.33, 4k in 11.01.01, and 5k in 13.43.33. Meb and Abdi had dropped Dan Browne at 4.4k.

Browne struggled on, and Donnelly, who had been running in no mans land since 3k, continued to run well, with 100 meters in front of him and 50 meters in back of him. The next pack had Chris Graff, Matt Downin, and Ryan Shay running in a pack.

Meb dropped Abdi with nine laps to go and he just continued to work. Running 66 second laps, with 7k in 19.18.8, 8k in 22.00.8 and 9k in 24.51, Meb was doing some of his best running ever. Remember that it has been cool and quite windy all night, and you see how well Meb was running.

Meb hit the bell lap in 26.34 and ran a nice 62 last lap to record his 27.36.01 for the first final at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Abdirahman held on for second, running 27.55. and Dan Browne ran a smart last lap, hitting about 63 for a 28.07.

Ryan Shay, who had run one of his best races ever, sprinted a lap too early, and started to jog, but got going again and finished in tenth place.

Mike Donnelly finished in fourth in 28.19, with Chris Graff in 28.27.93 and James Carney in seventh in 28.31.2.

But the mystery of who will be in Athens may have finished last as Dathan Ritzenhein, running 31.13.92, in only his first real workout in three weeks, and Bob Kennedy, who did not finish, may be the ones getting the nod for the 10k team. If Meb does not go, or Dan Browne does not go, and both decide to concentrate on the marathon, the team will not be decided here.

But, for Meb and Dan to consider, with nine days between the 10k final and the marathon in Athens, it is the best chance to double. And remember guys like Shorter and Lismont, who did pretty good running both?

*****

Great first day, 18,000 in the crowd and 10,000 enjoying a great 10k. Now it is off to Hoppy land for a nice party and see you tommorow.

*****

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